Our policies

Before we begin:
DO NOT remove the security seal from your queens test-tube
removing this seal will void any and all warranties we provide for her arrival unless we have instructed you to remove it.

My Queen/Colony has been delivered with 12 hours (UK) STANDARD SHIPPING

We are sorry this bad and unfortunate luck has affected you. We advise all customers to use our TRACKED LIVE ARRIVAL service when shipping queens to help reduce this risk to both the colony and to you as the customer. The Benefits of TRACKED LIVE ARRIVAL SHIPPING include: You will get a next day service (in most cases). You receive a text and/or email with your delivery time on a fully tracked service You benefit from our live arrival guarantee You benefit from our 12 hour guarantee The Faster service will help your queen arrive much better rested and faster.
My Queen/colony has been delivered with 12 hours (UK) TRACKED LIVE ARRIVAL GUARANTEE service

Queens as live animals is excluded from the Distance Selling Regulations rights of return. However we have our Happy Queen Guarantee to give you protection from this if you have used our tracked service as your shipping method. if you have any concerns about your queen or colony;: There is a security seal on the end of the test tube, DO NOT BREAK THIS SEAL as this is your acceptance of the colony in their current condition! This security seal is the only way that we know your colony is exactly how it left us and all returns will be with this intact. This is your queens number and its number matches our records and your certificate. PLEASE NOTE: Only the life of your queen is covered by this warranty. Worker count is an approximation but used to determine the developmental stage of a colony. Workers who do not make the journey are not covered by any warranty. If (in the unlikely event) we have miscounted your workers, we will refund the difference of their value once a clear video has been sent showing the workers in focus as well as the security seal intact. Your Guarantee is valid providing: you selected the LIVE ARRIVAL TRACKED service for your colony to be shipped with. Your security seal is intact You did not miss your delivery, this is crucial... if you do she must be picked up the same day delivery was attempted. Your queen must have been delivered to physical address (Not Virtual - Virtual addresses guarantee finishes when the queen reaches her first destination) You have contacted us as soon as you have concerns for your queen (within 12 hours of delivery) Zoomed in on your phone to ensure she is not just cold from the trip, if her antennae move - she is all good. You will need to: Send us a clear video by email/messenger/instagram of your queen Send us a clear picture of the queens tube (and of the security seal at the end) If she did not make it we will ask you to return her to us (at our cost) and we will replace her and send a replacement too you. If we have no more of the species then we will refund your payment to us as credit to be placed against a new queen of your choice. Please note, once the 12 hour window has lapsed we no longer offer a warranty on your queen or workers count difference. We may extend this warranty however up to 7 days providing a queen with concerns (not worker count) is notified to us within the 12 hour window. We reserve the right to not extend any warranty should we feel it not required.
My queen is purchased from with the EU or R.O.T.W

Sales to overseas countries are sadly excluded from our live arrival guarantee(s) Purchasers are responsible for their own countries import laws and requirements. We are not able to keep abreast of so many countries individual requirements and as such we cannot accept responsibility for delays, seizures or deaths during the process. You are required to fulfill any legal requirements and we simply "pack and ship". If you would like a faster shipping service than Royal Mail (and your local provider) then please contact us to quote an Express service. SALES CANCELLATIONS AND FEES If your queen or colony is not delivered as you have not paid customs fees on your parcel or imported correctly, a returned queen will have a restocking fee of 20%+shipping cost. This will be deducted from any refund. If your queen is returned to us dead, no refund will be permitted. IF WE HAVE TO CANCEL YOUR ORDER If we have to cancel your order because you have ordered a queen or colony during a time we do not ship, or on the incorrect service, then there will be a 5% fee deducted from your refund. This is because payment providers no longer rebate the fees and a 2.5% is charged to us for the transaction and again for the refund.
My ants have been returned to sender.

