12 replies to this topic

[BugFinder]

It's pretty expensive, but I was wondering what you guys thought about this for one of my Pogonomyrmex colonies:  http://antscanada.co...ldwide-shipping

[Ants4fun]

Lol, that's what I was thinking! I thought it would be perfect for Pogonomyrmex's, but $200 for a box is pretty ridiculous. I wonder if they have sold any! No disrespect to Antscanada, they make great professional formicaria, it's just that it seems a bit too much for what you get. It's basically an uncle milton ant farm attached to an out world. If the price was around $40 then I would consider getting it, but when that item is par with your most expensive formicarium available, I wouldn't imagine it would sell.

Edited by Ants4fun, March 16 2015 - 5:45 PM.

[BugFinder]

That's a great question to ask Mikey tonight!  lol.

[BugFinder]

I'd like to know why his prices are so high...  He manufactures those products in the Philippines, so he pays much less for overhead than he would if they were made here.

[Foogoo]

I'd like to know why his prices are so high...  He manufactures those products in the Philippines, so he pays much less for overhead than he would if they were made here.

 

I can't say since I don't own any AC products, but considering the time probably put into designing, testing, prototyping, tooling, QA, etc. I can see how that's justifiable. AC also might be a one man operation so the time he puts in probably goes through the roof. When I'm considering a purchase, I think about the supplies and time it might take me to make something similar and it's almost always turned out to be more economical for me to buy it. Heck, I drilled a 3/8" hole in a acrylic box tonight ($200 drill, $20 step bit set) and cracked it.

[ToeNhi]

I'd like to know why his prices are so high... He manufactures those products in the Philippines, so he pays much less for overhead than he would if they were made here.

I can't say since I don't own any AC products, but considering the time probably put into designing, testing, prototyping, tooling, QA, etc. I can see how that's justifiable. AC also might be a one man operation so the time he puts in probably goes through the roof. When I'm considering a purchase, I think about the supplies and time it might take me to make something similar and it's almost always turned out to be more economical for me to buy it. Heck, I drilled a 3/8" hole in a acrylic box tonight ($200 drill, $20 step bit set) and cracked it.

The AntsCanada Ant Box is not an original design. Below is a video I found on YouTube uploaded in 2007. Long before AC started selling the Ant Box. When he started selling the OmniNest, I looked on the Chinese websites and saw very similar formicaria. I just figured we was buying the Chinese made formicaria and re-branding them.

Edited by ToeNhi, March 18 2015 - 10:04 PM.

[William. T]

Hey Bugfinder! Perhaps get uncollapsible substrate from Queen Ant Shop? They ship here. Besides, they are a pretty good bang for your buck.

 

http://www.queenantshop.co.uk

[drtrmiller]

US Department of Agriculture prohibits the transport of soil and other plant products, as they could contain plant pets.  If it is declared, it could be seized by customs upon entering the US.

[William. T]

This is sand, which I think is importable. Besides, Queen Ant Shop makes these nice glass formicariums you could put soil in. The Queen Ant Shop uses a sand-loam mix, which can be recreated.

[drtrmiller]

In that case, you may be correct.  It really depends how it is declared.  I imported 10 different colors of sand from Canada that are being used in the upcoming formicaries.

[BugFinder]

Thanks for the link William, I'll be checking that one out!

[William. T]

Your welcome.

[rarankhan]

No offense to China but Chinese products are almost all cheap, horrible quality ripoffs. So I'm pretty sure all Antscanada products are original, and Chinese companies ripped them off. Besides, I'd support an original company dedicated to ants.