Buying an Ant Farm Starter Kit? Complete Sets for Beginners

Gypsum Ant Farm Starter Set – Especially for Harvester Ants (Messor barbarus)

Discover the fascinating world of the harvester ant with this high-quality gypsum ant farm starter set! The Messor barbarus is by far one of the most fun and engaging ant species to keep, thanks to their unique behavior of collecting seeds and processing them into 'ant bread'. This basic kit contains the perfect gypsum nest and arena for this species. Assemble the set completely to your liking: choose the loose hardware or directly select the desired size of your starter colony!

Choose the size of your ant colony yourself:

Because we want to make the hobby accessible to everyone, you can order this set as a basic starter kit or combine it directly with a healthy Messor barbarus colony in the size that suits you:

• Without ants: Only the complete hardware (nest, arena, and accessories) – ideal if you already have a colony.
• Beginner colony (10+ workers): The perfect, gentle start. You will see the colony grow together from a small beginning.
• Growing colony (20+ workers): More activity in the arena from day one.
• Large starter colony (50+ workers): For the ultimate experience. Immediately plenty of activity, nest connection, and often larger workers (majors) -> impressive dynamics in the gypsum nest!

Contents of this starter set:

• Gypsum Ant Farm Major (2 connection openings)
• Town Square Arena (15x10x9 cm – 2 connections)
• Full-color, multilingual instruction booklet with clear step-by-step plan and complete explanation to successfully start your hobby
• Connection hose (can be cut to size)
• Test tube connector
• Ant Docking Station (protects the queen and her ant colony)
• Protective film for the nest area
• Moisture sprayer for accurate moistening of the reservoir

Why is a gypsum nest perfect for Harvester Ants?

Harvester ants have specific requirements for their living environment. They need good moisture gradation: a humid area for brood care (eggs and larvae) and a bone-dry area for storing their winter supply of seeds.

The sleekly designed gypsum nest provides the perfect solution. Each nest is completely handmade and equipped with a unique central moisture reservoir. This naturally creates humid chambers around the core, while the outer chambers remain dry. The shallow inner chambers (4 mm) are perfect for optimal observation, while the deeper outer chambers (7 mm) will be immediately used by the harvester ants as grain silos.

Thanks to our years of experience, this set includes a beautiful full-color instruction booklet. This multilingual manual guides you through the start-up phase with a clear step-by-step plan, so you know exactly how to best care for the colony and successfully build up the hobby.

We developed this set as part of our ‘Master Series’ – a high-quality line of ant farms with maximum durability and functionality. Because each nest is handmade, the color may vary slightly.

Specifications & Technical Data:

• Gypsum nest length: 15 cm
• Gypsum nest width: 10 cm
• Gypsum nest thickness: 3 cm (chamber depth 4–7 mm for optimal seed storage)
• Arena size: 15x10x9 cm
• Gypsum nest connections: 2 × 10 mm (easily expandable)
• Arena connections: 2 × 10 mm
• Number of chambers: 8
• Capacity: Suitable for a colony of up to ±200 ants
• Moisturization: Central moisture reservoir (effective for 1-2 weeks)
• Ventilation: Equipped with an escape-proof arena ventilation lid

Premium Ant Farm Plaster Set XL – The ultimate start with 100+ Harvester Ants

Do you want instant activity, larger workers (majors), and impressive dynamics from day one? The Premium Plaster Set XL is our most complete and luxurious setup, specially designed for the fascinating Messor barbarus (harvester ant). This super complete Master Series set not only contains high-quality components but also a large, healthy colony with a queen, brood, and at least 100 workers!

Contents of this Premium XL set:

• Ant colony Messor barbarus (100+ workers!) with queen and brood
• Full-color instruction booklet with a clear step-by-step plan and complete explanation
• Ant farm Plaster General (including a handy Plaster General stand)
• City Square Arena (Luxurious, large arena of 20x13x12 cm with 2 connection openings)
• City Hill, City Design decoration set & Arena Backdrop for a beautiful natural look
• Deluxe feeding set with seed mix (including sugar water, honeydew, fruit flies, jelly, pipette, and deluxe feeding tray)
• Heat cable for optimal nest temperature
• Antcover & Protection sleeve (for a safe, darkened nest area)
• One meter of connection tubing & test tube connector
• 10 ml moisture syringe for precise reservoir moistening
• Magnifying glass

Why choose the Premium Messor Plaster Set?