This can happen for a number of reasons. It could be that the delivery was refused, address was incorrect and not found, or overseas customs have been unable to recover duties for whatever reason. In this instance we have policies in place to cover returned ants: Returned Ants In the event your colony is returned to us at any point of its journey to you, we will refund the colony (providing they are alive) less a £15 restocking fee and less whatever shipping was charged. We charge this fee to cover the return charges set by the courier. If your Colony is not alive, no refund is permitted. If your colony value is less that £15 (including dead colonies whose value is £0) then we will absorb this fee as there is no refund to be made.
My Queen is within 7 days since delivery

QUEENS WHO HAVE CONCERNS We do not cover your worker count outside of the first 12 hours of delivery, however If you have accepted delivery of your queen (12 hours have lapsed since your LIVE ARRIVAL SERVICE delivery and you have not informed us of any concerns) and you have any concerns about your colony then the best thing you can do is complete our help form located here as this will provide us with all of the information we need to help you. It is vital that you give us as much information as possible. The form also allows you to upload you pictures and videos which will help explain what you are telling us. We can use this to advise you on our advice moving forward. QUEENS WHO HAVE DIED If your Queen dies within 7 days of delivery and you have used the Tracked shipping service then provided you have kept the correct environment for her, we will accept her return to us at the buyers expense for 50% of her value as credit on your account. Please note that this only applies to queens kept in sealed test tubes. workers are excluded from this guarantee and only the queens cost without workers will apply.
My Queen is 8+ days since delivery

If your colony is 7 days or more past delivery and you require advice then we are here for you. Simply complete the help form here and it will save a lot of time with emails back and forth. Once completed we can then assist you. We do not accept returns on colonies on or past 7 days with the customer as we are no longer in control of the conditions, food, quality or habitat of your colony. Sometimes, in some cases queens will not make it. We are all learning how to keep this delicate species. Try not to feel bad or sad, try again and we can help you to isolate what the cause may have been to hopefully prevent it happening again in the future. We do however cover the fertility of your fresh queen for up to 6 months, see the fertility question for info.
Fertility Guarantee

FERTILITY GUARANTEE ONLY APPLIES TO CUSTOMERS WHO USED THE LIVE ARRIVAL SERVICE We have a 180 day fertility guarantee in place on fresh queens who have never had workers. If you feel your queen is not fertile, we have a very structured way of handling the issue providing she is: -Must have been shipped using the tracked service and not using standard shipping which may have risked the queen -Within 180 days since purchase - Alive - Purchased as a fresh queen with brood (or as a split from an inbreeding colony which we have done in-house and notified you on on the certificate by the marking *SC) - Has never had workers or developed brood in the time since owning her These conditions must all be satisfied. If your queen was provided as a colony or has had workers then she was fertile and environmental conditions outside of our control could have made her infertile. This is not covered by our guarantee. If eligible simply; - Get in contact with us on info@antantics.co.uk providing your order number and queen i.d number - We will send you a form link to complete about how you have been keeping her - Return your queen to us (ensuring you use a tracked method of posting) - We keep your queen in our incubator for a period of no less than 4 weeks - Ensuring our feeding cycle is maintained we take a picture on the first and last day to check brood development If your queen is considered infertile If nothing develops, we can conclude she is not fertile. We will then replace your queen for you (or subject to stock being with us for the same species, please note workers are excluded in any guarantee and your replacement colony my differ from your original purchase slightly. If stock is not available we will provide you with credit against your queen which can be used to purchase another species on our store) If your queen is considered fertile We will send you an invoice for the return shipping and she can come home. We will let you know the feeding routines, humidity and temperatures we used so you can replicate it at home and continue the progress.
I have a food item

Sadly these items are perishable and also not covered under the Distance Selling Regulations. But do not worry, your items will be sent quickly and fresh.
I have changed my mind on physical items

