Ants In My Enclosures

[chickensnake]

Hi i have noticed some ants in all 3 of my snake enclosures. The ants are very little (smaller than 1mm) They dont seem to be anoying the snakes but i dont really want ants in my enclosures. Will they harm my snakes? How can i get rid of the ants? Help will muchly be appreciated

 

[ashisnothereman]

remove your herps and clean everything out. find where the ants are coming from and tend to it. ie. if your enclosures are near a door, spray some ant repellent on the outside, can pick up many varieties from bunnings. I had ants getting into my crickets and roaches so I sprayed some repellent around the doors and now i have no more ants!

 

[ozziepythons]

I'm not all that savvy with how to get rid of them, other than moving the enclosures or placing a film of ant rid around them? But what I do know from experience is that some species of ants will quickly overpower a snake/ lizard/ frog in the confines of its enclosure and kill it. This did happen to me once. I didn't have an ant problem, they just came into the house one day in a line and came across a cage. By the time I followed the trail to the cage they had killed my specimen! I'm now very careful of ants in the house and what they can potentially do.

 

[Holylemon]

I recommend finding the source of the ants and possibly buying MORTEIN OUTDOOR ANT SAND which is more safe then spraying the area.

 

[chickensnake]

so spray the repelent around the room door or the enclosure? sorry if i sound dumb lol

 

[ashisnothereman]

dont put it anywhere near the enclosure! remove the enclosure from the area if it appears to be too close, then spray or apply ant sand as mentioned before. there are many varieties available to have a look and see which products suits you. in my case i sprayed ant repellent on the outside of the door frame and the surrounding area on the ground... ive had not ant problems since. lasts about 3 months according to the bottle.

 

[ashisnothereman]

just to make it clear i am talking about the door to the room. ie. the front door/ window, etc.... not the enclosure door. sorry if that was already understood.

 

[Dar1stheory]

I had a similar experience living in Hendra area, a bunch of tiiiiiiny ants had started trekking across the top of one of my enclosures, and a few had wandered in to the click clack inside the larger enclosure, though interestingly I found them all dead in the little water bowl, maybe only 5-6 of them, but it appeared as if maybe the snake had actually bathed himself to remove them?

I just sprayed the entrance area and never saw them again...

 

[chickensnake]

ok thanks for the help i am just about to clean the enclosures will RAID be ok to use for the spraying?

 

[Dar1stheory]

ok thanks for the help i am just about to clean the enclosures will RAID be ok to use for the spraying?

Oh, just like one of the other guys, I should have been more specific, by entrance area I was also referring to the entrance to the room, not the enclosure, if possible try and avoid spraying anywhere near the enclosure itself, if you've ever caught a big whiff of spray you'll understand why...

I'd actually recommend the "ant-rid" stuff that is available in most supermarkets in the honey/syrup form, put on tiles or on something that you can throw/clean later, the ants will be attracted to it, and then take back the contained poison to the nest, hopefully, no more ant problem...:evil:

 

[chickensnake]

ok thanks all for the help im goin to the shop soon will post progress reply later on the ant situation lol thanks

 

[Dar1stheory]

oh and if I remember right, in the meantime, a fine line of talcum powder will also cut off the ants as well... used to use it to protect our dog bowl...

Just wipe away the ants, (using a mild detergent on a damp cloth on the outside where they have been walking in to the enclosure will break the trail that ants follow, once the trail is broken they'll be confused for a while...) and get up to the shops for some ant rid...