We can well imagine that choosing can be difficult given all the options. That's why we have put together this special set, ensuring you have the best and most successful start possible.

The heart of this setup is the Ant Farm Plaster General. This robust plaster nest is entirely handmade and specially designed with a unique central moisture reservoir. From the center of the nest, you can easily regulate the humidity with the included syringe.

The chambers in the middle around the moisture reservoir are shallow (8 mm), allowing you to perfectly observe the queen and brood. The outer chambers are deeper (12 mm), which is ideal for a large colony of 100+ ants to safely store their winter supply of seeds and ant bread dry. All chambers are interconnected; be amazed at how the ants organize this space independently!

Thanks to our many years of experience, this set includes a beautiful full-color instruction booklet. This manual guides you through the startup phase with a clear step-by-step plan, so you know exactly how to best care for this large colony and optimally use the heat cable.

Because our plaster nests are hand-poured and assembled, the color scheme and material may vary slightly per product, making each nest unique.

Specifications & Technical data:

• Plaster nest size: 14 x 14 x 4 cm (chamber depth varying from 8 to 12 mm)
• Arena size: 20 x 13 x 12 cm (spacious City Square version)
• Plaster nest connections: 2 × 10 mm (on both sides for easy expansion)
• Arena connections: 2 × 10 mm
• Number of nest chambers: 10
• Nest capacity: Suitable for hundreds (or even a few thousand) ants
• Moisturizing: Central moisture system (1-2 weeks effective)
• Ventilation: Escape-proof arena ventilation lid

The most complete and largest ant farm set in the world

Are you looking for the absolute ultimate experience in the ant hobby and only the very best and largest is good enough? Welcome to the Mega Messor Extended Set. This is demonstrably the most complete and gigantic gypsum ant farm setup available on the world market. Perfect for an impressive display at home, but due to its enormous scale and immediate activity, also ideally suited for schools, biology classrooms, institutions, and businesses.

Includes a gigantic colony of 250+ Harvester Ants

With this set, you bypass the cautious start-up phase. You immediately receive a huge, perfectly healthy Messor barbarus (harvester ant) colony with a queen, plenty of brood, and at least 250+ workers. This means that from the very first minute, you will witness impressive logistics, active seed processing (making ant bread), and the deployment of impressively large 'major' soldier workers.

Contents of this Extended Set:

• Ant colony Messor barbarus (250+ workers!) with queen and brood
• Full-color instruction booklet with a clear step-by-step plan and complete explanation for a successful start
• Ant Farm Gypsum Emperor (Our absolute top model and also largest nest)
• Includes Gypsum Emperor stand.
• Gigantic Arena (25x16x15 cm)
• Design backdrop and complete furnishing set for the arena
• Includes free arena stand!
• Deluxe feeding set with seed mix (sugar water, honeydew, fruit flies, jelly, pipette, and deluxe feeding plate)
• Heating cable 1 meter for the perfect breeding temperature
• Antcover (protection for the nest part)
• Extra-large 20 ml moisture syringe for precise humidification of the reservoir
• One meter of high-quality connection hose
• Magnifying glass

Why the Gypsum Emperor is the ultimate setup:

We can well imagine that making a choice is difficult when seeing all the options. With this super-complete set, you simply choose the 'thickest start' available worldwide.

The showpiece of this setup is the Ant Farm Gypsum Emperor. This massive, robust gypsum nest is entirely handmade and features no less than 16 deep chambers. Thanks to the unique central moisture system, you can perfectly regulate the humidity from the core with the included 20 ml syringe.

