Ant problem

[Akuma223]

I have a fricken ant infestation in my rudi's enclosure, how do i get rid of it, its a TON of small brown/black ants and they have a colony going. I tried sugar and baking soda mix but it isnt working fast enough and I really don't have any patience. Do I just get rid of all the dirt, can I sprinkle something in the soil, what can I do to kill them all? I got aggravated and started to dig to find the queen but now I have a million angry ants all over the basking spot of my cage and i'm worried about Oliver.

[jpsteele80]

Well you certainly can't spray chemicals to kill them, there isn't really a whole lot of options that you have other than natural remedies or replace the dirt, I'm sure others will have ideas that I'm not thinking of right now but it's a pain to replace that much dirt

[dMf]

Cinnamon worked wonders for me when I had the same problem. of course completely replace/clean everything, then sprinkle cinnamon in and a little around the enclosure.

[Akuma223]

Okay thanks I'll see if I have any, Any other suggestions are wanted too.

[jpsteele80]

I've heard vinegar works really well but not sure how the monitor would take to the smell of vinegar

[Akuma223]

Also thanks for the quick reply you two!!

[virtuousvixen]

Another good thing that never fails to work on ants is boiling water. Depending on your set up, i would remove everything and pour a few kettles of boiling water around. Gets them every time. Good luck

[formica]

the only way to kill an ants nest, is to kill the queen(s), you need to dig the nest up and dispose of as many queens as possible, depending on the species there may be more than one - if you can post a picture up I can probably identify it and let you know.

i'm afraid none of the suggestions so far are very likley to kill the queens and therefore the colony, despite their popularity as first defense against ants, the queens stay deep within the nest and are generally unaffected by anything other than poisons, which obviously arn't a good idea, and only work with certain species any way.


digging the nest up and then pouring boiling water may work, but unless you kill the queen, they will simply reestablish themselves, and in a hot enclosure full of food, that is going to happen quickly.

[Akuma223]

Yeah I couldn't find the queen(s). I think I will empty out all the dirt on that side and toss it, and reseal the entire enclosure.

[Jim Smith]

As much of a pain as it will be to do all that work, I think you've arrived at the only real solution. I would clean it out completely, wipe the area down with vinegar/water or a weak bleach/water solution and start fresh with bagged soil that you purchase from a garden center or big box store. If you use dirt from any outside source, you stand a good chance of reintroducing ants or other pests back into your habitat. Is there any chance that the ants came into the house from the outside and found your habitat to be a nice place to set up house? If so, you may want to spray insecticide around the area outside of your house to discourage them from returning. Just a thought...

[Akuma223]

Its more likely the ants came with a bag of leaves I dumped in there for him, but we do get some ants in the summer and I will be spraying around the house when I can like we do every year. I'm think vinegar and water + new dirt, Should I replace it 100% or just the side with the ants?

[jarich]

The ants you're talking about have shallow nests. Find where the hole is they're going in and dig it out to about 9".

You could also look at sprinkling some food grade diatomaceous earth around the nest site.

[nepoez]

Try this: Aardvark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aardvark)

[Akuma223]

Heh, I've never seen an Aardvark for sale before. Bobcats, marmosets, and crested porcupines sure but never an Aardvark. Heck I've even seen giraffes!