Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 10x10x1 Nest Review

Hi guys! I hope you’re doing well!

Today I'm going to review a really cool ant nest made by the company Anthouse. You can find the nest here!

Let’s see if it’s any good!

General Info

This one is called Acrylic NaturColor 10x10x1, the one with foam as the humidity system.

As the name suggests, the nest is made of a particular type of transparent acrylic. The quality of the material is amazing, and the fact that the pieces are cut with laser technology accuracy makes it even better.

The nest comes in 10 different colors: yellow, orange, black, green, blue, turquoise, red, purple, and brown. There’s even a transparent option, which is the one I decided to get.

In my opinion, the transparent one is the better choice if you’re interested in observing the ants. The colored ones look awesome, but they can occasionally create some limitations if your main goal is to clearly see the ants' behavior inside the nest.

That’s because the colored nests create a lower contrast with the ants, making it harder to spot interesting details.

The nest has a square shape and measures 10cm in length, 10cm in width, and 1cm in height. The nesting area is perfect for housing a small to medium-sized colony of a relatively small species, like Lasius niger or Messor barbarus.

If you want to use this nest for a very small species like Tetramorium caespitum or Pheidole pallidula, the size is sufficient for housing a fairly large colony aged 1 or 2 years.

The Humidity System

The nest includes a humidity system, which consists of a small sponge placed at the center of the nest. The sponge is positioned strategically, enabling moisture to cover all the chambers of the nest.

After testing the nest with a Lasius niger colony, I can confidently say that this humidity system does its job fairly well. The moisture level remains constant for some time, but sadly not for more than 3 days.

The only negative thing I can mention is that the sponge is not very large, in my opinion, compared to the size of the nest. For this reason, to maintain a constant moisture level, you must refill it every 2 or 3 days, depending on the room temperature.

If you want to house an ant species that has very strict needs in terms of moisture, and may suffer if the environment becomes too dry, this is probably not the best choice for you.

If a high humidity level is needed, I suggest opting for another type of nest, like this one!. This 3D-printed ant nest is based on the gold standard of starter nests, the test tube setup, and it's the perfect option if you want to found a colony starting just from a single newly mated queen ant!

On the other hand, if the ants you plan to keep in there don't require an extremely high humidity level, this Anthouse nest can provide a very comfortable home for your little friends!

The Chambers

The chambers of this nest are designed to resemble the natural shape of those found in a real ant nest. The internal space is optimized well, giving the ants plenty of room to inhabit.

This nest features a clever system for dividing the chambers to ensure the ants have the right amount of space they need. As you probably know, if the nest housing a colony is too big for its current size, it can stress the ants.

They may also start accumulating trash in some chambers, increasing the odds of a mold outbreak. To avoid this issue, you must provide the colony with the appropriate amount of space they need.

With this nest, once the colony has grown to a certain size and filled all the currently available chambers, you can expand the space by opening this little door.

By doing so, you unlock another set of chambers, expanding the space without needing to connect another nest.

The Outworld

The nest also features a small outworld, perfect for feeding the ants without needing to connect an external one. The outworld has a round shape and measures 4cm x 4cm.

The lid is made of two acrylic plates, stuck together by a bolt. Despite being very small, the outworld even has space for escape prevention oil! If you're planning to add an external outworld to this nest, I suggest checking out this article!.

In this review, I provide a detailed look at a very cool and spacious outworld made by Esthetic Ants. This outworld is perfect for a medium-sized ant colony and is an ideal add-on to this nest!

Connections

Included with this nest, and with most Anthouse products, you will receive these particular acrylic connectors.

They are quite useful if you want to expand the nest by connecting an additional nest or an external outworld, given that the included one is very small.

The first one is not really a connector; it’s more like an entrance blocker. It’s used to block the main nest port, very handy if you plan to use the nest as it is, without expansions.

The second one is designed for attaching a test tube to the nest, facilitating the initial move of your ants.

The last one is a standard male connector for tubes. You can easily use it to connect a vinyl tube with an internal diameter of 10mm, perfect for almost every ant size!

The Top Lid

As an additional accessory, you can purchase the top lid, made of a special type of red transparent acrylic. This is very useful if you want to create a dark space for your colony, as most ant species do not see the red light spectrum.

This lid is great, as it also covers the sides of the nest!

I hope you have found this guide helpful!

If you’re interested in the company and want to check out some other products, you will definitely enjoy this review of another Anthouse nest! This one is perfect if you’re just starting out or if you have a smaller colony!