Ant farms should definitely be considered when you're
thinking about pets for children. Here's why. For many
children, their first contact with animals of any sort will
be with insects. They love butterflies,of course and often
toddlers will watch a few ants on the sidewalk or take a
closer look at a ladybug that has landed on their tee
shirt. Children like insects, they are small, like the
children themselves, they have an alien sort of charm about
them and, as long as they are not bitten or stung by one at
an early age, they are quite capable of maintaining that
interest if it is nurtured properly. Ant farms provide the
perfect environment in which to watch small creatures
behaving (almost) naturally.
That is the reason that insects as a group, and ants in ant
farms especially, make the best pets for children (and
adults too if you ask me). Please note, that although I'm
calling them pets, ants in an ant farm are really not the
same thing as a house cat or dog. No cuddles, no throwing a
ball or stick to be retrieved, no snoozing in front of the
fire. The same applies, of course to reptiles and
amphibians. So we are really talking about small animals
that children can watch and learn from and also learn about
the responsibility of looking after them. And ants in an
ant farm is as small as you're likely to get.
Research suggests that people who have had to care for pets
during childhood go on to become more responsible parents
than children who have never had that experience. It's
obvious really, if you have learned, at an early age that
bad things happen when your pets are not looked after
properly, then this sort of information is going to be very
useful when dealing with small babies and children.
So what options do we have? Well, it makes sense to think
about running costs need to think about running costs. Some
of the bigger, and to my mind, more exciting insects come
from tropical climes and will need heated accommodation if
they are not to die. You may also find that some
carnivorous species, such as praying mantis, will only eat
live prey, and so feeding costs might be an issue.
For all of these, the running cost is very small, compared
to having a big dog in the house although it has to be said
that keeping insects and having a dog are two completely
different things.
Once set up, unless you have special lighting, an ant farm
costs nothing to run. It can easily be filled with ants
from your garden and the ants can be fed on a variety of
small crumbs or seeds. What could be cheaper than that? I
think you'll find, if it's small kids that you are
considering, that an ant farm will come out at the top of
the list every time.
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Ants and ant farms are discussed in detail at
http://www.antfarmcentral.com
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