Uncle Milton Vintage Ant Farm - Manual (Page 6)

They like to drink, too
You should not give the ants too much water either. Just
add a few drops of clear drinking water every other day.
Be sure to keep the sand slightly moist, but not soggy. Try
not to get water on any bits of food
inside your habitat.
You might see some droplets of
water (condensation) on the inside
of the windows. If this happens, stop
watering for a few days.
Don’t bake your ants!
When the sun shines
directly on your habi-
tat, it becomes an oven,
and the ants can die
from the heat.
Don’t leave them out-
doors in icy weather.
Ants can’t stand extreme
chan ges in temperature. Room temperature of 65˚ to
75˚F (18˚ to 24˚C) is fine.
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“Never leave your
Ant Farm in direct
sunlight or near
other sources of
heat, such as a lamp,
stove or fireplace.”
Ants don’t like earth quakes!
Be kind to your ants. If you shake your
habitat, or turn it upside-down, you
will wreck their tunnels and bridges.
They take great pains building their
little world, and if they are dis-
turbed too much they will die.
Place the habitat on a stur-
dy shelf or table that won’t
get bumped or shaken.
Quick, sudden movements
will collapse the tunnels
and kill the ants.
Ants are farmers
In some types of ant colonies there are farmer ants.
They actually have farms! They gather tiny seeds
from the fields, bring them home, and plant them
underground. Soon the seeds sprout. The farmers bite
off the green sprouts and carry the seeds out into the
sun to dry. The seeds turn into sugar... and everyone
knows how ants love sugar!
Some ants raise and till fields above ground. They plant
small crops and keep them neat and well-tended. Then
the farmers carefully harvest the seeds and store them
in underground storage chambers.
There are even ants that keep
“cows.” The cows they keep are
really aphids — tiny insects that
live on the juices of plants. Inside
the aphids, these juices turn into
a sweet liquid, similar to the grass
“Keep your
Ant Farm in a
quiet and stable
place. Don’t shake
or tilt it. Treat
your ants with
respect.”
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