OhioAnts Founding chamber based on readily available 25mmx75mm microscope slides is an opensource project designed for keeping and founding new ant colonies. The OA-F25 has been designed with input from dozens of ant-keepers as the ultimate founding chamber for newly collected queens.
The unique features include a chamber with four distinct humidity and temperature zones. From the front to the back.
- Cool/Dry
- Cool/Humid
- Warm/Humid*
- Warm/Dry*
When combined with a standard reptile heating cable and the OA-F dock, these temperatures zones provide a temperature and humidity gradient that allows the queen and her nanitics to decide which best fits their growth and development phases.
The front and rear ports accept standard, 1/2 O.D. vinyl tubing to connect to other housing structures or outworlds. Additionally, these ports can be filled with cotton.
A humidity port is also included on the front of each founding chamber; this allows an 18-20GA needle to be inserted to fill the hydration area without the need to remove the glass cover to prevent stressing out the inhabitants, or unnecessary escape attempts.
Print at .2mm height and 25-30% infill. The 25mm x 75mm glass microscope slides may not fit if printed at a thicker layer.
Both PLA and PETG are great for this formicarium. The provided images and examples are using light gray PETG available here (https://amzn.to/3dBMde2)
Additional items needed to complete the formicarium.
- 25mm x 75mm Glass Microscope Slide: https://amzn.to/2JqhTVP
- Melamine/ PVA Sponge https://amzn.to/2YShMe6
- (Optional) Reptile Heating Cable: https://amzn.to/2UNQe6p
- (Optional) Blunt Tip 18GA Needle: https://amzn.to/2WVbMB2
- (Optional) 10ml Syringe Sterile: https://amzn.to/2Ur7wY9
While the intent is to allow users and local communities to download and print, or if it is not cost-effective to order additional supplies for one-off prints. You can purchase this item online at https://www.ohioants.com/product/
The Ohio-Ants (OA) community originated as a group of dedicated ant keeping enthusiasts in Ohio. The OA-Open Source initiative was created in efforts to support the increased interest in the hobby and provide better living conditions for ants. Find out more information about the OA-Open Source initiative and see a list of other open-source projects at https://www.ohioants.com/opensource
The OA-F25 Open-Source is licensed on the MIT license. Please consider submitting any changes you make back to the community for inclusion in the project.
Links included to third party sites may be monetized. Every little bit helps support the infrastructure of our open-source initiatives and will cost you nothing extra!