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Antworks | 
| Brand: Brainstorm
Category: CE
Buy New: £11.38
New (9) from £11.38
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 4392
Media: Toy
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 8.5 x 3.5
MPN: FANTW1
Model: ANTW1
UPC: 032309268904
EAN: 0032309268904
ASIN: B0006FSEOI
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| 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. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Launched in 1956, the Uncle Milton Ant Farm has sold over 20 million. Educational gun as ant "engineers" dig tunnels. Connectable to other farms. 23cm x 15 cm habitat with instructions for ordering ants (sold separately). 6 Years +
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| Customer Reviews:
 Awsome, get this! July 17, 2007
S. Earl (UK)
26 out of 26 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. br / br /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. br / br /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! br / br /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. br / br /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. br / br /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.
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