Who We Are?
How It All Started
When I was a kid, I used to live opposite a oil palm plantation. Every evening, I will be out to catch grasshoppers even though there are mosquitoes and I am afraid of amphibians and reptiles. I also caught some ants and put them into a cup and kept them in my room. My sister threw it away because the ants were running all over. I also caught houseflies and put them in an empty jam jar just to watch them fly and crawl around which then ended up in the dumpster by my mom. Whenever I visit my aunt, I will be catching spiders at her house and let them eat each other. Cruel, I know. But hey, I’m not even 10 back then.
July 2017 was when it all started. I saw a video appear on my Facebook feed, and I saw fire ants stinging a roach that is giving birth. My eyes and jaw are wide open. That is when I realized that ants can actually be pets. I explored and learned everything I can find about ant keeping until I saw a Nylanderia sp. queen crawled into the USB port of my housemate’s laptop. In two months time, I have successfully raised seven ant colonies from single queens (four of them are Oecophylla smaragdina).
AntsDIY YouTube channel started in October 2017 with one sole purpose; that is to let others know that I’m making DIY formicariums for myself and I am selling off the extras. Eventually the YouTube channel grew beyond its original purpose, that is to educate others that ants can be pets and they are intelligently designed by an Intelligent Designer. It wasn’t easy as I’m the only ant YouTuber in Malaysia and there weren’t much of us ant enthusiasts back then.
On December 2, 2020, AntsDIY Trading (003207878-U) was established. By applying the knowledge of mechanical engineering design and 3D printing technology, AntsDIY Trading became the first ant kit Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) in Malaysia. With constant R&D of what an ideal formicarium should be, we nudge our ant keeping products a little bit closer to perfect with every variation. This is because AntsDIY Trading only has one aim, which is to spread this ant love in Malaysia and all over the world, by producing high quality and affordable ant farms for even students who are financially dependent on their parents.
Our Core Values
- The truth shall set us free.
- Create awareness of the hobby via education.
- High quality, low price.
- Only sell local ant species.
- Do not export ants.