How to choose a first formicarium.

1. Damp and dry. Ants need a damp place and a dry place to choose between. Ask how the nest is watered, and how much work that is each week.

2. Size. A new colony is a queen and a few workers. A big nest is harder to keep damp and harder for a small colony to defend. Pick the next room, not the final one.

3. Secure. Check the lid and every port. A nest with a gap is an escape waiting to happen, so look at how the lid closes and how the ports are plugged.

4. Easy to see into. You will want to watch. A clear lid or wall means you can check on the colony without opening the nest.

5. Easy to clean and to grow from. Look for a nest you can wipe out, and one that connects to the next nest instead of ending.

Acrylic, gypsum and 3D-printed PETG nests all work. They differ in how they hold water, how they are cleaned and how they take heat. The materials page compares them.

Whatever the material, buy from a maker who tells you plainly how the water system works.

A founding queen already lives well in a test tube with water and a cotton plug. The test tube and cotton, $6, covers it. A nest is not an upgrade while she has no workers. See founding colony setup.

The table at the top of this page is the order we suggest. Each piece connects to the next, so nothing is thrown out as the colony grows.

Buy each one when the colony needs it. You do not need the whole path on day one.

Buying too big, too early. A queen with no workers does not need a large nest.

Moving the queen out of the tube before her first workers are out.

Tipping ants from one container into another. Let the colony cross on its own. The moving guide shows how.

Waiting weeks on an overseas nest when the queen is already in a tube. A nest shipped from the US avoids that. See formicarium USA.

The shortest version is the beginner formicarium page. The full range is on the formicarium page. If you are unsure which size, read what size formicarium. We sell nests and parts, not live ants.