You can return any unused and new non-perishable and non-living items to us within 28 days of receipt for a full refund or exchange. Items must be returned at the buyers expense and can be sent to Ant Antics Ltd | Morgrug Cymru, Priory Street, Carmarthen, SA31 1LS. Items returned must be in a new and unused state with all relevant items intact. It must be in a sealed condition and be able to be re-sold. Items as part of a bundle cannot be split and must be returned as an entire bundle. Returns of part bundles will be refused. In the case of returns, if your items are in a used condition and not as-new then we reserve the right to retain the item until return shipping is paid for by the customer so we can send it back to the customer. Any refunds will be made within 3 to 5 days of receipt and all refunds will exclude the original shipping cost paid on the order. (this is because although you are returning the items you have changed your mind on, the shipping did happen and we were still charged for it)
My physical item is faulty

If your non-perishable and non-living item develops a fault we would not expect within usual and careful use then please contact us ASAP where we can arrange a return for you. Faulty items will be repaired or replaced at our cost. Return shipping of faulty products is covered by Ant Antics Limited. Typically we can accept returns for repair on a fault within 90 days of purchase.
Can i return my colony for a refund?

As live animals are excluded from the distance selling regulations, we do not accept returns on your queens or colonies. This is because their welfare and conditions are outside of our control from the moment they leave us. We will only accept a return on a colony if we have instructed you to do so within 12 hours of delivery following concerns. In all cases of death on delivery, we will require the colony returned to us in its original sealed state to offer a a store credit note for their value after verifying it was not tampered with. We do not offer any form of physical refund, in any case for live animals purchased at Ant Antics.
Who is Ant Antics?

We are more than just an ant pet store, we are different. Notice you can see our address, our email, our information... no shady website, no mystery offerings, no low quality "Cheap" queens. We are a premium brand selling the healthiest queens, legitimate queens, imported Legally!, with this comes a cost, but its peace of mind worth an extra £ or 2 But boasting aside we do this because we love ants and believe that all keepers deserve a brand they can trust for that. We are a small team of 3 all working round the clock to answer your enquiries and prepare your queens. No complaints here however, we love it!
What is your position of Ethical ant capture?

Ant Antics is very strict in our position on this, we are a responsible seller and a responsible buyer. DUG UP COLONIES & BROOD BOOSTING We do not condone or purchase any colony or queen that has been taken from a colony already established. This practice is common and we believe colony theft is single handedly the cruelest thing you can do to a colony. Stealing a queen to leave her workers queen-less and die out without her is horrific. Likewise you would never know how old a queen is, what if she was to be at the end of her life? We only sell fresh queens or colonies raised in house from a single fresh queen. We do not buy colonies from suppliers what-so-ever to ensure they are not boosted before arrival. As such we do not take part in brood boosting. WE HAVE ONE EXCEPTION We do however have one species where we add Formica brood from an established colony, this is the Formica Sanguinea (The Slave Maker), she needs a few pupae to begin her colony and then she will lay perfectly on her own.
What is your position on Exotic Ants? (Non U.K Native Species)

Put simply, we love ants... all ants! In detail however, we recognise some members of the comminity are sceptical on companies selling exotics. But people have had exotic (non native) fish, guinnea pigs, hamsters, lizards and snakes (to name a few) for decades. We believe we should be able to responsibly enjoy the species we love and providing they are imported with care and in complience of the Laws then we can do so. We are fortunate in the UK with our cold winters and freezing ground, non hibernating exotic ants would not survive a winter here, but our advice does not change; NEVER release your ants into the wild, its illegal and cruel. Send them back to us and we will find them a loving home.
What is your advice on Gel Nests?

We highly advise you do NOT place an ant colony in a gel ant farm. There are several reasons for this, all of which come down to the welfare of the ants themselves. 1) The farm is too bright, ants (especially the queen and brood) need darkness, this darkness provides safety and security. Gel will make your queen stressed. 2) The farm is too moist. Ants need to regulate humidity and moisture by moving around the nest, this is especially true of brood at various times of day and stages of development. The high moisture of gel will prevent this. 3) Mold. Thats right, all this "wet" and we have a mold outbreak which happens extremely quickly and can kill entire colonies. 4) The gel is NOT FOOD. They look great in the marketing dont they with their "no need to add food", but ants will not eat this and if they do in desparation then its not what they need. We often get the question whether you can breed ants in a gel farm. A gel farm is not suitable for that! What are gel farms for? Great question, Gel farms are for the observation of ants. These companies suggest you buy some workers and watch them dig tunnels. We think this practice to us is also cruel. "Stealing" ants from a colony and containing them sends them crazy, without their queen they will quite literally loose it and start digging deep to find her scent. At most these ants will live 3 to 6 months until they all die and you have to start again. Please, love your ants and dont use Gel. If you already own a Gel farm, please consider removing the gel and replacing it with a suitable sand-loam or Earth. It is saveable so dont worry :)
Is the Ant Industry harming ant populations?

