Formilab Ant Nest (S)

The small formiLAB nest is perfect for a small colony of ants of upto 200-300 workers depending on the species. This small nest allows your growing colony to develop in a comfortable and small space adewuate for their size. A natural piece of sponge or a plaster piece, to which water is added, provides the essential moisture needed within the nest, and also provides a moisture gradient for the queen and colony to raise their brood.

Key Features

• 19cm (l) x 6.5cm (w) x 3cm (h); includes integrated monitor  (does not take into account outworld)
• Accurately monitor temperature and moisture within the nest
• Choose to have a monitor with or without a thermostat probe cutout
• Strong 3mm Perspex® used throughout the nest
• The V4 connectors are now secured with a screw for additional strength and maximum security
• Natural sponge pieces or plaster to add moisture to the nest
• The sponge or plaster can be removed or replaced at any point if needed.
• Different elevations within the nest
• Standoffs for heat cables supplied
• Connector for use with Standoffs included
• PVC Tube Connector V4 included
• Temperature and moisture monitor can be transferred if you buy another V4 nest.

General Information

The nest is supplied with a strong 3mm clear Perspex lid for viewing within the nest, but also comes with a dark red Perspex lid to keep the nest dark.

A PVC tube  connector V4 is supplied with the foundation nest to connect it to an outworld or an arena. The tube connector is designed for PVC tube which has an outer diameter of 13mm and an inner diameter of 10mm. Tube can vary slightly in dimensions, but the tube connector is designed to fit the tube in our shop perfectly.

You can also attach any of our other V4 Connectors to this nest, including our Tubeless Connector V4. This nest can also use crystal clear 10mm ID or 16mm ID acrylic tube with our new acrylic tube connectors.

What makes this nest, and all our nests special, is the ability to attach our temperature and moisture monitor to it. This is included with this nest and simply attaches to the formicarium with the screws which are supplied.

To read more about the Bluetooth monitor please click here.

Each species of ant has its own temperature and moisture requirement within the nest. For example, Lasius niger ants prefer a moisture level of between 10-50% and a temperature of between 20-27°C.

In order for your colony to be happy and for your queen to lay eggs at an optimal rate, you should keep the nest within these moisture and temperature ranges.

Our temperature and moisture monitor makes this job easy. If the nest is too dry, and a few drops of water and watch the humidity within the nest increase. Or, if the nest is too cold, use a heat cable to raise the temperature. No longer do you need to guess if your nest is at the correct temperature or humidity.

We recommend using a heat cable rather than a heat mat to heat the nest, because a heat cable can be used to heat a certain part of a nest to provide a temperature gradient for your ants. A heat cable can also be used to heat more than one nest at a time. 

Care must be taken when using a heat cable, and only very low wattage cables should be used. We recommend using these 15w heat cables which we have successfully tested with our nests