Ants!

[Wrath]

Some of you may have read my post on the cricket-ant horror that happened a few weeks ago. All horror-loving aside, what happened yesterday really has me concerned.

I came home after work after being away for the night to find ants all over my lizard's tank!!! I accidentally left the light fixture touching the wall (as I had moved it to open the lid the day before), and the ants used it as a ledge to get from the wall to the top shelf of my rack where my lizard tank is. They crawled into the tank, and were all over the water bowl, and food bowl where there were two live mealworms (i still cant get my lizard to eat a darned thing).

Fortunately, they left the lizard alone, who was hiding in his hide box. I took the worms out, and scooped out most of the substrate on which the ants were parading. I can't believe it. In less than 24 hours they came in and attacked my lizard's live food.....

I'm going to have to move the rack from the wall, make sure that nothing is making contact and put sticky tape on the legs of the rack. None went into the snake tanks, so I guess it was the worms that attracted them. I hate ants. All ants can burn in hell...

On another note, my lizard still isnt eating as far as I can tell, and it's been two weeks. I wonder how he is still fat....I guess I'll keep putting ant fodder in his food bowl, but will supervise it more closely.

[Bartman]

do you have some sort of infestation of ants in your house??? how did they get there in the first place?

[Wrath]

The ants invade every summer. There are a few scout ants (literally two or three) in almost every room of the house (old california house). If there is any food left out, or dog food left in the bowl, etc, the scouts call out a million troops. I doubt you have that kind of problem in Canada. They come up through the cracks in the floor boards, or from cracks in the corners of the rooms (we have wood flooring). Or else they find another way, I've seen them come in through teeny slits next to the screen frame in windows. I've had ant problems in the summer in every house I've lived in. All you can do is either use poison, or just make sure that nothing that will attract them is left out. They are wicked, and not in a good way.

[drewlowe]

wrath i used to have the same kind of problem back before i was keeping reptiles. They were those huge black ants they use to live in this old tree right outside the house. HEHE me and my brother used to poor gasoline down the hole in the bottom and light it on fire to kill the ants. (i know we were stuiped kids). Finally after years of dealing with them they finally uprooted that tree. And then the problem was solved. but i would try to keep them out of my room by placing one of those glue traps on the floor with a few pieces of cat food in the middle. It worked like a charm for me.

[Wrath]

That trap sounds like fun! <Evil Grin> I thin I may have to try that. If I leave enough food out, I may just get the whole herd out there.

[drewlowe]

LOL ya but remember they multiply fast or they seem like they call in troops from everywhere. So you should do it nightly just incase. but be careful your herps don't escape and get caught on the glue.

double sided tap and single sided flypaper work wonders as well

[Linds]

Originally posted by Wrath
The ants invade every summer. There are a few scout ants (literally two or three) in almost every room of the house (old california house). If there is any food left out, or dog food left in the bowl, etc, the scouts call out a million troops. I doubt you have that kind of problem in Canada.

Why do you say we wouldn't have those problems in Canada? Is it because nothing can survive in the land or igloos and eskimos? lol j/j. But for real, I live in Canada and every single summer those ants invade my house too. Big black ants... everywhere. I don't live in an old house (20 years old), I think they come in through dryer vents or something. Open a cupboard to get something and the scurry out, watching tv - see 'em run across the floor, trying to clean and their they are. Ugh....drives me nuts. Everything has to be in airtight containers or they get in to them somehow. We have Raid traps all over the interior and exterior of the house, still have 'em every year. Maybe I will give those glue traps a shot. Or maybe I just need to get a bunch of free roaming house geckos or something...lol

[Lisa]

could be worse, could be termites.

[marisa]

Or earwigs!!!! *shreeeeeeeeeeeeeek!*

Marisa

[chas*e]

You can catch them with a really really really small "leg hold "trap......hehehe