Mercury? Saturn? Which of these two very popular ant nests better suits my needs? Which should I buy for my ant colony? Let’s find out!
Today I’m going to compare two great ant nests made by the company WaKooshi: the Mercury nest, and the Saturn nest! Let’s see what the differences are! But before we start with the comparison, let’s describe the two products very quickly.
The Mercury Nest
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The first of the two nests that we’re going to compare today is called the Mercury nest. It is a very peculiar type of acrylic nest, based on the classic test tube setup. That means that the actual nest in which the ants live is in fact a very basic test tube setup, considered by most ant keepers to be the gold standard of founding nests.
This nest is very easily recognizable by its unusual shape, and by the little outworld mounted on top of the test tube. This is a very clever solution In my opinion, as it enhances the usability of the nest by including an outworld, while keeping the space that takes on the shelf under control.
If you wanna find out more about this cool nest, I would strongly suggest you check out this other article! In this one, I make a detailed review of this nest, listing the pros and cons of this type of setup!
The Saturn Nest
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The other nest of this comparison is called the Saturn nest. Made by the same company, it shares the main nest structure of its direct competitor. Like the Mercury nest, it uses the test tube setup as the main living area, and it also features a fairly sized outworld.
As you can clearly see, the main difference between the Mercury and this nest is its larger size. Thanks to its bigger volume, it is able to hold a lot more than one test tube, as we have in the Mercury.
Due to its size, it also has a lot more space to be used as the outworld section, creating an easier-to-manage feeding and drinking area.
Just like for the Mercury nest, I’ve also made a dedicated review for this nest! If you are interested, you can check it out here!
The Company
These are two of the most popular ant nests made by WaKooshi.
If you have never heard of them, WaKooshi is a UK-based company, very popular in the ant keeping community for their very cool 3D-printed acrylic nests. If you are interested in one of these nests and wanna check out more, you can find their online shop at www.wakooshi.com.
The Comparison
To determine which of the two nests is the best one, I will assign a point to only one of the two products in 5 different categories: price, build quality, features, aesthetic, and expandability. At the end of the comparison, the nest with the most points will be the winner!
Let’s start with the first category!
Price
At the current date, the Saturn nest is a little more expensive than the Mercury on the WaKooshi online shop. The price of the Mercury is currently £21.95, or €26.95 if you live in a country that uses the euro.
On the other hand, the price of the Saturn is £34.95, or €41.95. With a price difference of £13, the Mercury is definitely a lot cheaper if compared with the larger Saturn.
For this reason, the Mercury easily wins the point of this category!
Build Quality
Both these nests are built using 3D printing technology, a very modern technique used to create custom acrylic parts. This technology uses an additive process that creates the acrylic components by depositing various layers of material one above the other.
I have to admit that the 3D printing quality on both of these nests is extremely good! There aren’t any signs of smudges or errors caused by the 3D printer, and the surfaces are really well-made!
If you, just like me, really like 3D-printed ant nests, I would suggest you take a look at this other nest! This one is made by the same company, and is perfect if you have a very small colony or just a newly mated queen ant!
The acrylic panels available on both nests are also made with very high-quality materials, and the cuts are extremely precise. The acrylic panels of the outworld and the red covers of the Mercury are very clear, facilitating the view of the ants inside the nest.
Given the fact that both nests are made with the same 3D printer, this could be considered a tie! However, I really love the test tube holder section of the Saturn! The test tubes fit perfectly inside the special handles, and they also look amazing!
For this reason, I have to give the point to the Saturn!
Features
Now let’s talk bout the features. Both nests offer lots of very useful features. They both have an outworld, and both are based on the most trusted nest system: the test tube setup.
The main differences between the Mercury and the Saturn are the outworld size, the number of test tubes that can be added to the nest, the red cover, and the additional liquid feeder that we find only on the Mercury.
The outworld of the Saturn nest is a lot bigger, and with its bigger opening, it makes it a lot easier to access the inside and feed the ants.
The Saturn also has a lot more nesting space, and can hold up to 7 test tubes for the larger model!
However, the Mercury has two features that the Saturn doesn’t have: the red cover for the test tube, and the additional liquid feeder, very useful if you don’t have an external source of liquids.
Thanks to these additional features, the point for this category goes to the Mercury!
Aesthetic
Personally, I really love the design of the Saturn! It is very different from any other nest that you can find on the ant keeping market, and it’s also extremely functional!
I really like the fact that the test tubes are placed inside the outworld, instead of outside, as we have in the Mercury. This clever configuration choice creates a better-looking nest, a lot simpler from a shape perspective, and a lot cleaner from a design point of view.
So, for this category, I can safely give the point to the Saturn!
So far we have a tie! 2 points for the Mercury and 2 points for the Saturn! Let’s continue with the last category!
Expandability
When it comes to expandability, the Saturn easily wins. From what I’ve seen, the Mercury nest doesn’t have an option for expandability, and if there is, you probably have to buy a special connector separately.
On the other hand, with the Saturn you have two dedicated auxiliary ports made especially for this reason.
Via these two little doors, you can connect a bigger outworld or a bigger nest, giving the ants a lot more nesting space!
For this reason, the final point goes to the Saturn!
Conclusions
The verdict is in! The Saturn wins this competition with just one point more than the Mercury!
In the end, both are really good nests, perfect if you’re just starting out, or if you already have lots of experience with keeping ants! However, I think that the Saturn has something more, and for this reason, it deserves the victory!
I hope you have found this product comparison helpful!
If you like these types of product comparison guides, I would suggest you check out this other one! In this one, I compare the Mercury with another great nest made by WaKooshi: the Venus nest!
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