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The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
Ants are cool!
Pretty fascinating habitat...the instructions are easy to follow, the ants are digging like crazy, and my two kids love 'em! The lighted mini-aquarium is sturdy, the ants arrived in the mail as advertised, and the tunnels are quite interesting.
While these ants may bite, if you follow the instructions, you never get close to touching them. Bottom line - my kids...
Published on October 7, 2006 by Patricia L. Pierson
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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
Negative reviews? Actual comparison.
After reading the largely negative reviews on this gel ant farm, I decided to conduct an experiment of my own. I ordered both the Milton's Ant Farm Gel Colony (this product) and the AntWorks (non-illuminated) gel farm.
To compare packaging, the Uncle Milton gel ant farm was in a box and wrapped in sealed plastic wrap. This impressed me, since the AntWorks was...
Published 12 months ago by Jennifer Leising
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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
Negative reviews? Actual comparison., November 3, 2008
Durability: Fun: Educational:
After reading the largely negative reviews on this gel ant farm, I decided to conduct an experiment of my own. I ordered both the Milton's Ant Farm Gel Colony (this product) and the AntWorks (non-illuminated) gel farm.
To compare packaging, the Uncle Milton gel ant farm was in a box and wrapped in sealed plastic wrap. This impressed me, since the AntWorks was not airtight within his package, and I'd imagine an older AntWorks product sitting on a shelf or in a warehouse may lose some of its moisture in comparison. The AntWorks and Milton were about the same depth. The AntWorks was significantly less wide than the Milton farm, but they appear to be the same height in gel (since the Milton's actual gel is elevated off of the ground).
My "sniff test" didn't seem to raise any flags -- both ant farms smelled like... well... gel. They smelled different, but in no way was one more odorous. I jabbed the gel with the rounded toothpick-like device, as the instructions told me to. After leaving the farm for a couple hours I noticed that the AntWorks' gel appeared to re-connect and fix the holes I had poked, so I had to poke the holes again. The Uncle Milton gel appeared more dense and very easily kept the holes I had poked in the gel.
I ordered a large set of ants from a 3rd party website unaffiliated with either Milton or AntWorks and divided them evenly between the two farms. These were literally the exact same ants from the exact same colony, so there could be no confusion that perhaps one ant colony was "dumber" than the other when it comes to digging tunnels. Same ants, split between 2 products.
When placing the ants inside the enclosure I was pleased to find that the AntWorks farm utilized a plastic seal that kept the lid on nice and tight. In fact, I doubt there was any way via droppage or toddler or otherwise to get the lid off without purposeful tugging. The Uncle Milton farm had a simple curved top cover that would no doubt fly off if the farm were dropped or bumped the wrong way. Score one for the AntWorks.
After placing the two farms side-by-side (to minimize external issues like day/night light cycles and temperature -- they both received identical conditions), I let the ants do their thing.
My first observation was that the Uncle Milton ant farm had one large flaw -- it was not as transparent as the AntWorks' blue gel. Unless there is a light source behind it, it is very hard to see the ants "tunnels". Of course, that's assuming they make any tunnels. The Uncle Milton farm's ants immediately started digging -- at the walls. Apparently the gel had not formed a total seal to the plastic sides, leaving the ants to attempt to dig holes between gel and plastic wall. They did this so well that several ants wedged themselves in and died -- right up against the plastic for all to see. The AntWorks farm had a solid seal between gel and plastic wall and did not have this "suicidal suffocating claustrophobic ant" issue.
Within the first day, the AntWorks ants had dug a solid tunnel from the top of the gel to the bottom and it was very attractive to look at in its less-opaque gel. In the more dense colored Uncle Milton gel -- from one side of the farm you could see absolutely nothing. On the other side, the ants had not just dug a tunnel -- they dug out the entire wall where they had attempted to suicide initially. In fact, they refused to dig any actual holes within the gel, they simply added more space so they wouldn't kill themselves between wall and plastic.
