Ants Ate My Snake

[ninemmreverie]

The other day I went to my girlfriend's house, and while there I checked up on our pet corn snake, Gundam. To our extreme horror, we found his curled up skeleton in the corner of his tank with ants swarming everywhere. My girlfriend immediately broke down. We had taken very good care of him for over a year, and he seemed as happy as ever. After I got over the initial shock I searched for an explanation behind what had happened. My girlfriend told me that she had seen him earlier that day relaxing in his coconut house, and there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. But just a few hours later, our pet snake's corpse had been stripped down to it bones by a thick trail of ants.

Here is what I know so far: We live in southern california and the daytime temperature has been in the 80-90's farenheit the last few weeks. However, as I mentioned, we've had him for over a year and he seemed to do just fine last summer. We checked on him and his water daily and kept him on a consistent feeding schedule of one pinky a week. This is the eerie part. For the past few weeks there have also been trails of ordinary black house ants coming and going in my girlfriends room and house, and the trails started from a crack in the wall right next to Gundam's tank. Everytime the ants came, they led to food we had left out for a few hours somewhere away from his tank in the room, and their crack of entry next to his tank seemed to be just a coincidence. The ants never went inside his tank, just around the side of it. The day we found his body, the ants had eaten virtually all of his flesh leaving a dry skeleton. We know they ate him because you could see them in a frenzy all over his skeleton like how ants are when they find left over food. I guess my question is: did the ants attack, weaken, and eat him or did he probably die from other non-related causes and the ants just ate his near death or lifeless body. I know ants do eat bigger animals, but I've never heard of anything like this happening before.

This has been a very sad end for our pet Gundam. He's been buried with his coconut.

RIP
Gundam
2006-2007

[kriminaal]

First of all identify what kind of ants it was. Ordinary ants don't do that. Even the aggressive ones won't attack a healthy animal. When was the last time you "visited your snake"? I'm betting he had been dead for a while before the ants found him.

[gonesnakee]

If you read the post the snake was seen healthy & happy earlier in the day. Sounds like you have a very serious ant problem to me & I would be finding an exterminator ASAP before they cause any more serious issues in the household. Personally I would have been all over the ant scene weeks prior & maybe the snake would not have been eaten alive by them as sounds to be the case. If ants are allowed to come in & feed they will just keep coming & in larger numbers. An exterminator is in order ASAP, Mark

[TailsW/Scales]

First of all I am very sorry for your loss. At this point how your little one died is not important.
I don't feel that the black ants killed your snake. But they are very quick oppertunistic feeders and move quickly on a free meal. Scouts locate the food and then race back to the colony leaving a scent trail on the way. So the food gatherers head out and grab anything their jaws can carry. From the sound of it the colony is living close to where your snake's home. Probably in your wall somewhere. After all it's the perfect little home for an ant colony. As Mark said either call an exterminator or pick up some ant traps /bait houses.

Again ..................... very sorry for your loss.

[ninemmreverie]

I really appreciate the feedback. I've done some quick research on the common black ant, and it does seems unlikely that they attacked him. The most plausible explanation I can think of is that it was a combination of the heat which was about 10 degrees higher than corn snakes are supposed to live under and possibly the result of a large rock we kept in his tank. I've found out that you're not supposed to keep objects like that in a snakes habit during a hot season because the rock will store excess heat and the snake will perch on it, not knowing how hot it really it. That could potentially lead to problems with the snake which would explain what happened to mine. Something to keep in mind for people in hot areas right now. Thanks again.

[AA23ds]

I live six stories up in an apartment in a highly developed urban area and I still have ants come in through cracks and attack any crumbs left out. They are amazing animals.

The only sollution that really works is to clean up every day and never leave anything out that the ants would find interesting. They will still be there, but you will only see scouts and as long as they find nothing to write home about, most of the ants stay outside or wherever the colony is (perhaps in that wall of yours). Poison will only get rid of them for a short time....they are always multiplying, so unless you plan exterminate regularly, they'll always be back.

I highly doubt that common ants attacked and killed a healthy live snake. Your snake probably died of some other cause and the ants, quick to find and devour dead things, did their job.

Sorry for your loss....but I wouldn't blame the ants.

[AA23ds]

Argentine Ants (http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0403.htm)

The above link talks about the ants you are probably seeing.

I've had these ants around since I was a kid. I've never seen or heard of them attacking anything living, but according to this site, they have been known to attack and eat baby birds in the nest.

If they can kill a baby bird, maybe they can kill a snake.

I still doubt it though

[gonesnakee]

I have my doubts on whether they killed the snake or not as well, but if it was seen & was healthy earlier that day its kinda funny how it just up & died & then the ants ate it right away. I have ant issues here in Canada where I live every year as well & can honestly say this year was the worst. I usually hit them early with 2 or 3 types of poison & I try to use different ones than from the previous year. It slows them down, but they always thrive. This year I actually did about 3 different waves of poison using about 6 or 7 different types & they are still thriving pretty good, but its keeping them outta my house anyway. Me & my neighbour joke about on how you don't see them for a week or 2 after a wave of poisoning because they are all too "wrecked" & are having a big party down below for a week or so after sampling the various "party favours" we provided LOL I think they more often or not they just get buzzed, not dead as their resistance gets higher, thus why mixing up the poisons every year. I like when I'm at the till with the assortment of poison & tell the cashier "I'm going on a killing spree" while laughing sinisterly when in all actuallity I'm more like the "dealer" showing up at the party providing a variety of chemicals for the ants to enjoy (rolls eyes) They are strong lil suckers thats for sure. Mark

[LLix]

aww that is so sad. you should put bug spray around the outside of the house to keep those nasty ants away. :[ I hope your girlfriend is doing well, i would be so sad if that ever happend to my snake.