Ethics of owning ant farms

they're just ants, anon.

File: Xuan-Xuan-font-b-arboreal-b-font-ants-harvest-mansion-acrylic-font-b-arched-b-font.jpg (60KB, 640x465px) Image search: [Google]

60KB, 640x465px

>>2476286
Ants have no concept of happiness. They only care if a nest is suitable for them and their brood or not.

But these classic ant farms are antiquated shit that aren't really great for keeping ants. Something like pic related is much better.

File: lxc5se6g1l9h.png (825KB, 800x485px) Image search: [Google]

825KB, 800x485px

or this

File: Compressed_0166.jpg (378KB, 800x600px) Image search: [Google]

378KB, 800x600px

or this.

Could I just get an aquarium off of craigslist, fill it accordingly so they have different layers of earth with different nutritional values and put some seeds in it? Also, would I be able to see those sick tunnels?

>>2476338
You might want to look up how to actually keep ants first, that will make the remaining questions a lot easier to answer and stop you from saying stuff like "earth with different nutritional values" or "put some seeds in it"

>>2476313
What are the tunnels made of?
Or could the ant dig elsewhere, away from your view?

>>2476359
I second these questions.

>>2476286
>literal low level, low I/O input robots
>ethics
Lmao

Individual ants are basically like the cells in a large organism. They don't think or feel about anything.

they're ants you faggot, whose side are you on

I had an ant farm as a kid and one day my older sister shook it and they all died

Traditional ant farms are quite bad. Not only are the conditions ill suited for the ants, but the fact that they often just contain workers and no queen means you've isolated a small group of social creatures. It's like stranding a person on island. I'd argue that it's a little unethical.

Modern ant farms, usually referred to as formicaria in the hobby, are much better. They're designed to create a livable environment and encourage colony growth. These are almost always used with an actual colony with a queen, meaning the ants can grow and live their lives properly.

>>2476359
>>2476375
Those sort of nests are made out of materials like grout, hydrostone, plaster of paris, or ytong. Most ant species wouldn't be able to dig into them.

AntsCanada has some neat and simple designs for full colonies you can steal designs from.

>>2476599
Ants really are not social in that sense. There's a difference between being a part of a machine and being a part of a human social group. Don't anthropomorphize ants with your psychological projections.

They're fucking ants, anon

>>2476613
Ants are eusocial. That's not a projection, that's biology. Don't mischaracterize their behavior as robotic just because you don't have a good grasp of it.

>>2476613
>>2476717
Btfo like a giant fucking bitch!

>>2476295
>>2476443
>>2476650
These

>>2476310
>>2476599

The old school kids' way of just grabbing random ants off the side isn't the greatest way to do things even from a "just wanting a cool ant colony to watch" viewpoint. Finding a nuptial queen and helping her establish a true colony is better.

>>2476295
>>2476405
>>2476443
>>2476650
So what are you saying, it is morally okay to kill an ant because they're not smart or have feelings? It's still a life.

>>2477122
By this logic you must be morally opposed to killing skin mites by showering or crushing random small insects by walking.

>>2477124
The difference is I don't do those on purpose, it just happens. It's collateral damage from just being alive.

>>2477122
Yes

>>2477122
You commit genocide when you mow your lawn

>>2477141
You can be alive without washing off those poor skin mites, and without stepping on insects.

>>2477122
I'll bet you define a human fetus as a "clump of cells" and not a separate entity.

>>2476443
W-what are the options?