Description
The ChamberNest is a simple nest built for medium colonies that are ready to grow. It gives an expanding colony room to spread out: a set of clean-cut chambers to live in, plus an attached foraging area where your ants forage, feed, and drink.
The chambers are cut to mimic the tight, cozy spaces that many ground-nesting ants naturally look for, so the colony settles in quickly. The top lifts off if you ever need to get the colony out quickly.
- Foraging area: about 3.75 × 3.75 × 3.35 in (9.5 × 9.5 × 8.5 cm)
- Nesting area: about 3.4 × 3.4 × 1.2 in (8.6 × 8.6 × 3 cm)
- Material: plaster
- Best for: growing colonies
- Features: clean-cut chambers for easy viewing · mesh lid for ventilation · raised rim around the lid to help prevent escapes · water port for easy hydration
- Lift-off top: for getting the colony out quickly in an emergency
- Includes: a blunt-tipped syringe for adding water
Adding water
The ChamberNest stays humid through a water port. To hydrate it, pull out the plug, fit the tip of the included blunt-tipped syringe into the port, and add a small amount of water. The plaster soaks it up and releases the moisture slowly into the chambers. Start with a little, watch how the nest responds over a day or two, and top up as needed — it’s easier to add more water than to dry out a soggy nest.
A note on the material
The ChamberNest is made from plaster, which is lighter and softer than the gypsum cement we use in most of our other nests. That keeps it affordable and easy to work with, but it also means the walls scratch and wear more easily. Handle it gently, and keep it to less destructive species. It’s not the right home for harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex, Messor, Veromessor) or highly destructive diggers like Pheidole (big-headed ants) — colonies like those will chew and excavate a plaster nest apart. Camponotus (carpenter ants) do just fine in it.
FAQ
Which ants is the ChamberNest good for? Growing colonies of less destructive species — the kind of ants that like snug, dark chambers. Camponotus (carpenter ants) do well in it. Avoid harvester ants and highly destructive species like Pheidole, since they’ll wear down the softer plaster.
How is it different from the PocketNest? The ChamberNest is a larger version of the same idea — same material and chamber design, just more foraging and nesting space for a colony that’s outgrowing the PocketNest.
How do I add water? Remove the plug from the water port, insert the included blunt-tipped syringe, and add a small amount of water. Refill when the nest starts to look dry. (See “Adding water” above for more.)
How often will I need to water it? It depends on your room’s temperature and humidity. Check every few days at first to learn your nest’s rhythm, then settle into a routine. Add a little at a time rather than flooding it.
Does it come with an outworld? Yes. A foraging area is attached to the nest, so your ants have space to forage, feed, and drink right out of the box — no separate outworld to buy. You can still connect a larger one later as the colony grows.
When should I move my colony in? Wait until the colony is big enough to fill about a quarter of the nest’s chamber space. Ant sizes vary too much for a worker count to mean much — go by how much of the nest the colony would take up. Moving in too early leaves a small colony rattling around in space it can’t defend or keep humid. Connect the founding tube to the nest and let the ants move themselves over on their own schedule.