Small Ant Nest with Swappable Connections

thingiverse

Hello! I designed this small ant nest with the ability to use it either standing up or laying down in mind. There are 2 entrances that use a screw-in system to easily connect to other things. It uses 3mm bolts at 20mm long. Or 19mm if not using washers. There's a small opening at the side for inserting a pipette to (slowly) fill the reservoir with water. The reservoir should be packed with cotton to hold the water. I use 2 cotton wool pads, but any cotton or sponge should do. My colony is still too small to move in, so I haven't actually tested this with ants yet. This was designed in Blender. The file is too large for Thingiverse, but you can download it from the Printables page: https://www.printables.com/model/517483 <b>The test tube adapter has been made to fit into the glass 150x16mm test tubes that come with a Wakooshi nest. I'm not sure if other brands would be sized differently, but do let me know!</b> <b>Tips for printing the cap with air holes:</b> In your slicer, disable top and bottom solid layers, and use a grid-pattern infill at 80%. <b>Tips for printing the tunnels with humidity holes:</b> You will need a slicer that allows you to set separate print settings for different objects on the print bed. I use Prusa Slicer. Use the extra Tunnel Block files to get the combination you want, and set them to print in the same position. There's a rectangle border in these files to help position them correctly. For the floor piece that you want to have holes in, disable top and bottom solid layers and use a grid-pattern infill at 80%. <b>Tips for making the acrylic window:</b> I used a 2mm sheet of clear acrylic. I drew around a "Clear_Acrylic_Template.stl" print onto the sheet's protective paper as a guide. I snapped it roughly to size by scoring the surface with a knife and snapping off the excess on the edge of a table. I then used a metal file to file down the edges and the rounded corners to the correct size. I then assembled the Outer Housing, Tunnel Block and the acrylic without screwing anything in. I flipped it over and used the screw holes on the back to guide a 3mm drill bit all the way through to the acrylic. Remove the protective paper from the acrylic and you're done! If your edges are a bit sharp and jagged, you can use a small, wet piece of 800-1000 grit sandpaper to gently smooth the edges. Be very careful not to sand the surface of the acrylic sheet, otherwise it will scratch. <b>Okay but why not make it easier and design it with squared corners?</b> I just think it looks nicer, and it's really not very difficult to file the rounded corners. Promise! Just go slow and file a bit at a time until it fits. https://www.reddit.com/link/14o0cwj/video/opjjvo5bzd9b1/player