Best Gel Ant Farms

A gel ant farm is a small aquarium filled with translucent blue gel. This gel doesn’t stick together and serves as the house for ants. The ants bite through the gel creating all sorts of passages and tunnels. The gel is also food for ants. This aquarium gel was specially designed by NASA workers in order to experiment with ants in space. After some time, ants get accustomed and start building their home, explore their small world. As a result, you don’t have to care much about your pets. You don’t clean the aquarium, don’t need to feed the ants or give them anything to drink, they will take care of themselves. Due to the fact that the gel is absolutely transparent, you can easily observe the ants’ life. As a rule, there’s an additional set of magnifying glasses that comes in set with an aquarium which will help you and your kids to explore these interesting insects even better.

Moreover, some models of aquariums have LED lights. As a result, it creates a very beautiful effect in the dark when you turn it on. These lights when turned on also stimulate ants for more active work (at least many manufacturers of ant farms claim this).

Usually, ants do not come with an ant farm, but it is not a problem. You can catch the insects yourself or buy them at a pet shop. You can also order them on Amazon, there are a lot of offers there. Almost all species of ants that you can find can be put in a gel ant farm.

If the number of ants does not exceed the recommended amount there’s enough gel for that type of the farm for 3 months. After you run out of gel you can buy more online.

Gel farm will take its rightful place in your home or office and at times will help you to take your mind off work and relax. This type of farm is a popular present from parents to their children: watching ants work together to build an anthill and dig tunnels will help a child realize the importance of teamwork and hard work towards achieving goals! Let’s take a look at the top of the best gel models of ant farms worth buying:

TOP 5 Best Gel Ant Farms

Amazing Ant Habitat W/ LED Light by Evviva Sciences

This farm is one of the most beautiful ant farms on the market. The elaborate LED-light needs to be plugged into an electric outlet and provides really spectacular views of the ant farm with all its tunnels (especially in the darkness). Furthermore, the light’s position stimulates ants to dig deeper and more intricate tunnels.

Each ant habitat kit features a magnifying glass, a stick to prepare the farm to ant’s settlement (it is necessary to make a few holes in the gel before the settlement) and a special educational book about ants.

For the successful functioning of the farm is recommended to settle no more than 30 ant-workers. Any ants are fine for settlement but harvester ants will dig the deeper and more beautiful tunnels that are why they are recommended for settlement.

Pros:

1. A very beautiful dark blue color of the farm that suits any interior and allows easily to observe the life of these small insects!
2. Lavishly equipped: each consumer additionally receives a magnifying glass, a stick to help ants start gigging tunnels and a very colorful and detailed encyclopedia about the life of ants!
3. The special formula of the gel used by this manufacturer guarantees a really long life for the whole settlement.
4. The light works from electric power so there is no need to buy and use batteries.

Cons:

1. From time to time (minimum 2-3 times a week) it is very important to open a cover to prevent from building up a condensate.
2. Some consumers complain that ants do not start gigging tunnels for a long time (up to 48 hours). It is necessary to say that this issue comes from the negligent transportation of the ants but not from the farm itself.

AntWorks by Fascinations

Quite a quality and elaborate gel ant farm that allows seeing insects’ work at its best! Let your children explore the world and see how insects achieve great results by only teamwork and interaction with each other! The ants will become an example of hard work, perseverance and a results-oriented mindset for your children. In addition, watching the insects work on the ant farm is a really good opportunity to relax and get off bad thoughts even for adult people.

This manufacturer also claims to use a special formula of gel that provides the ants with all necessary nutrients and stimulates the active work and long life of the insects. Some customers had ants’ lifespan of more than 6 months which is a great result for gel ant farms.

This farm comes with the next set all necessary accessories: a magnifying glass which allows watching ants at work in detail, a special device for catching and moving ants, and also a detailed instruction about breading and caring for ants.

Pros:

1. This blue color with LED-lights ant farm looks great with any interior and allows us to study in detail the work of these small insects.
2. A farm fits around 30 ant-workers which is a very good characteristic!
3. The gel is really different from those used by many other manufacturers and can prolong the lives of ants up to 5-6 months!

Cons:

1. One of the disadvantages of this type of farm is bad sustainability. Because the bottom part of the farm is quite narrow it can easily fall if handled with negligence.
2. Some customers complain that ants sneak out sometimes (but this isn’t a common thing and more likely a single defect of the product).