Day two, the AntWorks ants have dug about 4 or 5 interconnecting tunnels. It's beginning to look like a maze. The Uncle Milton's ant farm is expanding their wall. They are now digging at the very floor of the ant farm. No tunnels. Just walls and floor.
Day five, the AntWorks ants have dug so many tunnels that the "airspace" above the gel is filled with tiny little pellets of gel that they've excavated out of their tunnels. Their tunnels now have multiple intersections and curves and the ants are busy, working away. I am now concerned that my ants are so busy I will have to buy them a second farm before they dig all the available gel up. The Uncle Milton's farm ants seem relatively listless -- either sitting up against the wall or on the bottom floor that they have excavated.
***
Conclusion: The Uncle Milton's farm gel appears to be denser than the AntWorks. Not only that, but the green dye in the Uncle Milton's farm was also more dense, and harder to see tunneling activity. Not that there was any tunneling activity. It appears the ants appreciate the less dense texture of the AntWorks gel and are unlikely to expend any more work than is necessary to dig in the Uncle Milton's gel. Given the same ants and environmental conditions -- even though the Uncle Milton's farm is slightly larger (wider), the ants refuse to make deep tunneling activity and prefer digging out a gap between the plastic wall and the gel. The AntWorks shows none of the same tunneling behavior -- the ants dig deep curving tunnels and connecting bridges with gusto.
I have only had the farm for 5 days, but it doesn't appear to be suffering from extreme moisture or molding, and the gel's scent is fairly neutral and not noticable unless the cover is off and you're sniffing at it.
In a direct side-by-side comparison, the Uncle Milton's ant farm fails miserably. I cannot comment on either party's ant shipping policies -- however reputable online resources for shipping ants are both cheap at just a couple bucks and quick (I got my ants within 5 days of ordering). The gel on the AntWorks is clearly superior to the Uncle Milton gel, and the cover is more well sealed. The Uncle Milton is larger and cheaper, but the gel is more opaque and less desirable for ant tunneling.
I guess you get what you pay for.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Horrible Disappointment Ahead if You Purchase This, July 23, 2007
Durability: Fun: Educational:
My 6yr old son rec'd this as a Christmas present only to find out the temperature has to be warm enough for them to ship the ants to your area(you pay add'l $3 S/H). Living in Michigan, we told him we'd send in the card for the ants on his birthday (the end of April). The ants (FINALLY) showed up.....crispy as KFC'S Original recipe. We emailed Uncle Milton Industries, we called U.M.I., nothing..... they're on Pacific time so try to coordinate that being on EST and you never get anyone. I called two minutes after they should've opened on the West Coast for business.... it rang through.... to a recording saying no one can help us now and hung up on me! Some customer service! I called again in the afternoon.... recording told me they're on break or go surfing or something from 2-4 and no one can take my call now. Please....... I was beginning to wonder if Uncle Milton was actually a business or a scam. Another tube of ants FINALLY showed up Saturday, July 21st.... they all looked healthy and were moving.... Sucess right?! NO! My ecstatic son eagerly awaited their recommened 15min of "fridge time" to calm them down. We put them in the gel colony. They moved around a little and seemed eager to bring doom to their lives by sticking their heads in the gel and suffocating themselves. As of this writing, we have two still struggling to live and the other 25-30 are dead and imbedded in the gel. What a MAJOR disappointed for my son. His daycare also got the same type of gel colony and half their ants arrived dead and the rest are dead now. If your gel colony and ants are working... congratulations; you're the minority. This is an awful gift and I'm only glad we didn't buy it ourselves and are only out the $3 for S/H. I would not recommend this to anyone.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
Ants are cool!, October 7, 2006
Pretty fascinating habitat...the instructions are easy to follow, the ants are digging like crazy, and my two kids love 'em! The lighted mini-aquarium is sturdy, the ants arrived in the mail as advertised, and the tunnels are quite interesting.
While these ants may bite, if you follow the instructions, you never get close to touching them. Bottom line - my kids really enjoy this colony. I can't recommend naming the ants, though, they all look sort of alike!
