How to Set Up an Outworld for Your Ant Colony

If you are new to ant keeping, you might have heard the word outworld and wondered what it is exactly. Simply put, an outworld is a separate foraging area connected to your formicarium where your ants can roam, find food and water, and generally behave as they would in nature. It is not a luxury add-on — it is a core part of a healthy ant setup. This guide walks you through everything you need to know to get yours right.

What Is an Outworld and Why Does It Matter?

In the wild, ants separate their nest from their foraging area. The nest stays clean, temperature-controlled, and safe. The foraging area is where all the activity happens — food collection, waste disposal, and exploration. An outworld replicates this in captivity.

Without an outworld, your ants will try to use their nest as a foraging and waste area. That leads to a dirtier nest, stressed workers, and a harder time for you when it comes to feeding. With a good outworld setup, feeding is easy, cleaning is straightforward, and your ants will be noticeably more active and content.

Choosing the Right Size Outworld

The outworld should match the size of your colony. A small founding queen with a handful of workers does not need a large foraging arena — a small container roughly the size of a shoebox lid is plenty. As your colony grows, you upgrade the outworld to match.

A general rule: the outworld should be at least as large as the nest, and ideally two to three times larger for colonies above a few hundred workers. Ants with too small a foraging space tend to become agitated and will attempt escape more often.

What to Put Inside the Outworld

Keep the outworld simple and easy to clean. The basic items you need are a food dish, a water dish or tube, and an anti-escape coating along the top edge (such as Fluon or PTFE). Beyond that, you can add decorative elements like cork bark pieces, small plants, or substrate — but these are optional.

For water, use a small test tube or cotton-plugged syringe rather than an open dish. Open water sources are a drowning risk, particularly for small workers. For food, place dead insects, seeds (for seed-eating species like Messor barbarus), or sugar water on a small dish that is easy to remove and replace.

Connecting the Outworld to Your Formicarium

The connection between nest and outworld is usually made with a flexible tube, typically 6mm or 9mm inner diameter depending on the species. Smaller species like Lasius niger work well with 6mm tubing. Larger species like Camponotus need the wider 9mm option.

Drill a hole in the side of both containers that matches the outer diameter of the tube, then push the tube through and seal around it if needed with a little silicone. The tube should be short enough that the ants feel comfortable using it — very long runs of tubing can make timid colonies reluctant to forage.

If you want to temporarily block access between nest and outworld (for example during cleaning), use a small cork or a piece of cotton wool as a plug.

Anti-Escape: The Most Important Step

No outworld setup is complete without a proper anti-escape barrier. Ants are excellent climbers and will find their way out of any smooth-sided container if given the chance. Apply a thin band of Fluon or PTFE spray to the inner top edge of the outworld and let it dry. Once in place, ants cannot grip the surface and will not be able to climb past it. For more details on this, see our full guide on how to prevent ants from escaping.

Keeping the Outworld Clean

Ants are naturally clean creatures and will often designate a corner of the outworld as a waste dump. Remove old food every day or two to prevent mould. If you notice a pile of debris or dead workers accumulating in one spot, that is the waste area — clean it out every week.

When the outworld needs a deeper clean, block off the tube connection, move your ants back to the nest side, and wipe everything down. Most outworld containers are fully washable — another reason to keep the setup simple.

Ready to Get Started?

Esthetic Ants in Schinveld stocks everything you need to set up a proper outworld, from tubing and anti-escape supplies to complete ant keeping setups. Browse our shop at estheticants.com and ship anywhere in the Netherlands and EU.