Common Ant Keeping Questions

1. What do ants eat? How should they be fed?

Usually, people think ants are omnivorous insects, but in reality, a larger number of ant species prefer either sweet foods or meat-based foods. There are even some ants that are specialized feeders (such as some Carebara genus species that only eat specific termites).

For ants that prefer sweet foods, you can feed them more honey water or sugar water, and occasionally feed some captured small insects to supplement protein. Representative ants that prefer sweet foods include our common Carpenter Ants (Camponotus).

Most meat-preferring ants refer to all ponerine ants, army ants, etc. Ponerine ants are a relatively ancient group; their staple food is insects. Although occasionally some species will consume sweet foods (such as Diacamma, Odontomachus, Ectatomma, etc.), feeding only sugar water will not result in a healthy colony.

Some ants are omnivorous, including common genera like Pheidole, Tetramorium, Messor, etc. Besides sweet foods and insects, they will also eat foods rich in oils and fats, such as various peanuts, nuts, etc.

Regarding feeding frequency for small founding colonies (with 1 queen and fewer than 20 workers), it is recommended to feed small amounts infrequently, about 3 to 5 times a week. Each feeding portion should be approximately the size of the queen’s abdomen. After the number of brood and workers has increased significantly, you can then consider increasing the amount and frequency of feeding.

2. Why are my ants not eating?

If your ants are not eating, you usually don’t need to worry too much; in the vast majority of cases, they are simply not hungry. You can try reducing the feeding frequency and observe again. Another reason related to low feeding activity is the number of ant larvae. Adult worker ants usually consume very little solid food (often only drinking liquids). Larvae, because they are in a state of rapid growth, consume a very large amount of food. If the colony has very few larvae, it can create the illusion that the ants are not eating much.

3. Can I feed live insects?

Insects are a very important protein source for ants. Timely feeding of insects is very important for the development and growth of the ant colony. However, try not to feed random insects, especially dead insects found in residential areas or homes. These insects might have died from contact with insecticide; if ants eat this kind of food, there is a high probability they could be poisoned.

Additionally, when the colony is small, large live insects might injure or stress the small ant group, as they are still relatively fragile. You can try to feed pre-killed or immobilized prey if you want to see ants handle other insects. It’s best to wait until the small colony has developed and grown stronger before introducing challenging live prey!

4. Do ants need to drink water?

Ants usually meet their water needs not through direct 'drinking' but through the humidity in their environment. They absorb moisture from their surroundings. Generally, 60%–90% humidity is sufficient for most ants to get enough water, and this is also a key function of the moist nest area. So, don’t forget to replenish moisture to the ant nest chambers promptly!

5. What temperature do ants need?

Ants are ectothermic animals. Generally, temperatures above 10 degrees Celsius allow survival, but activity frequency decreases. The most suitable temperature is around 25–30 degrees Celsius; temperatures higher than 38 degrees or lower than 0 degrees Celsius are fatal for many ant species.

Temperature changes also affect brood development time: for example, for Lasius ants, at around 30 degrees Celsius, the time from egg to worker is about 28–30 days. If the temperature drops to around 25 degrees Celsius, larval development time may extend to 40–50 days.

6. How to safely observe ants?

Ants are insects that are relatively easily startled. They are particularly sensitive to sunlight and vibrations, but relatively insensitive to steady sound and indoor lighting. So, please try to keep them in a location away from direct sunlight. When observing them, you can use a flashlight; you can also talk, but remember to minimize vibrations as much as possible. You can place some vibration-damping material under the ant nest.

Additionally, when keeping ants, you must apply escape-prevention powder or liquid properly. Although a single escaped worker ant will likely die alone after a few days, you still need to prevent the situation where the queen ant also escapes!

7. Why are my ants dying?

Although the collective power of ants is praised, individual ants are still relatively fragile; they can die due to various sudden reasons.

The normal lifespan of ant workers is around several months to a year. While the queen’s lifespan ranges from several years to over ten years. In principle, the smaller the body size, the shorter the lifespan. The queen ant lives longer because, after mating, her physiology changes, delaying aging.

If ants die rapidly within a short period, then you should consider potential causes. The most common cause of ant death is lack of water (desiccation). You should first check if the humidity inside the nest is too low. Secondly, you should investigate whether you have recently fed food from unknown sources, or if insect repellent or any pesticide products have been used in the home.

A common cause of queen ant death is stress or physical injury. Please ensure you have not recently startled the queen (e.g., by excessively shaking the nest, dropping it from a height, etc.).

8. How to clean a very dirty ant nest?

In nature, a considerable number of ant species discard waste outside the nest, especially the corpses of dead nestmates or leftover prey remains. Yet other species will excavate a special chamber at the bottom of the nest specifically for piling up garbage. This behavior also helps recycle nutrients.

However, in captivity, it is impossible to fully replicate this function. It’s inevitable that food scraps, debris, and excrement will accumulate. Cleaning up the garbage is a necessary duty during the keeping process.

Fortunately, we have many tools we can use. If there is garbage in the nest’s activity area, we can carefully remove it using tweezers or a small vacuum. For garbage deep inside the nest, the best method is often to encourage the colony to move to a new, clean nest section and then clean the old section.