Ant Farm Castle for Kids by NAVADEAL

This is another high-quality model of gel ant farms with a very interesting construction. Unlike other models, it also includes a special system of feeding and a “kindergarten” for ants that allows you to show for your children how ants raise their babies! What is more this construction simplifies ants’ settlement into the farm (there are special holes in water troughs that let you put ants into their new home without any problem).

The kit also includes an additional items: a magnifying glass, a plastic pipette, a nipper for catching and moving ants and very detailed instruction about breading and caring for ants.

Pros:

1. The gel is transparent. The gel in this farm is especially transparent which allows for better watching of how ants are work, dig tunnels and engage with each other.
2. Another definite advantage is the availability of a feeder and water troughs and easy access to them.
3. It should be noted that there is a special hole in the feeding system for easier loading ants into the farm.

Cons:

1. One might think that a farm is very big but it is not true. It is difficult to call it a definite disadvantage but you should pay your attention to the size of the farm: 4 1/4″ L * 4 1/4″W * 4″H.
2. It is necessary to read the instruction carefully: some customers have problems with ants drowning in water troughs. This is the result of failing to follow the instructions!
3. Many customers note that there’s not enough air and the ants stop working: to address the problem you need to open the farm for ventilation and remove condensate once or twice times per week.

Live Blue Gel Ant Habitat by Nature Gift

It is a simple and inexpensive ant farm but at the same time, it is made of high-quality materials and comes with 25 ants’ kit. The manufacturer guarantees that the ants will be delivered alive and healthy providing that the right temperature conditions are being followed (from 40° to 85°).

It comes in a complete standard kit: a magnifying glass, forceps for catching ants, a stick to help start the settlement and detailed instruction about breading and caring for ants.

Pros:

1. Also, I would like to note that the farm is quite wide which lets the ants dig more sophisticated tunnels compared to the farms of other manufacturers. It looks amazing!
2. Many customers had the same ant colony live on the farm for quite a long time: up to 12 months!
3. There are 25 ants in the kit: you don’t need to order them from another seller.

Cons:

1. It is necessary to open the farm cover at least 2-3 times a week for a few minutes for the successful and long life of the colony (it helps to get rid of condensate and gives fresh air to ants).
2. The ants that come in the kit are red ants. This indicates that they are aggressive. We do not recommend to take them with your bare hands as they can sting painfully!
3. The farm is half-full with gel while the competitor’s products are at least 2/3-full.

GeoSafari Day ‘N’ Night Ant Factory by Educational Insights

This farm has non-standard shapes unlike the competitors’ ones (as a rule there are rectangular shaped ant farms on the market). This farm also has an unusual illumination that looks really great! In addition, as the manufacturer claims the LED-light stimulates ants to work more actively! The only drawback of this light is that it requires batteries. But once you put the batteries in you can forget about them for a long time because the light doesn’t use much power.

There is a special cap with holes for ventilation on top of the farm (but we still recommended to take it off often at least 2-3 times a week, it is very easy, ants cannot run away and fresh air will help to get rid of condensate in the farm). Moreover, ants need fresh air for a normal life.

As a whole, the ant farms seems to be of high-quality and thought. That’s confirmed by positive feedbacks from the absolute majority of customers!

Pros:

1. The farm has non-standard sharp and seems to be appropriate with any interior!
2. It worth mentioning the ant farm’s look with the light on: it is shining with blue and green colors and looks amazing in the dark!
3. The upper section allows for easy ventilating of the ant farm and prevents condensation, without being worried that ants can run away.

Cons:

1. A lot of customers note that the air vent attachment isn’t very reliable: if you drop the ant farm there is a big chance it will fall off and ants will run away. You can fix this with a small piece of duct tape.
2. The LED-light requires batteries (although they last for a long time it is still considered to be a drawback).
3. Some customers complain that ants do not start working for a long time but this is the result of non-compliance with the recommendation about preparation for ants’ settlement.

Conclusion

Today we reviewed the most popular models and tried to choose the best gel ant farm for kids! Do not even doubt that your child will be enthusiastically treated as little ants dig tunnels, working their way. A gel ant farm is a great way to show your baby that even a very difficult task can be accomplished through teamwork and hard work. Of the minuses of the ant farm, I can single out the fact that the life span of the insects in the gel is much lower than in the sand. It is very likely that within 5-6 months you will have to colonize the farm with new ants (replacing the gel before). In general, it is worth noting that the gel ant farm will be an excellent gift for any children, as it is a very exciting activity and does not require serious care.

I also highly recommend that you read my article on the best sand ant farms. This will help you make the right choice and decide on the purchase of the exact ant farm that you and your child will like!