Leaf Cutting Ant Forum

First of all trying to decide which route to go down Aquarium or incubator ? For me space is a big issue but i could do this in my loft but it gets so damn cold and so damn hot it could be a night mare maintaining a steady climate for the Ants. Ive got quiet a few Dart frog tanks i could use but that would mean another table for it which i don't have space for soooo, its going to be my trusty old book case thingy thats looked after all sorts of exotic pets over the years.
I'm going to try the incubator method pretty much based on Jamies Ant cupboard. Here it is when i was keeping true spiders


It has four compartments of about 80 x 30 x 40 cm and the top which can be used for the foraging area.
Its stands at the top of our stairs and is very dark and quite cool, the temps their now with my ants i have with just two heat mats and all open fronted is about 23 c so shouldn't really require to much, overheating shouldn't pose a problem either . I already have stats and cooler stats and fans which will be used.

Firstly i have to make a frame for the front as the cupboard design is a bit fancy so i need to level the front so i can fit on a door. I have a large sheet of 5 mm acrylic which i will use that should help to insulate the front.

I have ordered three pods from Sean and i plan to raise these on plastic egg crates ( used for dart frogs to make a false floor ) or i may partially submerge the pods in water. That's something I'm going to have to experiment with first.

I plan to heat using heating cables, i ordered a 5m one but they sent the wrong size,,,good start grrrrr.

So thats all i can say now as i await the part's. Thanks for looking

Excellent... I love a good build thread. And I think you win the prize for best thread title!!

Nice thread Andy, very descriptive.
You chose a sweet title as Richard said ha ha.
Very cool profile pic btw.

So, with that title I suspect thats not the only thing thats going to happen in that cupboard. Or am I getting the wrong end of your stick?

As much as i try to make space in there, there's no more room left for anything else to be going on.

Just keep yer hands to yerself or you'll get a slap

Oh oH Oh, Seans Pods have arrived,,,we have lift off Thanks Sean.

Good to hear! I was worried the bank holiday might have delayed them!

Twas an expensive easter saturday shpping for some needed bits n peices but it was a good excuse to take her indoors out shopping,,,and for me not her

After dinner i started making a frame to go over the cabinet and cut out the Jabba insulation, think thats what its was called but i wanted the celutex but not at that price. The set up is on our landing so it's not going to need the extra insulation. I then made another frame for the window and had some 10 mm acrylic spare and cut it to size making a rather nice window if i do say so myself. Swell reptiles let me down with the wrong heating cable and i just put in 2 heat mats, one one the back wall and one on the floor underneath some egg crate. The egg crate leaves about one cm space under Seans pods. I have also fitted a small pc fan to circulate the air within the " incubator" hoping to keep the temps even through out.

So my Stats are at my mothers and didn't want or need them just yet, i just want to see if the temps rise and they have got to 30 c so at least i know i can achieve 25 c very easily. I put in one of the pods with wet clay balls and put my temo/hygr in and humidity got up to 90 then all i got was HH High Humidity i presume which isn't a lot of good. I should get two more next week arriving from Amazon.

I ve got some little LED lights installed and won't ad to the heat
I should be able to get four pods in each. Rather then try and just make one heating unit to heat the entire cabinet i think ill make two separate to start with , hopefully this will eliminate hot at the top and cool at the bottom.

You've certainly hit the ground running with this project! Very interested to see how things develop.

The first over night test of temps and humidity using heating under the pod, and on the back wall brought condensation into the pod but not much. The humidity levels with my new Hygrometer which arrived Saturday, was reading 93 - 95% humidity and 25 c in the middle of the pod. I had found an old digital thermostat, the ones used for oil radiators and the temps are holding well. I've ordered a pulse thermostat which should be here tomorrow. This morning i turned of the bottom heat which in turn mostly cleared the condensation but the humidity levels dropped to 92 - 93 %. Ive blocked all the holes in the pod now so i will see tomorrow what happens. I think the small PC fan is working well distributing the heat and the insulation is also working well. I will probably raise the pods a bit too.



Tonight i have finished the window frame for the bottom shelf, and the perspex should arrive tomorrow, and i have also finished the insulation.



Next step is to attach pods and tubing and more testing.