My suggestions: Lower ceiling to decrease volume. Ants can go up the walls, but they can only really use the bottom of their caves, and the less volume they have to manage (humidity, air, mold...) compared to the usable space, the better. Small ducts to further chambers are also a good way to let the ants block off unnecessary space. For the sliding doors... maybe magnets would be cool.
I'm not an ant expert, but I love what you're doing here! You're using your skills to not only create functional designs, but you're using it to help your children and students learn about things that might otherwise be out of reach for them. Keep up the great work!
Absolutely fascinating, love to see this type of video. Using a 3D printer for real world applications is an absolute must for the technology to progress and become mainstream. Thank you so much and please keep the videos coming.
Superb project Michael, thank you. I guess the kids fascination is the real icing on the cake for these sort of projects, and learning with them too. I'm always looking for projects too.
Decided to print it for my Camp Modoc, she seems to have taken to it really quick, next day she moved in. I added some sand and substrate in it to help with moisture. Although as someone mentioned the height is really to much for them.
OMG! I didn't even watched this video and know that it's one of the best videos ever. It's like a dream come true. Wish you luck with your colony. I can't believe how happy just a look at the thumbnail made me! 😃 I'm myself in process of modelling formicariums, so it's really nice I can watch this video for inspiration.
Amazing video! I got into 3d printing and ant keeping at the same time. The first thing i ever designed was a test tube cover for my tubs and tubes set up. Have been looking to design a large formacarium for my myrmecia pyriformis as they refuse to move into a ytong nest. Look forward to printing your design for my suger ants. Keep up the great work mate!
Please do. Apparently it takes a while to get to young colony stage, that's why I purchased them already somewhat established. I plan to catch some queens in future with my kids for sure.
I made a 18mm x 150mm Ant Tub holder that I will put up in my thingiverse if you want so you can print it. It's basically a tub holder (best printed in black to keep queens in the dark.). If you do not mind I will post a link here to my thingiverse for it. I was thinking it could come in handy for a class setting. It holds 10 test tubs. Let me know!
So I am raising a much smaller species of ants, and the mesh was to wide. what i did was print it at 60% infill, and with my ender 3, it came out perfectly! (with a nicer printer, you might want to use more like 65, as im sure my layers squashed a bit)
Wow... you just turned out to be my favorite 3d-printing Yt-er. Can‘t believe you also keep ants. I for myself keep several species, Tetramorium bicarinatum, Pristomyrmex pungens, Diacamma rugosum, Formica fusca, Myrmica rubra and soon Trachymyrmex which is an higher attini species, which is soooo cool
This is funny, as I keep having issues with ants living in/under the Raspberry Pi case I printed which runs OctoPi. Maybe I should print them up a habitat such as this! LOL
Love this video and the idea. Thought about getting an ant nest for about two years but it was too expansive for a new hobby where I don't know if I like it or not but this is a realy good use for my leftover filament
I already loved your channel and now I find this video! I got really into ant keeping at the start of the pandemic and have been designing my own 3D printed nests since then. To be honest, I was pretty sure you were the ants australia guy because of your fascination with CNC tools!
A great project, thank you! How about incorporating a camera into the lid with night vision? I’ve done a project incorporating a camera into a nest box - I made a minor mod on a cheap WiFi camera to make it focus up close, simply by screwing out the lens slightly - not designed to be altered but easy to do once the case was popped off.
Just as a heads up; depending on where you live and where you order your ants from it can be illegal to ship them. In the USA, you can't ship ants across state borders or import without a special permit (USDA PPQ 526) that is incredibly difficult to obtain. Other countries have different laws as well, so you would have to research those. Otherwise, it's looking good and awesome to see another person interested in ants.
