Customer Reviews

Xtreme Ant Farm

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is a great toy! My son received this for his 6th birthday last year. The coupon to send away for your ants is included, and they arrived pretty quickly. However, by the time they arrived in the mail, last October, we had misplaced the instructions on what to do when they got here. I emailed the customer support people (info at unclemilton dot com) and they quickly emailed us back some basic instructions, which got us going.

Looking at the tube, we did not see a frenzied, angry mob of impatient ants as we expected. Rather, they were all pretty quiet. Too quiet. We tipped them into the ant habitat, and they lay there in a heap. Two eventually struggled to their feet and staggered around a bit and drank some water. We phoned Uncle Milton, and the customer support folks at Uncle Milton were great. It's almost like talking to actors in character because they seem to really care about their ants and even anthropomorphize them a bit. Could they really love the ants this much? I couldn't tell for sure, but they sure were convincing. Anyway, they told us that sometimes the ants are a bit listless at first, but to give them 12 hours. If they were indeed dead, then the living ants would "see to their burial."

Twelve hours later, it was pretty clear that most of them were dead. The two living ants moved all the dead ants into a pile in the center of the central part of the habitat, then they themselves expired shortly thereafter. We rang the folks at Uncle Milton back up, and they were extremely solicitous about our ants having "passed away." (I just love these people.) They sent us a coupon to order a new tube of ants.

Fast forward six months and we got around to ordering a new tube of ants. They arrived a few days ago. (Uncle Milton only ships certain times of the year, and they check the weather reports for the route before they ship.) These ants were all alive and active. We stunned them with a 15 minute visit to the refrigerator then dumped them in the habitat and they set to work reshaping the landscape, after an initial confusion over the rock climbing wall (they all piled up at the bottom for a bit, but figured their way out soon enough). They moved the dead pile of ants from the first batch to the BMX biking arena (the lower portion down the road). This area we have termed "the mortuary." About twice a day they might move half of the ants around in here, perhaps from one trough between the motocross jumps to another, or bury them with sand and then unbury them. Most of the dead ants are kept down here. Two are kept in the upper part of the habitat and moved around almost continuously, somewhat like the Olympic torch.

Of course, you need to read all the directions and never let your kids touch the ants. (You probably don't want to either.) My kids (ages 4 and 6) are really good now and won't try to carry the ant farm around, although the 4-year old did carry it once when we first got it and received a lecture about how it would make the ants carsick to be moved around like that. We just leave it on the kitchen island for everyone to watch and enjoy. I don't think you need to send away for any of their extra things, like food. They are happy with a few drops of water, plus a tiny crumb of bread damp with water, a pinhead-size piece of apple or other fruit, a tiny bit of hard-boiled egg white, a drop of honey mixed with water, a single dead fly, or a tiny piece of hamburger. They don't need much.

They are bringing us much enjoyment. We love to go back and check-up on them and see what they've been doing, or follow one ant's activities for a while. It's funny when one ant is on some sort of mission ("must carry this piece of sand downhill") and another ant bumps into him, he seems to forget where he was going or what he was doing, drops his sand and starts on a different project. Then, of course, there's Flik's tunnel within a tunnel project...

We bought this for our 4 year old son for Christmas last year, because he LOVES bugs. After you buy the ant farm on the order form for the ants it says that they will not ship the ants unless it is warm enough. If we would have known this before buying it we would have bought it in the spring. Our ants did not arrive until March! A few days after Christmas our 2 year old daugther knocked it off our son's dresser and broke the large dome. I e-mailed Uncle Milton asking if I could buy another dome three times with no response! So I tried to call their customer service line and was never able to talk to a real person. My husband finally glued it back together. It wasn't pretty but it worked. When the ants finally came my son loved it and would watch the ants tunnel and carry food for at least a half an hour or more at a time. When the ants died we just got more from our backyard. Just make sure and pick only ants that are large enough not to go through the vent holes. While my son loved the ant farm the total lack of customer service will keep me from purchasing another Uncle Milton toy.

We purchased this ant farm a few months ago. It is really cute. It has a skate park, street luge and bicycle park. It also has two built in magnifying glasses. The ants have alot of room to roam. We did not have any problems with the ants escaping. You just have to be sure to follow the instructions for putting it together correctly. It did take a couple of months for the ants to arrive which took away from the initial excitement when we purchased this toy and some of the ants were dead when they arrived (we live in Ohio and they were shipped from California). Our ants lived for a few months but now they are all gone. We don't really want to order more from this company and wait two more months. This is an eternity to the kids. It would be nice if there were an easier way to get the ants. Also you have to order the kit which includes ants, food, dropper for water, instruction booklet and poster of the ants anatomy.

