Watch the Ants in the rain

[Nezikah]

I let to of my girls out today in our outdoor enclosure. I checked on them at 11 and all was good our carpet python was cruising along the vines and our water python was swimming in her enclosure. Go check on them at 1 pm and the ants had killed them both. We never have had a problem before but according to the vet (rushed them there just in case) ants are a real problem with the rain.

So mad. I really liked my Water python girl!! she was coming along so nicely and was starting to be handled with only 1 or 2 bites.

 

[Skelhorn]

What! Are you serious? The ants have taken out both your pythons? Am I reading that right? That is soo unfortunate and unfair! How big were they? That must extremely suck

 

[Beard]

Thets terrible.

 

[Nezikah]

They took out 2 of the 3 I had in the out door enclosures. We have used them before and never had an issue. According to the vet the ants go for the eyes and nostril holes to get in then work their way out.

I feel horrible for allowing it to happen but cant work out how the snakes didn't get away. The waters both had huge water features to swim in and the carpet had vines and branches. Carpet was about 1.2 meters and Water was just over 1 meter. The big male water who was happily swimming and oblivious to everything going on in his enclosure is 2.4 meters.

 

[Beard]

What kind of ants?

 

[Ambush]

Thats sad

 

[PythonLegs]

Ants don't kill healthy snakes, they eat dead ones.

 

[Skelhorn]

That sucks. I have seem ants go crazy in the rain. They will find anything and kill it as obviously its unknown how long it will rain for and they need to stock up their supplies. Very unfortunate Thats sad!

 

[Nezikah]

Both the girls were fine and the water was definately healthy. The carpet we collected only 2 weeks ago and was seriously thin. She was fed only 1 small rat once a month prior to pick up.

The ants are those horrid little stinky black ones that were all over them.

 

[Loop_it]

This is horrible. I feel soo sorry for you.

 

[JUNGLE-JAK]

that really sucks, sorry for youre loss.

 

[waruikazi]

Ants don't kill healthy snakes, they eat dead ones.

That's not true. Ants are predators aswell as scavengers. If a snake, or any animal, can't get away quick enough from a swarm of ants they will be eaten.

 

[PythonLegs]

Really. Show me any evidence of any sort of black ants killing a healthy adult snake.

 

[Beard]

Sure........


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I think its safe to say that this proves that the ants overwhelmed the snake and the snake is now proper ****ed !!!

 

[PythonLegs]

Damn you beard and your scientifically accurate macros! foiled again!

 

[waruikazi]

Really. Show me any evidence of any sort of black ants killing a healthy adult snake.

Did you read the story by the OP? Show me evidence that they can't!

But just to humour you here are some pics i have taken. First one shows a live hatchy childrens that got away from a swarm of green ants, second shows a keelback that i suspect was overcome by ants and the third a shovel nose that i also suspect was overcome by ants. And just to top it off you can have a read of this Snakes: ecology and conservation - Stephen J. Mullin, Richard A. Seigel - Google Books check paragraph three. That was on the first page of a google search, i'm sure i could find more if i tried hard enough.

 

[PythonLegs]

1) Hatchy with an ant on it does not equal an ant victim.
2) Snake beside tyre tracks that could and probably was injured before snakes got to it.
3)2nd pic of hognose that you 'suspect' was overcome by ants clearly shows trauma at bottom of picture caused by not ants, unless giant radioactive super ant.
4)The text you quoted was in relation to fire ants. The ants in question were 'small black ants'.

Try again? Maybe without the silly names, this time.

 

[Niall]

You can clearly see the last 2 photos are of the same snake and he has just cleared the ants of the snake...

 

[waruikazi]

Oh i bow down to you oh great lord of ant wisdom! I must be wrong considering the personal account that has been mentioned, the ant stuck to the face (note where it is attacking the snake) obviously shows that ants can't kill a snake, the picture of the keelback has a tyre mark in the background so there is no way it could have possibly been overcome by ants and the final picture shows a hole where the snake has been eaten through (most likely by ants) so it couldn't have possibly been overcome by ants either!

Finally my final reference has been discredited because it doesn't mention black ants!

1) Hatchy with an ant on it does not equal an ant victim.
2) Snake beside tyre tracks that could and probably was injured before snakes got to it.
3)2nd pic of hognose that you 'suspect' was overcome by ants clearly shows trauma at bottom of picture caused by not ants, unless giant radioactive super ant.
4)The text you quoted was in relation to fire ants. The ants in question were 'small black ants'.

Try again? Maybe without the silly names, this time.

 

[PythonLegs]

'bout time you bowed to me, junior. What took you so long?

Mate, the text you quoted specifically mentions 'eggs and hatchlings' being at risk to fire ants. Fire ants are nasty, vicious things, that are irrelevant. Anacondas have eaten people, therefore by the line of your thinking, all pythons are deadly to humans? I don't get the point you're making.

The photos you showed were anecdotal- two snakes,which you found covered in ants, which may or may not have been injured long before the ants got to them. I can show you a picture of vultures eating an elephant, that wouldn't prove that vultures kill elephants.

And then one pic of a hatchling antaresia, with an ant on it, which you yourself said 'got away from' a swarm of ants. How does this support the theory that small suburban black ants managed to knock off two healthy full grown adult pythons with swimming and climbing room in a short space of time?