Excellent video, well put together. I have a 3D printed but haven’t printed an ant nest yet...I think I’ll try your one out. If it all works I’ll make a video on my channel and shoutout your channel and add to the description. 🐜👍🏼
Great formicarium. Just finished printing the last pieces and got someone to make me some acrylic sheets to fit them. Now i just have to get the right size screws. Did you perhaps have a list of the sizes of screws that worked for you? Thanks for making this.
just one thing in the video about printing the "Frame Best Nest" part you say to use a raft under the part but it shows you using a brim to hold the part down to the build plate. this was giving my wife trouble so she asked me to watch your video.i'm already subscribed to your channel that's how she found your video. but many thanks for getting her into my hobby.
I've been trying to learn to design my own, it is driving me crazy. I gave up on Blender and Fusion is mind boggling. Any chance of uploading the larger version?
Hey man. The whole reason I started looking into 3d printing was to keep costs down while ant keeping. Any update on the ants and how's the nest working out. Love the vids.
hopefully there's nothing in the plastic that can harm them, i know some plastics are not so great for the health of ants because chemicals in the plastic can seep into the air if it gets too moist and/or warm
They need a mix of protein and sugar. Sugar can be honey, fruit, etc. Protein is usually insects (being careful not to introduce any killed by insecticide). I have a container of jumbo meal worms ready for later. I will pop one in the freezer to kill it, then chop into three bits to share amongst the colonies. If you put the food on the baking paper like in the video you can easily remove leftovers before it goes mouldy.
honestly 3d printing is mostly practical to me. I bought it and have yet to print any minis. just like a few bunnies and models my friends designed. people who say 3d printing isn't practical are either insane or have never done any DIY stuff xD
On a scale of 1 - 100, how hard would it be for someone to just sit down with that software and create something like this? I recently got in to the ant hobby and i love creating my own stuff, this seems like a great opportunity to get creative and start producing my own formicariums.
I just got a 3d printer so I could make antfarms. I've Been doing great so far but I'm having trouble figuring out how to do the mesh floor for hydration I can't figure it out, how did you do yours? Can you do a mesh floor tutorial?. I'm using tinkercad for my modeling and cura for splicing.
The big one I held up briefly needed refinement. I had the three colonies in there together, separated by trap doors. There was a few issues but fortunately none of them could escape or wage war on each other.
Having issues with the base plate being only infill on my printer. Changed design to make it solid and I cut small holes as a solution in my slicer. If anyone has a setting that works as Michael prescribes please post for Cura or Sli3r Great project.
i want to know if its worth to buy a 3d printer for making outworlds and formicariums in a lifetime i think ant keepers will spend 1000 for ant formicaria if they dont make them themselves
My suggestions: Lower ceiling to decrease volume. Ants can go up the walls, but they can only really use the bottom of their caves, and the less volume they have to manage (humidity, air, mold...) compared to the usable space, the better. Small ducts to further chambers are also a good way to let the ants block off unnecessary space. For the sliding doors... maybe magnets would be cool.
Thank you for spreading the hobby of ant keeping. Keep it up!
I'm not an ant expert, but I love what you're doing here! You're using your skills to not only create functional designs, but you're using it to help your children and students learn about things that might otherwise be out of reach for them. Keep up the great work!
Ants canada also got me into ants started this year with 2 queens that flew indoors how convenient! 1 queen now has her 1st workers.
Awesome! You are combining my two hobbies!!!! Thanks!
Absolutely fascinating, love to see this type of video. Using a 3D printer for real world applications is an absolute must for the technology to progress and become mainstream. Thank you so much and please keep the videos coming.
Absolutely fantastic!!!! Love AntsCanada and this channel. Good mix of two incredibly rewarding hobbies!!
Superb project Michael, thank you. I guess the kids fascination is the real icing on the cake for these sort of projects, and learning with them too. I'm always looking for projects too.
Decided to print it for my Camp Modoc, she seems to have taken to it really quick, next day she moved in. I added some sand and substrate in it to help with moisture. Although as someone mentioned the height is really to much for them.