I ordered this for my son's 6th birthday. I knew from experience that we had to order the ants and wait for a spell of good weather for them to arrive. Here's what worked for me: I opened the box when I got it and sent for the ants right away. (FYI: to order a tube of ants, and nothing else, it's $3.95. That includes shipping. To get the ant farm club kit, which includes ants, food, a magnifying glass, and a bunch of other fun stuff, it costs $10.95. That includes shipping as well. I decided to splurge for the club kit!) The ants arrived about a week after his birthday. He was extremely excited to get them! While the ants waited in the fridge for ten minutes, I put the sand/water combination in the ant farm. I put in a few drops of sugar water and then shook the ants in from the tube. While watching the ants grow accustomed to their new-found space, I decided I'd count. I think there were 29 ants in the tube (plus a few spare body parts---YUCK). I counted about 19 of them living. A few of them died that first day, but now I think we have about 13 live ants. That's plenty for the small little space. I think I've had more fun watching them than the kids. It's awesome to see them grab the sand and move it elsewhere to make a tunnel. They're really fun! I plan to order more ants after these ones die. (The order form was conveniently shipped with the ants.)

Buy with confidence! This is a GREAT gift.

First of all, I've ordered ants several times. The warning label does say they can bite but they are not fire ants - the fiece ones from the South. Not all red ants are fire ants. (Check your ant encyclopedia.) All ants can bite apparently, and it's just a warning so you don't handle them too much and Uncle Milty covers himself liability-wise. I've never been bitten by any ant, and I've handled hundreds as a child and an adult....
Second, think about it...how could ants live in a box on a shelf in a toy store for months and months? Of course you have to order them. However, who wouldn't be disappointed to find they don't ship ants in cold months, and, it should be on the box somewhere that this is true...it would save kids disappointment. It makes sense, once you find this out, of course, but a little explanation goes a long way.
Third, the ant farm, if you follow directions, works really well, but I find the little one too confining, so I string two together.
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My daughter recv'd this Ant farm on her 5th B-day. We ordered the ants, unfortunately they came when we were away on vacation. Basically all were dead. I called the company and they resent more ants free of charge. We got our new ants within 2 weeks. I absolutely just love watching them (Maybe more than my kids). I also have a 3 year old. It is so interesting and such a learning experience. They are so maitenance free. I definately recommend this ant farm.. It is interesting and fun. The ants are very social creatures. I also purchased the whole kit. It has many interesting things to learn in it. A+

I originally had bought this to keep the child I babysit involved in the creativity of this facinating world....the heck with the kid...I am so involved with this new world that I can't focus on my daily task. It's a new world everyday in the habitat, constant changes are taking place daily. These little guys are serious workers....and truly amazing to watch.

This is the biggest piece of junk I've ever owned It took almost 5 weeks to get the ants - then they were dead. I called to get more and the Uncle Milton customer service people were very rude. Once I finally got the ants, they never did dig the way I expected. Don't waste your money.

I was looking for a simple pet to add to the family. We had fish but they were too much work.....We tried a bird......I think we returned it the third day due to our cat. Hamsters smell....Dogs are too much work, etc. etc. etc. Then I thought of an ant farm...perfect!! They are little mantinence and my son loves them. He is only 2 but he loves watching them...even kisses their little dome and says bye and goodnight. It is really neat to watch the ants make their little tunnels and bring sand way up from the bottom to the ramps and bmx park. I'm certain it is educational for him to watch how they thrive, and as he gets older he will be able to learn even more about them. And I don't have to listen to a single bark or chirp....and of course there is no mess!! Yay. I recommend this product over the other boring ant farms, and who can resist those ants on skateboards....

I ordered this ant farm for my grandchildren in July. The ants came the middle of August and they were all dead. They replaced the ants and I put them into the farm. The next day my Granddaughter started screaming that something bit her. I looked and there were red ants all over the floor and table. They had gotten out thru the air holes at the bottom. The company replaced the farm and the same thing happened again only this time I had placed the farm on a paper on a table so when they got out they could not get out from under the farm. I cannot get my money back because it is over the 30 day guarantee. I didn't get the first ants until after the 30 days. Do not buy this toy unless you want a huge disappointment and a big mess.