In Short, We do not believe it is at all. In the wild, a queen ant actually has a 5% to 8% chance of sucessfully founding her colony. The ants know this and release millions, billions of future queens annually to maintian populations. So many queens mean that ant populations continue to grow and evolve creating new generations of super colonies and crossing oceans to inhabit new lands. As a result we at ant antics purchase queens within our forcast, we do so responcibly and do not overbuy our stock. This means that we make such an small dent in wild populations that you could do more damage just walking through a carpark on nuptial day.
I caught too many queens, can you help?"

Within reason we would love to help you out. All antkeepers have done this before, we get excited and far too tempted by the amount of queens around us that we take 10 instead of 1. Dont worry though, if we have space avalible we can arrange postage to us for your surplus queens and we will find them new homes. Alternatively you could wait for them to found a small colony (for natives only) and release them into your garden to help local populations. If you have a non native species however, contact us and do not release them into your garden.
My Queen is not in stock, will you get more?"

Difficult question. Where we would love to commit, we just cannot guarantee this, queens have annual nuptial flights and if our stock is sold outside of this window we may have to wait 12 months to get any more (if we even do). The only advice we can offer is that if you see a queen you love then our advice is, dont delay and buy her today!
I really need help deciding which species to buy.

Not a problem, drop us a message and we will guide you through our selection by asking you a few questions, we can help you narrow down your choice.
Nest Advice

If you are finding it difficult to select a nest then please drop us a message and let us know what species you want to house, we can help you choose.
Can I reserve Queens?

If a queen is in stock (or shortly coming into live stock) we will reserve her for a 50% non-refundable deposit. Once you have settled the deposit we will hold her for up to 3 weeks for you, thereafter care charges of £4.75 per week apply. Colonies or queens not settled within 6 weeks will be returned to sale and the deposit is forfeited.
How do i pay?

Paying is easy, we accept credit card and debit card payments through our payment partner SumUp. We also accept Cryptocurrency & pay weekly and monthly solutions like Laybuy and Klarna. We do not accept PayPal at this time
I am a responsible seller, can i work with you?"

Of course, drop us an email and we can see what it is you offer. We work with a select group of other UK stores who may be interested too. We always ensure our trade partners are well rehursed in the Legal, Safe and Legitimate trade of species before we conduct any business.
Do you wholesale supply other stores?

For Queen ants We would love to work with you. We happily supply trade pricing to other retail stores. We are a responsible seller and we only conduct trade with other companies. To order from us you will just need to supply us with your details, company registration number and proof of address. We can then share with you our available stock for wholesale. For Physical Items This can be done. If you like something we sell, a product we have developed or an item we have then get in touch. We cannot guarantee that we will have the availability to supply you but its worth asking, especially in the case of physical items like nests, foods and supplies. If you think the Ant Antics brand is as fantastic as we do then we would be proud of you stocking some of our items.
Do you offer Franchises

A Franchise is perfect for a start up store who wants a physical location that fits into our brand and ethos. If you feel you are "Ant Antics" enough then we want to hear from you. Our franchise opportunities is for people who wish to open a physical location, we will permit a web store but only in conjunction with a bricks and mortar operation. If you are overseas and wishing to use our brand name and claim territory for your country the also get in touch. Our packages are fair and reasonable, we do not charge you a large franchise fee upfront (you need that money to open your shop), instead you only pay a small monthly premium depending on your turnover. Please note: Franchise contracts are for a minimum of 3 years and lock the purchase of stock exclusively to items, ants and products supplied by Ant Antics.

