I finally got around to moving my ants out of the large terrarium and into a smaller hexagonal fish tank.

I was quite surprised to discover that I don't have significantly more ants than I did when I first started. For some reason, I assumed that my ants would breed faster, so when I dug through the terrarium dirt to find them, I actually thought that the queen might have been one of several. I was wrong. Just one queen, a bunch of workers, and a smallish brood.

Anyhow, here's a top-view of the terrarium:



That shiny thing is the lid to a jar, with an entrance cut into it. I put a pile of moist dirt in there and assumed that the queen would bring her brood into it, and I was quite right. The other two objects are metal bottle caps from some sparkling cider - they also have entrances cut into them, but I can't imagine that the ants will hang out in there. I just figured that if the ants want some place to hide when I stick my hand in there to add food and whatnot, it'd be nice to have something.

Here's a picture of one of my ants, kind of close up. I plan to eventually grab one out and toss her into the fridge to get her to sit still for a while, and then snap a shot with my macro lens.



The main reason I moved the ants is because I was a *little* sad at not being able to see them on a regular basis. Knowing that many ants do just fine with dirtless habitats, I figured that a hybrid habitat would work pretty well. As it is now, I can lift the larger cap and see the queen and her brood whenever I feel like it. Foraging will also be much easier to see, since that part has very little dirt.

On the far left, I have a small plastic tube that houses a wet cotton ball on one side, and some old honey on the other.

When I get a chance, I'll try to take a solid picture of the queen and her nest.