OMG! I didn't even watched this video and know that it's one of the best videos ever. It's like a dream come true. Wish you luck with your colony. I can't believe how happy just a look at the thumbnail made me! 😃 I'm myself in process of modelling formicariums, so it's really nice I can watch this video for inspiration.
I might print this for my first colony if I ever get a queen. Seems like a really cool looking and smart design, thanks for sharing!
Awesome work my kids will love doing this thanks Micheal
Great video! I hope you do a few follow ups as the colonies progress.
Amazing video! I got into 3d printing and ant keeping at the same time. The first thing i ever designed was a test tube cover for my tubs and tubes set up. Have been looking to design a large formacarium for my myrmecia pyriformis as they refuse to move into a ytong nest. Look forward to printing your design for my suger ants. Keep up the great work mate!
You're welcome and thanks for sharing.
You’re funny Michael! I just caught an ant queen about 4 or 5 days ago and I’m already working on printing off my ant farm. I think I may use yours:)
Please do. Apparently it takes a while to get to young colony stage, that's why I purchased them already somewhat established. I plan to catch some queens in future with my kids for sure.
I made a 18mm x 150mm Ant Tub holder that I will put up in my thingiverse if you want so you can print it. It's basically a tub holder (best printed in black to keep queens in the dark.). If you do not mind I will post a link here to my thingiverse for it. I was thinking it could come in handy for a class setting. It holds 10 test tubs. Let me know!
So I am raising a much smaller species of ants, and the mesh was to wide. what i did was print it at 60% infill, and with my ender 3, it came out perfectly! (with a nicer printer, you might want to use more like 65, as im sure my layers squashed a bit)
Wow... you just turned out to be my favorite 3d-printing Yt-er. Can‘t believe you also keep ants.
I for myself keep several species, Tetramorium bicarinatum, Pristomyrmex pungens, Diacamma rugosum, Formica fusca, Myrmica rubra and soon Trachymyrmex which is an higher attini species, which is soooo cool
This is funny, as I keep having issues with ants living in/under the Raspberry Pi case I printed which runs OctoPi. Maybe I should print them up a habitat such as this! LOL
Love this video and the idea. Thought about getting an ant nest for about two years but it was too expansive for a new hobby where I don't know if I like it or not but this is a realy good use for my leftover filament
I already loved your channel and now I find this video! I got really into ant keeping at the start of the pandemic and have been designing my own 3D printed nests since then. To be honest, I was pretty sure you were the ants australia guy because of your fascination with CNC tools!
Pretty cool stuff.
A great project, thank you! How about incorporating a camera into the lid with night vision? I’ve done a project incorporating a camera into a nest box - I made a minor mod on a cheap WiFi camera to make it focus up close, simply by screwing out the lens slightly - not designed to be altered but easy to do once the case was popped off.
That's a smashing idea, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time to implement it.
Really interesting and well done Michael! Thanks.
Just as a heads up; depending on where you live and where you order your ants from it can be illegal to ship them. In the USA, you can't ship ants across state borders or import without a special permit (USDA PPQ 526) that is incredibly difficult to obtain.
Other countries have different laws as well, so you would have to research those.
Otherwise, it's looking good and awesome to see another person interested in ants.
ITS BEEN SO LONG WITHOUT AN UPDATE....plz share how they are doing...ty and keep up the great work...
Excellent video, well put together. I have a 3D printed but haven’t printed an ant nest yet...I think I’ll try your one out. If it all works I’ll make a video on my channel and shoutout your channel and add to the description. 🐜👍🏼
Great formicarium. Just finished printing the last pieces and got someone to make me some acrylic sheets to fit them. Now i just have to get the right size screws. Did you perhaps have a list of the sizes of screws that worked for you? Thanks for making this.
just one thing in the video about printing the "Frame Best Nest" part you say to use a raft under the part but it shows you using a brim to hold the part down to the build plate. this was giving my wife trouble so she asked me to watch your video.i'm already subscribed to your channel that's how she found your video. but many thanks for getting her into my hobby.