The chambers around the moisture reservoir are shallow (8 mm) for perfect and unobstructed viewing of the queen and eggs. The outer chambers are extra deep (12 mm). This is crucial for a large colony of harvester ants, as they can store their winter supply of seeds and ant bread here on a gigantic scale, keeping them bone dry. The ant farm and the spacious arena are equipped with multiple connections (10 mm) on both sides, allowing you to endlessly expand this kingdom in the future.

Because our gypsum nests are cast and assembled by hand based on our years of breeding experience, each nest is unique, and the color scheme may vary slightly.

Specifications & Technical data:

• Gypsum nest size: 40 x 25 x 4 cm (Massive Emperor size with 16 chambers!)
• Chamber depth: Varying from 8 mm (observation) to 12 mm (seed storage)
• Arena size: 26 x 16 x 11 cm (Equipped with 4 connection possibilities of 10 mm)
• Gypsum nest connections: 2 × 10 mm (on both sides)
• Nest capacity: Suitable for hundreds to even thousands of ants
• Humidification: Central Emperor moisture system (1-2 weeks effective)
• Ventilation: Escape-proof arena ventilation lid

Sand Ant Farm Starter Set – Natural Digging Behavior for Harvester Ants (Messor barbarus)

Do you want to keep ants in the most natural way? In this classic sand ant farm, the ants dig their own chambers and tunnels, exactly as they do in nature. The Messor barbarus (harvester ant) is exceptionally suitable for this. This starter set is constructed from high-quality, transparent plexiglass and combines the nest part and the arena in one sleek setup. Customize the set below entirely to your liking.

Choose the size of your ant colony yourself:

Easily assemble your set using the options on this page. Choose for the bare hardware kit OR combine directly with a healthy Messor barbarus colony in the size that suits you:

• Without ants: Only the complete hardware (nest, arena and accessories) – ideal if you already have a colony yourself.
• Beginner colony (10+ workers): The perfect, gentle start. You will see the colony grow together from a small beginning.
• Growing colony (20+ workers): More activity in the nest and arena from day one.
• Large starter colony (50+ workers): Immediate full activity, larger workers (majors) and impressive dynamics when digging!

Contents of this starter set:

• Sand Ant Farm (Nest part 15x15x1.4 cm)
• Integrated Town Square Arena (15x10x9 cm) with ventilated lid
• Full colour, multilingual instruction booklet with a clear step-by-step plan and complete explanation to successfully start your hobby
• Special Sand-Loam filling (300 grams) – the ideal mix for sturdy, collapse-proof tunnels
• Ant Docking Station (for optimal positioning and protection of the test tube)
• Moisture spray for precise humidification of the sand
• Connection hose & test tube connector

True craftsmanship from the Netherlands

We make this Ant Farm sand set entirely by hand in-house in the Netherlands! Because we manually produce and assemble each product, you may, from very close up or under bright lighting, notice small, slight imperfections (such as tiny specks or edges). We naturally do everything we can to deliver each nest as neat and precise as possible.

Both the nest part and the arena are equipped with 10 mm connection openings on both sides. This allows you to effortlessly connect extra modules or a larger outworld to the set in the future. You can eventually build an enormous ant city!

When starting up, please keep in mind that a colony needs to get used to the new environment initially. They will first develop further from their protected test tube before they start digging. Raising a colony therefore always requires some patience at the beginning, but it rewards you with a beautiful, natural spectacle.

Specifications & Technical data:

Nest Specifications:

• Material: High-quality, transparent plexiglass
• Nest part size: 15 x 15 cm (Internal depth: 1.4 cm for perfect viewing)
• Number of chambers: 1 large basic chamber, the ants arrange the chambers themselves by digging
• Connections: 2 × 10 mm (on both sides)
• Capacity: Suitable for a colony of up to ±500 ants
• Humidification: Manually via the moisture spray (keep the sand partially lightly moist)

Arena Features:

• Arena size: 15 x 10 x 9 cm
• Accessibility: Directly connected to the nest part via connection hoses
• Connections: 2 × 10 mm
• Ventilation: Equipped with escape-proof openings in the lid
• Accessibility: Fully openable via the lid for easy feeding and cleaning