Sadly no. If ants are not well cared for or correctly sourced before being sent out they will arrive at your door weak or infertile and a greatly reduced chance of being successful and you waisted your money. Buy right the first time so you don't have to buy twice.

Most of the colonies of ants we sell we raise from single queens and the ones we don't we quarantine and inspect over the course of weeks before we send them out, each colony sent out is inspected for their health. All our colonies are fed organic food from our feed we sell or from the organic fed insects we feed our ants this ensures no pesticides affecting the ants.

We ship to both the United kingdom various shipping options including 24 hour delivery. European Union, shipping is back with UPS express Monday to Wednesday dispatch live arrival of queen is insured for free arrival time is usually 1-3 working days after dispatch. (We have closed EU shipping for winter and aim to resume EU shipping in March/April). If the weather is above 30 degrees Celsius or below zero degrees Celsius let us know.

Our shipping dates are Monday-Thursday. We operate a 1 working day processing time. Orders placed before 12PM during those days will be posted within the same day. Express 24-48 hours UPS can only be sent Monday to Wednesday. Should you require your delivery more urgently for example as a gift or present we can accommodate you can hit us an email and choose the fastest delivery method available at checkout.

We offer free insurance to our UK customers for every queen to arrive alive on arrival in this case we cover the postage cost we will issue a replacement free of charge or a refund. Please contact us within 24 hours with pictures. For our European customers we offer live arrival on delivery (this offer is only valid for the first attempt of delivery) in unlikely event your queen is dead on arrival we will ensure a replacement and we cover postage, or we will give you a refund. Be aware, International customers need to send us an unboxing video and contact us within 24 hours. We also have an extra 14-day warranty of each Queen from the date of arrival for our European ant species if kept in the original test tube they arrived in during this period UK postage is free in this case, but our EU customers will have to pay the cost of postage we supply the ants free. We do not offer insurance on any worker ants or eggs and brood. We will ask for photographic evidence and in rare cases ask for the package to be sent back and we will refund your postage costs on return of the item using our recommended couriers.

Acrylic all in one ant’s nest with an outworld attached is a good starter nest. Y-tong nest are also good as well as natural based set up. Do your research before you buy a nest.

First open the package check if their alive the Queen and workers. The ants will need to settle down and adjust from outside temperature to room temperature place the test tube somewhere dark and quiet and leave them for 3-4 hours to settle down. After this time has passed the ants will need some energy. Feed them some antsrus protein shake a drop the size of the queen’s head (we recommend breaking a small piece of cotton wool and placing the shake on their into the test tube or feed honey or sugar water 1 part honey/sugar to 3 parts water).

Usually, the bigger the colony and if they have brood, they require more food. On average feed the colony 3-4 days a week with a balanced diet of honey water, protein (insects (mealworms fruit flies), cooked chicken, cooked ham) and you can also add our famous shakes for a protein boost.

Ants will stay in a test tube if they prefer the conditions of the tube to a nest. Ants like it dark and humid make sure the nest area has moisture and is in darkness can use a cloth or red acetate sheet. Ants can take up to 2 to 3 weeks to transfer to a nest.

The ants will arrive in a plastic test tube small colonies 100mmx12mm test tube or 100mmx16mm tube and bigger colonies 150mm by 16mm tube.

Lasius niger, Lasius flavus, Messor barbarus, the more workers the better! 10 plus is ideal starting from a queen can also be fun, but it does take time to establish a colony in that case.Anything with 5 plus workers apart from those species in the European ant’s section are also beginner friendly.

We recommend Camponotus exotics such as parius or nicobarensis. The following species are also quite enduring Diacamma rogosum, Polyrhachis dives and any Pheidole exotics.

When the colony arrives the queen usually hides in the corner and plays dead as they are sensitive to light and movement. If the queen is not on her back, she is most likely not dead in the rare event you think she is dead please send a picture of the queen in her test tube with your order number to antsrus1@gmail.com