Review on 🔬 Optimized GeoSafari Factory Educational Insights 5145 by Rob Parsons

We've had this ant farm for two weeks now and we love it! The ants are happy and healthy and we have a great view of the tunnels. I like the sand idea more than the gel because you can clean up the habitat, add fresh sand, and reuse it after your first group of ants dies. Plus, you can feed the ants, and feeding and watering the animals is part of the fun! So far, watermelon and lettuce have been flops, while apple and bread have been big hits. The habitat is well made and solid and I haven't had any issues with sprouts or bites. Lots of people give different advice on how to get ants in an ant farm, so I'll tell you exactly what worked for us here. I carefully read all the ant reviews and especially the reviews for this habitat and kept the ants in the fridge until they stopped moving. For me it was 35 minutes. They don't have much volume so they warm up quickly and when I pulled them out and checked after 20 minutes they were so warm they were fully awake and thus the second 15 minutes. You can't keep them in the fridge for more than 10 minutes or they'll die, but information for ants says you can keep them in the fridge for up to four days. So it's up to you! After reading and re-reading all the reviews, I saw so many references to ant stinging and rescuing that I developed a MASTER PLAN. I placed the ant farm in the BATH before opening the vial to drop them into the paper funnel. I also wore thick leather gardening gloves (which I would recommend). Everything everyone says about their paper funnel crawl is true. Also, they wake up at different times. There is definitely a delay between the first ant that starts stirring and crawling out of the vial and the last one. BLADDER #1 I made the paper funnel long and tall and tucked it all the way in (making sure it was wide enough at the narrow end for them to pass through) and even taped the side of the funnel to keep it in shape keep. But having to toss the funnel up and down to knock down the climbing ants destroyed the hole at the narrow end and they couldn't get out. So it didn't go so well! I wouldn't do it on your kitchen table. You are sure to get nasty stinging ants everywhere. Fumbling with the funnel, I noticed that some ants that had fallen into the tub couldn't climb up the sides. So I felt safe (plus, if something went wrong, I could always turn on the bathroom faucet and pour them out in an epic flood. But they couldn't climb walls, and they didn't have to). I scrapped the paper funnel idea and took my leather gloves, vial and ant farm into the bathtub and simply removed the lid, flipped it over and tapped it right into the hole in the habitat. Ants that had fallen out of their habitat happily ran around my tub and I picked them up one at a time with the tip of the vial and then pushed them out of the vial into the hole. From time to time I switched to a different hole to keep them even. I always closed the other two holes tightly. It was easy to get her to move harmlessly. I was able to take my time and my almost five year old could stand by the tub and watch from a safe distance. I don't know if a bath is for everyone but thought I'd pass this suggestion along. It was definitely a success for us! It's a great living space and a wonderful homeschooling project. Note that due to temperature limitations when shipping live ants, this is best done in spring or fall. It's also easier to find playground sand when it's not winter. So I wouldn't say it's a Christmas present!