Terms and conditions of sale

These terms and conditions are bound with trade between you (the customer after dispatch of items) and Ant Antics (the company) who is legally known as Ant Antics Limited of Priory Street, Carmarthen, SA31 1LS registered with company house under incorporation number 13835286

Terms used

for the purpose of these terms the abbreviated word in its first instance of use will be in full with the abbreviation in closed brackets. subsequent use in the terms will then be of the abbreviated term.

Purchase of items

We reserve the right to correct errors in the listing and pricing of products on our store up to the point of dispatch. Once dispatched our terms and conditions of the sale become final and no alterations to the product pricing can be made by us (the company).

Up to the point of dispatch, If in the event we have made a pricing error or a listing error (for example, we sell a queen with 5 workers when we only have queens with 10 workers), then we will present the customer with the opportunity to upgrade their order or cancel it for a full refund. If we have inadvertently and accidentally charged the incorrect amount (for example, an option error is not adding additional cost) then we will also offer the customer to settle the difference or we can cancel the order for a full refund. Once dispatch has happened, we are no longer able to alter pricing or request funds.

Delivery of items and live arrival guarantees

All orders will endeavour to be shipped within 7 working days of receipt, however in some instances of bad weather (or in the event of a presale) this may be longer. Orders will be shipped one of two ways depending on the customer selection at checkout.

Standard shipping will be used where selected and entitles the customer to second class shipping on dried goods (or any goods where the contents are not alive), and in line with Royal Mail terms and conditions, first class for any order with living goods. Orders shipped on this service are excluded from the live arrival guarantee as well as any other guarantees the company offers including (but not limited to) the fertility guarantee, settling in guarantee and rights to return.

Orders shipped using a tracked service at checkout do benefit from our full guarantees provided the conditions are met in the receipt of the queen. These include being present for the delivery, not removing the security seal on the queens test tube and reporting to us with a video within 12 hours of delivery. Only the queens life is covered by this warranty and the lives of workers are excluded from any warranty. once the 12 hour warranty has passed, the queen is then only covered by the 7 day settling in guarantee.

When claiming against the live arrival guarantee, we will send a shipping label to the customer to return their ants to us. They should be returned to us with the security seal attached and once received we will either replace the colony like-for-like or we will provide store credit to be used against a future purchase where stock has been exhausted on the colony chosen.

Rejected or missed deliveries

deliveries which are returned to the company because they have been missed, rejected or not collected, if the customer has not paid customs charges or if they are returned to us at any stage of their journey then the order will incur a cancellation charge to cover the losses of the company in shipping living animals. All live ant ordered returned for these reasons will incur a £16.50 (or 25%, whichever is less) restocking fee to cover the extra time that will be required to nurse the queen to health after her journey and cover the card fees in processing the transaction as well as the cost of the shipping that was paid by us to dispatch the queen.

If in the event the queen has died in transit back to us, no refund will be provided for the order.

Chargebacks & Order Cancellations

in the event a chargeback is made against the company which is later proven to be false, the customer will receive an invoice from us for the costs incurred in disputing the chargeback and for the fees imposed by our bank.

Any order cancelled by the company for incorrect shipping data (or ordering from a country on a service we do not offer) will be liable to a 5% deduction on the refund to cover the processing fees of the transaction charged to us by our payment provider

ALL OTHER CANCELLATIONS made by the customer for any reason will incur the cost of processing the transaction (which we do not get refunded by the card payment provider) This is 2.9% + 20p. This is because when you originally decided to buy, the transaction still happened and a fee was charged to us for it.

Returns

Returns on living animals

We do not permit returns on queen ants or colonies purchased from us as the moment they leave us, we are no longer in control of their health or wellbeing. If a customer wishes to return a colony they may do so for free by shipping them to our company address and we will readopt them at any time during the ants life.

