Please click on the link to see Vai´s review on her blogsite or read below.
Vai Chin´s review of the Aqua Dragons Jurassic Time Travel Eggspedition with LED lights
by Vai Chin
J is learning all about growth at nursery school. They have been watching potatoes sprout, growing their own cress and waiting for very hungry caterpillars to morph into butterflies. And he has been going on about wanting a pet. There is absolutely no way I am getting him a dog or a cat or a fish or a rabbit. At least not until he is old enough to care for them with minimal adult supervision.
When I heard about Aqua Dragons, they seemed like just the things to introduce J to the idea of having his own pet, while at the same time reinforcing the concept of growth he has been learning about. They sounded fascinating, with their 200 million year history. J knows all about dinosaurs (who doesn’t), so the Aqua Dragons would be a lovely way to talk about evolution, fossils and extinction with him. Perhaps not in so many words, but they could help with ideas about time and life.
The Aqua Dragons Jurassic Time Travel Eggspedition with LED lights arrived in the post to tremendous excitement in the C-house. The Aqua Dragons EggSpedition tank is made of plastic and sits on a LED light base unit that houses the two AAA batteries. I was really pleased that the batteries were included with the unit. The last thing you want is wait to buy new batteries, when all you want to do is see how your new toy operates.
The tank has its own bubble pump that you use to oxygenate the water that the aqua dragons swim in. The Jurassic Time Travel Eggspedition also comes with a packet of aqua dragon eggs, a pack of feed, a little feeding spoon, an instruction manual and activity book, a sheet of stickers and a poster to colour in. There is a little dino baby model at the base of the tank, which makes for a very cute addition.
J was really excited by the idea of having his own dragons, albeit a little apprehensive at the same time. He was imagining fire-breathing dragons with huge wings. So I had to explain that these were little dragons like sea-horses that swam in the water.
They are real live aquatic creatures that have survived for millions of years in a sort of hibernating state. Their eggs hatch once they come in contact with water. So Aqua Dragons really are time travellers, surviving in the same form they did all those years ago when dinosaurs ruled the earth.
J wanted to help with the set-up. So I delegated the task of shaking 380 mls of bottled water to him. This was done to oxygenate the water. He then poured the water into the tank. I carefully emptied the aqua dragon eggs and closed the tank.
Now it was a matter of wait and watch. We kept the tank near a window so it gets sunlight and warmth. By next morning, we could see tiny white specks floating about. This meant that some of the eggs had hatched and we had our baby aqua dragons. J was thrilled, and immediately wanted to feed them. The instructions dictated that feeding should commence 48 hours after set-up. J was happy to wait till the next day.
We have since been oxygenating the tank on a daily basis using the pump and feeding the aqua dragons at regular intervals. Our aqua dragons are now growing.
They are still quite small. But it is fascinating to watch them. J and I are both excited to see how they develop. We hope they continue to thrive and we can see all the different stages in their life cycle. I am secretly hoping that they breed, so that we get a fresh crop of aqua dragon eggs.
It has been a very long time since the days of high-school biology. But these resilient little creatures have just revived my interest. They are a constant reminder of how fascinating life can be. I hope J feels the same way after his interaction with these amazing creatures