The Mini Antquarium. Nothing shouts ‘geek’ more than a gawky kid with a pet ant farm clipped to his belt arriving at the new school full of hope for the future. So think twice or thrice, dear parent, before you thusly equip your precious precocious as he clambers up the tortuous ladder of life and experience. $12.95.
Just add ants! No need to add food or water; the gel will provide everything the ants need. Pre-made, ready for use, and portable. With its handy pouch and belt clip, kids can carry the Mini-Antquarium when seeking ants in the field or sharing ants with friends. An ant catcher is also enclosed. 4.75”X1.75”X1”D.
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OK, so I bought an antworks last year, I was SOOO excited! Then I discovered that a more apt name for antworks is Deathworks. Obviously, a bunch of ants without a queen is going to just come to the end of their lifespan and die. Solution, get a queen, right?
So I did – I ordered a queen by mail order. Now I feel totally guilty that the poor things are living in an environment totally unsuited to them. The queen has never gone below ground – she stuck her head down a tunnel at one point, and obviously didn’t like the slimy gel walls, cause she then popped back out again and hasn’t gone under since. All her workers have died, and no matter what I try to feed her (I’ve looked up lots of recipes online, cause she sure can’t eat the gel, only the workers can), she seems to have lost all hope.
But this porta-ant-arm? can anyone say, exercise in cruel? You wouldn’t keep a mouse in a box strapped to your belt to take to school (unless you’re me and you’re five years old and you want to show it off in class, but that’s another story), so why would you jostle around a poor para-colony?
Antworks is a nasty experiment in unnatural formiculture – this mini-colony doesn’t even have covers to keep the ants in darkness when you’re not spying on them!
*sigh*
Sorry, that was a rant.
Charlotte out.
Ouch Charlotte, I’m beginning to get the guilts now. Chemical torture of critters is not really my bag either.
Sorry Nige, didn’t mean to give you the guilts. Rant wasn’t directed at you, more at the idea of ants as a fashion accessory…
I actually got the AntWorks as a gift and I’m lovin’ it. But I never could figure out how to buy a Queen. May I ask where you bought the Queen ant?
Mac – you can get them at a lot of UK online stores recently. But I know that shipping ants over the US postal service is not kosher.
But if you’re UK based, you can get them here:
http://edu-sci.com/lasius-niger-black-queen-p-206.html
Keeping the queen happy enough so that she’ll maintain the colony is not the easiest thing in the world. Not to mention, queen ants are VERY photophobic, so an all-gel environment would be not so good for her. I have to keep my antworks in a dark cupboard, but her whole colony has died and it’s just her left now.
*sigh*