How to Care for the Harvester Ants' Ant Farm

Several species of ants are known by the common term harvester ant. The worker females of these types of ant are typically sold for ant farms, reports the entomology department of Texas A&M University. Their large size and red color make these ants attractive ant farm pets. Once set up, the routine care of your ant farm only takes a few minutes of daily care and the ants will live for several months.

Things You'll Need

  • Spray bottle
  • Ant food
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place the ant farm inside the house and at room temperature. Ants are active at warmer temperatures but will not survive long if the habitat is put into direct sunlight such as near a window.

    • 2

      Water your ants once a day. You can do this by misting the sand with a spray bottle or sprinkling a few drops of water into the habitat. You want to make the sand damp but not soaked with water. Too much water put into the habitat could cause mold to grow in the habitat or drown the ants.

    • 3

      Feed your ants scraps of food once a day. This may include a piece of apple, banana peel, leafy greens or carrot. You can also feed them more natural foods from the yard, such as grass seeds, birdseed and dead insects that you find. When feeding your ants, consider how easy the food will be to remove at the end of the day when feeding your ants. Pieces of uncooked meat for example, will be difficult to clean out of the ant farm.