The UK’s Trusted Store for Ant Keeping
We supply everything you need, from beginner colonies and formicarium to specialised foods, to build thriving, long-lasting ant empires at home
New products!
Frequently asked questions
Hints and tips
The single most important piece of advice for beginner ant keepers is to prioritise leaving new queens undisturbed for an extended period. While the urge to constantly check on them is understandable, it's crucial to resist. Frequent inspections stress the queen, often causing her to cease egg-laying until she feels secure. Providing a dark and vibration-free environment for at least two weeks at a time is essential before any observation. Light and vibrations can significantly impede their development.
Newly established queen ants possess sufficient energy reserves from the muscles previously used for flight and do not require feeding initially. Once the first workers emerge, you can offer small amounts of food, being sure to remove any uneaten food within 1-2 days to prevent mold.
For additional beginner tips and guidance, please visit our blog:
We can usually make variations of current products. Just ask!
Get in touch about bulk orders to discuss discounts
We only ship live ants to the UK and will only send next day delivery. We don't dispatch on a Friday due to potential delay
Upcoming shows
We will be attending a few events this year (TBC), we will also be hosting the Ant Show UK, see info below:
29th March 2026 - Northern Invertebrate Show - information here
25th April 2026 - Ant Show UK - Milton Keynes - A show dedicated to ants! Featuring the leading stores in the hobby, find information and tickets at www.antshowuk.com
9th June 2026 - Northwestern Invertebrate show - Wigan - find information here
4th October 2026 - Central Invertebrate show - Coventry - find information here
We'd love to meet you so please do drop in and say hi.
We have a Facebook group which is growing rapidly. Please do join - you can post pictures and videos of your colonies and nests and let us know how they're getting on. Click here to visit the group AFS Ant Keeping Community
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Fantastic product and customer service from AFS. Both of my new queens and broods moved into the foundling terras from the test tubes on there own within hours, I have a few different products from AFS and the build quality is great on everything. I ordered a second delivery in the same week as my first due to the products are far superior to others I already have
Phil, 30 Jan 2025
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Absolutely fantaatic product, delivery was exactly as requested.
The founding terra is easy to get put together and very beginner friendly.
After sales care has also been perfect.
Will be buying lots more.
Craig, 29 Oct 2024
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Brought one of these from AFS at a show and after a week of owning it I ordered another 2, the quality is amazing
daniel scotcher, 16 Oct 2024
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The order arrived quickly & my son quickly set it up with his 'Queen' who promptly (to our delight & surprise) laid her first eggs! Thanks so much. We'll be buying from you again. Your advice too is much appreciated. 😊
Claire Payne, 23 Jul 2022
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The quality is really good and everything fits in place just right with no gaps, good price for the things you get, will buy from this store again!
Ellie, 03 Jun 2022
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Very good product, constructed very well and very good customer service 👍 Will refer to everyone about this company's products!!!!
Brian, 03 Jul 2022
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I had expected something that'd last a season, but it seems really well made. I bought 2 products for a couple of small rubra queens. I have no doubt these could easily be used to house up to 100+ without much of a problem, the top sliding plastic fits really well, the test tubes fit really well too. My existing fit on the same. 1 test tube purchased from another company doesnt fit very well at all, I made it work though. Highly recommend this product to anyone who has just got a queen.
mjbowman07, 07 Aug 2022