Please note: We do not offer any physical refund for any live animals sold at Ant Antics Ltd. In some cases we may offer store credit against colonies with a Live Arrival Guarantee providing we are notified within 12 hours of delivery, a tracked service was used and the security seal has not been removed. If you have any questions about our refund policy then please get in contact with us.

Food items

Food items are not covered by any returns policy and cannot be returned for a refund once dispatched

Physical items

All physical items can be returned to us within 28 days for a full refund if a customer changes their mind on a purchase. They should be returned to us in an unused condition with all of the parts of the order present. Orders sold as a bundle where part of the bundle is not returned or illegible for return (in the case of living animals) then the return value will be calculated and the cost of items used, missing or not eligible will be deducted from the refund at their full RRP costs and will not be adjusted for any bundle values. Returns for physical items must be shipped and paid for by the customer and the original order shipping is non refundable.

Faulty goods

If your non-living and non-perishable items develop a fault we would not expect when used in a reasonable way then contact us as soon as possible and we can repair them for you at our cost. Return shipping of faulty goods is covered by the company. Given the nature of our products, we typically only accept returns on items within 90 days of purchase depending on the longevity of the product this could be more. If your item is discovered not to be faulty then the return shipping is to be paid by the customer. Once repaired we will ship valid claims back to the customer free of charge.

Fertility guarantee

We will guarantee the fertility of any queen we sell providing they are shipped using the TRACKED service and the following conditions have been met:

she was purchased as a queen with brood and has never had workers or was not purchased with workers; the customer used a tracked shipping service to receive the queen, did not miss the delivery and has a valid live arrival guarantee; the queen is within 180 days of purchase and the queen is alive.

Fertility guarantee claims require the customer to return the queen to us at their own cost in a safe way that ensures she arrives safely. We are not responsible for any deaths of queens during the return process. Once received we will monitor the queen for a period of up to 4 weeks where we will check for fertility;

if your queen is considered infertile

we will replace the queen for you. in the absence of stock being available for the same species and type then we may offer you options of paying the difference to upgrade the colony to a larger size, or offer you credit against a new queen. We do not offer refunds under this guarantee.

if your queen is considered fertile

we will send you an invoice for the return shipping cost and once paid she can come back home with our notes on how we kept her to get the brood to develop.

please note, if your queen was shipped using the standard shipping then no guarantee applies.

This policy is effective as of 18 December 2022.

Privacy Policy
Your privacy is important to us. It is Ant Antics' policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect from you across our website, http://antantics.co.uk, and other sites we own and operate.

We only ask for personal information when we truly need it to provide a service to you. We collect it by fair and lawful means, with your knowledge and consent. We also let you know why we’re collecting it and how it will be used.

We only retain collected information for as long as necessary to provide you with your requested service. What data we store, we’ll protect within commercially acceptable means to prevent loss and theft, as well as unauthorised access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.

We don’t share any personally identifying information publicly or with third-parties, except when required to by law.

Our website may link to external sites that are not operated by us. Please be aware that we have no control over the content and practices of these sites, and cannot accept responsibility or liability for their respective privacy policies.

You are free to refuse our request for your personal information, with the understanding that we may be unable to provide you with some of your desired services.

Your continued use of our website will be regarded as acceptance of our practices around privacy and personal information. If you have any questions about how we handle user data and personal information, feel free to contact us.

Shipping

VIRTUAL ADDRESSES: It is common for people to order products on the internet to Virtual Addresses. For this to be the case we require your billing information to exactly match your bank's billing details.

Our duty is complete when we receive a signature at the mail forwarders (virtual) address. Following the queens transit from said address to the customer our liability for lost, stolen and unhappy queens is forfeit by using a virtual address.

This policy is effective as of 16 June 2020.

Our policies

Before we begin: DO NOT remove the security seal from your queens test-tube removing this seal will void any and all warranties we provide for her arrival unless we have instructed you to remove it.

Before we begin:
DO NOT remove the security seal from your queens test-tube
removing this seal will void any and all warranties we provide for her arrival unless we have instructed you to remove it.