Dino Pet Gift Option

I stumbled across the Dino Pet on another website. Of course, it was sold out there, so I hit Amazon and found that it was being sold on Amazon.A quick note about shipping on this item...it comes from the actual manufacturer of the product, not Amazon or even the external seller (in my case it was Brookstone). So, I basically paid Amazon, for a product from Brookstone, that ws then shipped to me from BioPop directly. It took it a bit longer to actually ship, but once it did it arrived in two days. Be sure to open your package immediately, as if you get one from here it's going to come with the living dinoflagellates in the box that should be put into the dinosaur right away.Anyways...on to the product.On a recent trip to the Cayman Islands, we went on a kayaking tour of a bioluminescent bay. This bay was home to millions and millions of these tiny living beings called dinoflagellates. They would light up when agitated in the sea. Very cool. You could see them light up as the kayak paddle passed through the water, or as you dangled your feet in the water. Unfortunately, our kayaking trip was cut a bit short because of pretty terrible weather. My parents were with my wife and I on this trip, and they had been really looking forward to this kayaking trip, so they were a bit bummed out by having it cut short.Shortly after the trip, I found the Dino Pet online and thought that it would make a GREAT gift for my parents, something to let them have a bit of that bioluminescent bay with them all the time. I ordered it from Amazon, and found out about the shipping when it didn't ship by the expected date and I sent a message to the seller.When it did arrive, I thought that I had purchased the set that came with the gift certificate for the living creatures, so I just set the shipping box in the pile of gifts that I would need to end up wrapping.I opened it about six days later to find, to my terror, that the dinoflagellates had been in the box the whole time. A quick read of the instructions had me worried that they may have died, as it says to put them into the acrylic dinosaur immediately after receiving them, because they need light to survive. In the box, they of course hadn't been getting any light at all. So, I put them in the dinosaur and hoped for the best.I did this in the early afternoon, so they had a few hours of light left before it was dark. When it got dark, I gently shook the dinosaur, and noticed a few small flashes. I didn't know if this was a good sign or a bad one...it was good because there were flashes, but bad because there weren't very many.The next day they had the whole day to be in the light...and that night, the light show was on!!! They were all alive and well, and the results in the little dinosaur were absolutely stunning. I left only a little bit of air in the dinosaur, which made it so that when you shake it you get a subtle glow throughout almost the entire inside of the dinosaur.I left it to do it's thing for the next few days before putting it back in it's box to be given to my parents as a Christmas gift.They absolutely loved it. My mother has told me that when they wake up in the early morning (it's still dark) the dinoflagellates are always very bright. They keep it right in the main living area of their house, so it's getting a good 10 hours of daylight or so every day, which is a pretty good amount of light.As another reviewer mentioned, these are living creatures, so they will need food from time to time. The initial package comes with enough food to give you the initial feeding and a second feeding. You can buy more from the manufacturer when you need it. From what I understand, if you feed them when they need it, the colony will sustain for a very long time.I also wanted to note that the light that I perceive from these creatures is different than the light that shows up in the photos of them. The light in the photos is a very aqua or teal blue type color, but the light that I see from them is more white or light blue. I believe this to be a function of the way that cameras capture these creatures, as the images from the kayaking trip that we took shows the exact same color, but down there I noticed more white type light than the blue-ish in the images.Overall, I think this is a really cool product. The gift went over amazingly well, and I couldn't have asked for a better thing to give my parents.If you're at all interested, give this product a go...it's a really neat thing.

Do not buy! We bought this for my son for Christmas thinking it would glow brightly like in the pictures. We were willing to take care of it and all that after we read the reviews. IT DOES NOT GLOW LIKE THE PICTURES! The barely lights up and only when the Dino is being moved which they tell you not to do more than 3 times in a row because you will start to kill them. Plus you aren't supposed to fill it completely, so I'm not sure why the picture shows it full to the top. Besides all that, the 'aquarium' design is terrible. The little piece at the bottom is plastic and must be opened with a coin or something to turn it. Well it's very difficult to turn so the plastic starts chipping away. We are finally at the point where we can't open it any more. So after 3 months of care, all the little Dino's are going to starve to death beacuse the aquarium won't open. So disappointed because this seemed like a great idea. Maybe it could be still. The Container should be better quality (not plastic) and maybe something the self modulates to simulate their ocean environment (waves and such) so they light up all the time? I don't know but I sure have one disappointed kid now.

This is a amazing product! Its a awesome example of bioluminecence. Everyone I show it to loves it! After having it for 2 months when I gently turn it the dino glow really bright! I have them on a schedule 8am to 8pm. I hooked up a plant grow light to a timer so they will get the UV rays they need but it's not hot. You can't keep them in direct sunlight or they will die. I feed my little guys once a month. They say to dump some of the water in it down the drain which I don't do. I have a mason jar I use to put the ones I pour out. Its not a lot but I feed those as well and they glow pretty bright now to. The Dinofagellates are low maintenance pets the glow at night when they're disturbed! The longer you take care of them the more they multiply and get brighter and brighter.

The only issue I have with this product is the Dino container is plastic with manufacturing seams running lengthwise through the middle which makes it look a little cheap but the container is still very sturdy.Other than that superficial issue these tiny critters are doing fine, I kept them in the bag for the first two days letting them acclimate to the temperature and day/night cycle before putting them into the Dino container. During the third night I decided to move them to a room with a more consistent temperature and right when I picked them up I saw the light show. I wasn't terribly impressed with how much was lighting up but I was happy they were alive and kicking. Now I just need to wait and let them multiply.So far I am very pleased with this product. If you are vaguely interested in biology or the thought of having little creatures that used to live millions of years ago siting on your desk then give this product a shot.

This would get 5 stars from me if it were based just on the product. It arrived early, and we had lights the following night. It does exactly what it is supposed to, and it's a great idea. My daughter likes shaking them and is fascinated that there are living creatures inside.The cons are too big to give a great review. They only light up at night, which there is nothing you can do about but it's still kind of a bummer when the kids want to show it off. Also, why don't they have animals other than a dinosaur? Dinosaurs aren't ideal for girls. My last and biggest complaint is that you have to continue to feed them and the price is pretty high. It's $16, plus shipping for a small bag of food which will last around 4 weeks. So every month you have to spend another $20 to maintain.