Formicarium Rectangle XL

My Messor barbarus ant colony was growing very fast, and I was housing them in several small formicaria,  so I decided to make an extra large formicarium for them. Once I connected the new nest, they quickly started exploring it and after a while the whole colony was moving to their new nest. I now have two of this XL formicaria in my setup and my ants like it very much.

I also made a removable cover for the formicarium, so the ants have a nice dark living space. I use a test tube with a blue sponge and water to keep the moisture at a good level. The blue sponge rests on another (yellow) sponge, so the water can evaporate. The entrance to the test tube is blocked by a small metal mesh.

The four entrances to the nest have replaceable connectors for a 10mm clear hose. The connectors I don't use are blocked with cotton balls.

I use 3mm brass inserts to hold the screws for the lid in place. I have cut the lid from some clear acrylic myself and drilled the holes in it, but I included a dxf file for use with a laser cutter or CNC router.

This was the first real formicarium I designed myself using Onshape. You can view the design using this link: Formicarium Rectangle XL.

Printing instructions

Because the base of this model is very large, it barely fits on my Ender-6 build plate. But I can print it when I use the following settings in my slicer:

• Don't print a skirt around the model, because that won't fit on the print bed.

Update 2023-10-29:

I added a version with smaller screw holes, so you can use M3 screws without brass inserts.