Customer Reviews
137 of 137 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great conversation piece for the office, March 20, 2007
| By | M. Kooiman "nerdette" (Richardson, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) (VINE VOICE) |
This review is from: Fascinations AntWorks Illuminated Blue (Toy)
My son gave me this ant farm for Christmas this year. I ordered the ants the next day and then started waiting. The unused ant farm sat in my office and my coworkers all wanted to know what it was. Their first comment was "it didn't come with the ants?" The answer is "of course not, they would be dead by the time someone bought it." You have to order your ants and it can take a long time for them to come in, especially in the winter.It took several weeks for the ants to arrive. They come in a small brown pouch containing one vial of ants and are delivered via the post office. I carefully read the instructions as the ants had large mandibles and didn't look too happy about being in such a small space. Into the refrigerator they went for just a few minutes and they I easily popped them into the habitat. It's been almost two months now and they have created a lot of tunnels and most are still alive. The gel in which they live is also their food. This is a nice feature since I don't like lifting the lid any more than I have to. These little guys want out.
In case you are wondering, you DO NOT get a queen so the ants will live their life expectancy and then die. You don't get baby ants without a queen.
The kit comes with instructions for collecting ants yourself, but I live in Texas where the only ants are fire ants. The instruction book tells you to NOT collect fire ants, nor army ants. The book that comes with the habitat has some basic ant info and was a fun read. If you are going to give this as a gift to a child, order the ants in advance because it could take a month to 6 weeks for your ants to arrive.
124 of 124 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful Tips!!!, March 21, 2006
| By | T. Burke (Westminster, Md USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) |
Order your ants from Life Studies as suggested in other posts. However, go to http://www.infowest.com/life/ants.htm and order them online. I ordered them online and received them in 6 days! If you use the form that comes with Antworks, it will take longer, and there is nothing worse than staring at your Antworks with no ants!
The directions tell you to poke 4 holes in the gel with the included stick. Poke the holes in the gel next to the glass. This will assure that the ants will stay next to the glass when tunneling. With the tunnels next to the glass, you can see much better detail!
The directions tell you to open the top for a few seconds each week to allow new Oxygen inside. BE CAREFULL - the ants will swarm to the opening, so do it when no ants are near the top.
The ants are huge!! THEY WILL BITE!! Once you get your vile of ants, make sure they are on the bottom of the vile. Open the Antworks, open the vile, and tap them hard to drop them inside. If one falls outside of the Antworks, dont try to pick it up. It is probably best to just squash it!
Sit back and watch you ants build their world!
