Insect Lore Two Tubes of Live Western Harvester Ants | 50 Live Ants | Instructions Included

Arrived in January with only 1 or 2 dead ones per vial. Followed the directions and put them into the habitat after putting them in the fridge for a few minutes, and man when they warm up they are feisty! I would suggest just dropping the whole tube in and letting them find their way out rather than trying to dump them out or you’ll be chasing them across your table! We have one of the sand filled habitats and one of the gel filled ones that we linked together. They for sure prefer the sand filled one because they started tunneling the very next day! After a couple of weeks though, they did start tunnels in the gel, but not nearly as many. We make sure they have water readily available using a small square of a felt like material so they don’t drown in it and we put in 2-3 pea size chunks of apple weekly. We tried lots of other fruits and vegetables, but they really seem to like only the apples. It’s now April and we probably have about 30 out of the 50 still alive! It’s hard to tell for sure because they are busy little fellas and impossible to count! I would for sure recommend! My 5 year old daughter loves her little ant friends!

The ants came in test tubes in a white envelope around 1pm. They were in transit for almost a week. I was really worried that after 5 days of travel they would get here all dead. We immediately put them in the fridge for the 10 minutes that the instructions suggested and then poured them into the habitat and threw in small bits of bread and a few drops of water (again according to the instructions) and then we waited. That first day they barely moved and I thought for sure they were not going to be alive the next morning. The following morning about 75% of the 2 tubes of ants were all moving along the top of the habitat but they were not tunneling at all. The other 25% were dead and had not moved from where they laid when we poured them in. That whole day they were very active but never actually started tunneling. The next morning we were down to about 50% and they were no longer active but barely moving along the top of the habitat sand. After a bit of google searching we cut a small piece of cotton off a cotton shirt, wet it down and placed it in the habitat along with a small piece of apple and a mealworm (I have on hand for my chickens). The ants had ZERO interest in any of it and stayed on the opposite end of the habitat. The next morning all but 2 ants were no longer moving and died in the corner they were bunched together after we put the food and water in. However, the 2 remaining ants were ALL over the food and water from the previous day. We are now a week out and those 2 ants are still going strong but seriously we have this HUGE habitat and 2 ants! Does not make for any exciting tunneling! Now looking for an ant farm in our area.Suggestions for others who are thinking of buying. I think we should have started out with the cotton and water instead of just dropping a few drops of water in the habitat and better source of food than bread like the apple and mealworm. Maybe you will have better luck than we did if you start them off right especially after a week of travel in a test tube.

I read many reviews before purchasing ants on here and I’m really thankful I did. I immediately put the ants in the refrigerator while I prepped their home. I did the transfer in the bathtub. The first tube I spilled everywhere because I was trying to use a funnel and the ants did not want to go in. Frankly I got scared so I just dropped them on the tub but I was able to use this plastic stick that came in our ant farm kit to get them in the habitat. I’m pretty sure a kabob wood skewer would work just the same. I stuck the stick near the ants and they all bit and hung on and so I was able to flick them into the habitat. I would not want to get bit by these guys. Their balls are huge and they were super aggressive. But after I got them into the habitat and stuck a little piece of carrot in there, they calm down and started digging. It was so much fun to watch. I would order from them again. I think only three arrived dead. It wasn’t enough to take note to be honest.

The media could not be loaded. This is a review for the ants, not the enclosure.I ordered them late but the seller graciously expedited the shipping so they would arrive in time for my son’s birthday. We were able to set them up after opening presents!We have been watching them build a nest and giving them all sorts of food. This is their progress after, I’d guess, twenty hours in their new home. I dropped a mealworm in there before writing this review (cut its head off first though - don’t want any fights). They also really like popcorn. It takes them about an hour to demolish a piece of popcorn, very cool to observe. I think I like them more than my son does, lol.I would suggest checking your weather before ordering. They will die in extreme heat or extreme cold. I live in a southern state but we’ve had nice cool weather the past few days, which was perfect for survivability.

I recently ordered a colony of live ants, and let me tell you, it was quite the rollercoaster ride! When they first arrived, I was thrilled to watch them scurry around, doing their little ant thing. It was like having a tiny, bustling city right in my living room. Talk about entertainment!However, the excitement quickly dwindled as I noticed that half of them didn’t survive the journey. It seems they had a rough trip—like they were on a cross-country bus ride with no snacks or bathroom breaks. The shipping woes were real!As for the survivors, they were fun to watch for a while, but soon enough, they started dropping like flies (or should I say ants?). One by one, I watched my little friends disappear, leaving me feeling like a little ant graveyard.In summary, while these ants were a blast to observe, the unfortunate loss of so many during transport really took the joy out of the experience. If you’re considering getting live ants, just be prepared for the possibility that they might not all make it. Fun concept, but maybe they need a better travel plan! 🐜💔

This product came MUCH faster than expected (6 days early), but half of the ants were already dead. Disappointing, given my son was looking forward to the ant farm adventure.