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Please DO NOT buy this!, December 3, 2007
Durability: Fun: Educational:
I don't usually write negative reviews. But this 'Toy' is so sad that I really feel an obligation to warn people not to purchase it. The ants usually arrive dead. We were lucky once and had 3 that were alive. My children were so sad for the ants that were missing heads, legs etc. Then some of the dead ones fell between the gel and wall and started to mould. I could not remove them and the surrounding gel turned yellow with streaks of white mold growing around, this area got larger and larger until I finally threw the whole unit away. The ants never dug tunnels, they merely slid down the sides between the gel and habitat wall. Mostly they just stayed on the top. My children asked me to get rid of it because it made them feel 'yucky'.
I really don't think this should be sold at all.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Don't waste your money like I did!!!!!!!!!!!!, September 30, 2007
Durability: Fun: Educational:
I bought this for my 5-year old for Christmas, and waited until spring to order our ants. It took about 5 weeks or so to receive the ants, which was frustrating- but WOULD have been worth it had the ants had behaved as they claimed they would. I, too, received about 25 ants- 8 were D.O.A. That was a bummer since you alledgedly need a group of about 25 to live in the colony. We weren't discouraged at that point, and followed all of the instructions to a T- INCLUDING not moving/touching the habitat, so that the ants wouldn't "feel" harrassed! The most disappointing part- even though the ants lived from 1-3 months (which isn't even that great), they NEVER EVEN TRIED AT ALL to tunnel on their own. They lived miserably on top of the gel, playing with the dead ones and eventually piling them in a corner which became a grisly moldy scene.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4+ months waiting and no ants, April 20, 2007
Durability: Fun: Educational:
My son was thrilled to receive his ant colony for Christmas and couldn't wait for the ants. So far, all we've received is a series of lame postcards saying they're still waiting for ants to ship. As my son said "In a couple more weeks, we can find our own!" I rated it 5 stars for durability because it's sitting on the shelf abandoned at this point. This toy was a total bust and I would like a refund.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
What ants???, March 26, 2007
I ordered the ants in December (Christmas present), and although the temperatures were unseasonably warm here throughout January, no ants arrived. I have called several times, with the same excuse. They have my money and won't deliver the ants.
I would suggest any other company besides Uncle Milton Industries.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
ant farms need ants., June 27, 2007
Durability: Fun: Educational:
It took 5 months for the ants to arrive, by that time the gel had dried significantly. Fortunately all the ants were dead, so no problem. Customer service was kind enough to send a new gel farm and more ants. 2/3 of the new ants arrived dead and they remaining 7 barely do anything. My son is embarrassed we gave one of these to a friend as a birthday present and is very disappointed with the toy.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Not good for warm/humid climate, November 14, 2007
Durability: Fun: Educational:
Like others have noted about this product, you may have to wait awhile for your ants depending on where you live. My son received his ant farm for his birthday in June, but due to the heat here in Houston, he didn't get any ants until October. Unfortunately, the gel started to mold a couple of weeks after we put the ants in it and I just ended up dumping the whole thing into the yard yesterday because the poor ants were overwhelmed with mold in their home. The gel was fine while we waited for the ants to arrive because I kept the original plastic cover on top of it, but as soon as it was exposed to the air for a while, it was a mess. We're going to try a more traditional sand farm next time,....
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Not to beat a dead ant, but ... , December 14, 2007
Durability: Fun: Educational:
Like most of the other reviewers have mentioned, almost all of the ants arrive dead, and it took 6 weeks to get them. There were only 2 survivors out of the first batch. After several attempts, I finally was able to speak with someone at Uncle Milton. He told me he would ship a new batch. The second group came within 2 weeks, but it also only contained 2 live ants. I put the new 2 with the original 2, based on the advice of the customer service rep I spoke with, and the next day was back to just 2 live ants. One of the groups either killed the other group, or the 2 new ones didn't make it through the night. Now, one week late, another one has died so I have only one live ant. I have called them again and will receive yet another shipment -- but it will be several months. I guess I will give it one more shot -- but I'm not holding my breath. This was given to my son as a gift, but based on our experience I would NEVER buy one of these for anyone. It's just cruel.
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