Need Help!

[ArachnoCrazy]

My Avicularia versicolor spiderling was being attacked by small ants. He is know missing a rear leg, which I found in its enclosure. I am currently removing all substrat and cooking it in the micowave to kill the ants, then I am replacing the substrat. I had my spiderling in a small container inside a enclosure I had built for an adult sized T to maintain humidity and temp better and both are infested. My Spiderling doesn't move much unless he is disturbed and then he can still run fast. Otherwise he sits there motionless. Can anyone tell me what else I should do to help my spiderling?

The Ants Where not their the day before so I don't know where they came from.

 

[JonPaul]

I'd suggest putting the tarantularium in a shallow dish of water, the ants shouldn't cross the water... aside from that, just treat the little beauty with love, things should be fine if she is able to move about.

Aside from that, I'd find how the ants get in.... are you using store-bought substrate? Crack in the window? I had a small infestation, and my aunt suggested lining the outside of tanks with table salt, it seems ants don't like to walk on it.... Baby powder too.... but I haven't tried that.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

Jp

 

[Arlius]

Ants wont cross flower or petroleum jelly, so people say, seems to work...

 

[CedrikG]

theres not much you can do mate, leave her alone, she does'nt need to be stressed right now

if she jsut miss a leg, and theres no liquid coming out of the wound, she will probably be fine, the leg will grow back with the molts ...

 

[ArachnoCrazy]

My Spiderling needed to be fed because I ran out of crickets and didn't get more as fast as I should have. When should I try and introduce food and should I Kill it When I Do?

 

[CedrikG]

My Spiderling needed to be fed because I ran out of crickets and didn't get more as fast as I should have. When should I try and introduce food and should I Kill it When I Do?

well I guess you can wait a little, just in case, anyway your T wont suffer if you wait a week before feeding

 

[ArachnoCrazy]

Man I almost died when i went to check it tonight and found it in a life struggle against tiny ants.

 

[CedrikG]

Man I almost died when i went to check it tonight and found it in a life struggle against tiny ants.

yes ants are very very very bad for Ts ... duno why, probably because they cant fight agianst sumthing soo small ... PLUS ants are real warrior, that does'nt help

 

[galeogirl]

Definitely try to figure out where the ants are coming from and seal off the entrance. Ants follow scent trails to food, so they'll keep coming back.

 

[Becca]

Ants can be nasty little buggers, if they can overpower something they will, if they can't, they sure as hell will give it a go. I'd try the water thing, it might help a little.
Have you tried using vermiculite? It might be a little easier for you to keep the avic on.
As for the missing limb, make sure the avic has access to water and just leave her alone for alittle while. If she seems like her normal self then I wouldn't worry about her too much. She will replace the leg with a few moults, it is also possible that she will moult sooner than expected.
Hope all goes well with her.

 

[ArachnoCrazy]

This Morning i just move the container a bit and My spiderling moved. Last night it wouldn't move unless i touched it so i think it is getting better.


It went to the bottle cap i had put in there with a wet sponge so i think it is drinking.


Tarantulas ROCK

 

[JonPaul]

Great to hear the T seems to be doing better!
I wouldn't use the sponge personally, I've heard they are magnets for bateria and cricket eggs, but I suppose if you keep it clean.... *shrug*
Back to the real issue, awesome to know the the T is a survivor!
Jp

 

[Apocalypstick]

I don't mean to sound stupid here...
but how do ants get in the T tank????

 

[ArachnoCrazy]

My spiderling was moving around and i went to check it and now i think its dead becouse the legs are curled up.

 

[CedrikG]

My spiderling was moving around and i went to check it and now i think its dead becouse the legs are curled up.

you might try to put it in a ICU

 

[ArachnoCrazy]

I did the day the ants attacked it and it didn't work.

 

[modeus]

I have recently been trying to deal with an ant infestation also,the little basties found their way into a couple of my tanks, so I got the tanks clean and ended up having to cover the tops of all thier tanks with seran wrap this worked to keep the ant out untill i found an ant killer that actualy worked, the has completly infested my blondis tank but to my surprize they were not attacking her but I wasnt going to take any chances.Anyways what finally worked for me was an ant killer called "Terro" and it works pretty good its for those little sugar ants, it is roughly the consistancy of pancake syrup and clear and you just put a dab near there entrence or on one of their trails and they swarm to it..I tried everything from raid to malto meal and this stuff finaly worked, Im not sure if it is available in regular stores, as i just happened to be passing a nursery, and figured they must know something on insect prblems and they sold me this stuff..hope this might help ...good luck..

 

[Python]

Anyways what finally worked for me was an ant killer called "Terro" and it works pretty good its for those little sugar ants, it is roughly the consistancy of pancake syrup and clear and you just put a dab near there entrence or on one of their trails and they swarm to it..I tried everything from raid to malto meal and this stuff finaly worked, Im not sure if it is available in regular stores, as i just happened to be passing a nursery, and figured they must know something on insect prblems and they sold me this stuff..hope this might help ...good luck..

I work in a feed and seed store and we sell Terro. It's a bait trap for sugar ants and from everything I have heard from people buying it, it really does work. We can't keep it on the shelves

 

[ArachnoCrazy]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Rach]

This is something that really works,

It's called Avian Insect Liquidator (by Vetafarm). it's actually for spraying on birds to keep/kill the mites and sorts away. but you can also dilute it in the same manner and spray it around your house or the area infected with ants. It works miracles, few hours and the ants are totally gone, and the effects last up to 6 weeks, the ants won't come back.... cool stuff...