I love it. I was wondering what type of 3D printer you have?
You should make a channel on ant-keeping
I've been trying to learn to design my own, it is driving me crazy. I gave up on Blender and Fusion is mind boggling. Any chance of uploading the larger version?
Hey man. The whole reason I started looking into 3d printing was to keep costs down while ant keeping. Any update on the ants and how's the nest working out.
Love the vids.
hopefully there's nothing in the plastic that can harm them, i know some plastics are not so great for the health of ants because chemicals in the plastic can seep into the air if it gets too moist and/or warm
With pla I feel pretty comfortable. Plenty of commercially available pla printed ones too. Fingers crossed
fantastic video thanks.what do the ants eat? and do you have to clean out the outworld bit?
They need a mix of protein and sugar. Sugar can be honey, fruit, etc. Protein is usually insects (being careful not to introduce any killed by insecticide). I have a container of jumbo meal worms ready for later. I will pop one in the freezer to kill it, then chop into three bits to share amongst the colonies. If you put the food on the baking paper like in the video you can easily remove leftovers before it goes mouldy.
depends which ants you get
Try fixing a bigger nest or a vertical formicarium
This is genius
honestly 3d printing is mostly practical to me. I bought it and have yet to print any minis. just like a few bunnies and models my friends designed. people who say 3d printing isn't practical are either insane or have never done any DIY stuff xD
Hello I noticed that at 8:25 on the left there was a larger version would it be possible to have the model? Thanks, have a good day
What size bolts do I need to connect this together? I don’t want to super glue it and just finished printing all the parts. Thanks so much in advance!
nice i love :D
Juste, PLA + water ... :s
People have run PLA parts in aquariums for years without the parts degrading. You need composting temperatures and moisture for PLA to break down.
On a scale of 1 - 100, how hard would it be for someone to just sit down with that software and create something like this? I recently got in to the ant hobby and i love creating my own stuff, this seems like a great opportunity to get creative and start producing my own formicariums.
#stemEducation will use this for sure. Thanks!
Hey mate. A bit behind the 8 ball here. Hows the colony going? Any changes made since this video? Any escapes:)
I love ants Canada
I just got a 3d printer so I could make antfarms. I've Been doing great so far but I'm having trouble figuring out how to do the mesh floor for hydration I can't figure it out, how did you do yours? Can you do a mesh floor tutorial?. I'm using tinkercad for my modeling and cura for splicing.
Just a little something you designed. Didn’t show all the attempts and hair pulling, I seem to experience:)
The big one I held up briefly needed refinement. I had the three colonies in there together, separated by trap doors. There was a few issues but fortunately none of them could escape or wage war on each other.
I have a new hobby now.
Neat
May I know what 3D printing site or designer you use?
Your channel is very Help, Keep it up! off subject have cr10s pro , do you recommend installing a BL Touch 1st thing ?
Please see my CR-10S Pro fixes video. I've had great first layers since making the adjustments in that.
For just a second I thought this was AntsCanada lol.
Having issues with the base plate being only infill on my printer. Changed design to make it solid and I cut small holes as a solution in my slicer. If anyone has a setting that works as Michael prescribes please post for Cura or Sli3r Great project.
What kind of program did you use for printing?
What filament do you use?
i want to know if its worth to buy a 3d printer for making outworlds and formicariums
in a lifetime i think ant keepers will spend 1000 for ant formicaria if they dont make them themselves
are there also the files of the prototype to download?
I can't believe you ordered an ant xD
#AntsCanada
😍👌👍
Thankfully you weren't watching leokimvideo vids, or it would be full of redback spiders. lol
I used to have a pet redback in a jar when I was a kid. I fed it the flies stuck on the inside of the windows and called it 'fang'.
i seen this title, and clicked cuz i thought it was an Ants Canada video
Do you want ants? Because this is how you get ants, Lana.
I already feel them crawling over my body :/