|
Antworks | 
 enlarge | Brand: Brainstorm
Category: CE
Buy New: £11.20
New (10) from £11.20
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 2783
Media: Toy
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 8.5 x 3.5
MPN: ANTW1
Model: ANTW1
UPC: 032309268904
EAN: 0032309268904
ASIN: B0006FSEOI
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | AntWorks is a space-age habitat | | • | Based on a NASA experiment to study ants in micro-gravity | | • | Ants live, work and tunnel in nutritious gel making a fascinating educational gift. | | • | Includes 17 x 14 x 3.5cm habitat, accessories and instructions for ordering ants. |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
AntWorks is a space-age habitat based on a NASA experiment to study ants in micro-gravity. Ants live, work and tunnel in nutritious gel making a fascinating educational gift. Includes 17 x 14 x 3.5cm habitat, accessories and instructions for ordering ants.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 They all died! September 3, 2008
Charlie's Mum (West Sussex)
Product looked great and was made well but tried three times with ants from different sources and they all died. My ants or the gel not appetising? Our experience was dissapointing.
 rubbish June 29, 2008
Mrs. Helen Morley
My ants got stuck to the goo; they all died within a few days without making a single tunnel. I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy this, I'm saying that it didn't work for me for whatever reason, (e.g. maybe the ants were injured in the post). I'm sure that the ants live more often than not and from, the pictures that I've seen, it looks like a really fun toy to have.
PS. I'm 13
 Awsome, get this! July 17, 2007
S. Earl (UK)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is a really great product. The one thing you need to know though is that if you use normal black UK ants, they can get out of the 2 airholes in the lid. All you need to do is stick a piece of sellotape over each hole. They will not suffocate as they use so little oxygen. It is recommended you open the lid just slightly for a second one a week to get a bit of fresh air in. I have done that and it works fine.
The next thing you need to know is how to catch the ants and get them in the antworks without the ones you already put in getting out. I've experimented with several methods and the best I have found is this: do not try to put them directly into the antworks. Get a clear plastic bottle. I use one which is about 20 cm high and with a lid about 5cm in diameter. Find a nest of ants. If you bang on the ground they will run out. Use a stick (bigger than the one supplied), put one end near the ants and loads will run up it. Place it in the bottle and shake. Repeat until you have something like 50 ants. I found it helped to catch some with my fingers too. Just use finger and thumb and don't squeeze too much. It's hard at first but you get used to it. It's better to find a nest near/on concrete to do this so you don't pick up soil etc with the ants. NEVER pick ants from different nests - they will just fight and kill each other. When placing ants in the bottle, tap the bottle hard on the ground to shake the ants down before lifting the lid so they won't get out. Then open the antworks, tip the bottle in and tap the bottom hard. Then put the lid on quick.
Once in the antworks, expect some to die pretty quickly. You have to remember that the average life on an ant is only 2 months anyway, plus of course they will be part way through this lifetime when you catch them,so a high death rate is normal. The colony I have currently started at about 50 and after a month there are about 30 left. They DO know they have to eat the gel!
Regarding the ones in Canaries - well I don't know about ants there but I do know UK ones are fine. For the first 4 - 5 days they never do much. Then a few start digging. I found after a couple of weeks more are digging and less are heading for the lid trying to get out. I keep them in a quiet place with no bright lights. I have found though that if you don't get enough ants then they don't do much. My first attempt was about 15 ants and they just sat there till they died. The 2nd lot, 25 ish dug a bit. But the ones I have now are building a metropolis! There are traffic jams at the ends of tunnels because so many are trying to dig! Half a dozen tunnels so far, though they do not like the starter holes at all. Actually they seem to get stuck and die in the starter holes. I would say just make a dent in the 4 corners and nothing else. They seem to like digging the corners first.
The instructions say you are supposed to take out the dead ones to avoid infections - the ants pile them up for you. But I have found it's impossible withoout them escaping. It does not seem to have harmed them.
So this is basically a great product but you have to be patient and prepared to experiment until you get it right. They are living creatures after all. If it doesn't work, you are probably doing something wrong, so try doing it a bit differently next time. I can spend hours watching my little guys digging, it's so exciting when a tunnel is about to join up with another one! Definately worth the preseverence.
You may need to look for ants that have read the manual!! June 2, 2007
Karen Louise Moore Evans (Canary Islands)
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
Shopped around alot looking for an ant farm for my 6 year old son, and decided on this on due to it's funky look and 'space tested' write up!!!
WHAT a mistake!!! I should just have settled for a more convetional (and cheaper) ant farm!!!
We bought this for xmas, and living in a warm climate, went searching for ants.
We followed all the instructions religeously, and 4 months later we are now on our 7th batch of ants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have collected all sorts of ants, small ones that escaped! Medium ones that sat at the bottom of the starter tunnels, and carefully selected ones with larger pincers, that dug a bit and them proceeded to die one by one and rot!!!!
The ants don't seem to understand that they MUST EAT THE GEL!! This is their new food and water!!
Trouble is, it is such a new substance for them they don't get the idea, and just drop dead!!
My son is, and has been dissapointed with each batch! That's 7 batches!!!
Don't buy this product if you can't get educated ants.
I WILL say that is is a cool looking thing, and the booklet has some interesting facts, but that doesn't really make much difference if it just doesn't do what it says on the packet!!!!
Steer clear, and be convetional in your choice of ant farm!!!
Useless April 14, 2007
Mr. David A. Collings (Plymouth UK)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
After putting garden ants in last night, I have awoken to find all but one of them has escaped and are now no doubt crawling around my flat somewhere.
I checked and the lid was tightly sealed. This is a very flawed product. I might be able to fix this by sealing the air holes they must have escaped by. but it really should be designed better.
The little book it comes with is good though withsome interesting ant facts.
|
|
|
www.pcprotech.co.uk | |
