Stunned and upset here...shocking ant attack on house and T's

[grayzone]

im sorry skitter. Got my fingers crossed for you and your collection.

 

[GregorSamsa]

I am so sorry

This was very hard to read, I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it was to walk into that level of horror. Devastating. Hoping the chaco pulls through <3

 

[mmfh]

I am so sorry. This is a horrible situation to go through and your foot looks soooo painful! Reading your post I can tell you really care for your T's! Please don't let this discourage you from staying in the hobby.

 

[Vespula]

I'm truly sorry for your losses. Sad to hear of your chaco. Hope she pulls through for you.

 

[jayefbe]

What a tragic and terrifying story. If I had a young child, I too would be paranoid about those creatures. They sound absolutely awful. I'm going to be out doing field work in southern California in the next couple of weeks, I'll be sure to watch out for fire ants (as well as rattlesnakes and cougars).

Definitely a horrible story and while I love all of our crawling friends in one way or another, invasive, non-native species need to be dealt with harshly.

I'm in complete agreement. I'm glad the CDFA is taking it very seriously and doing the absolute best to wipe them out. I hope they're successful.

 

[vixsta]

Oh my God, I am very sorry for your losses

That is a truly horrifying thing to happen. I commend your dedication to your Ts though; I'm sure not many people would dip their hands in a tub of fire ants.

Unfortunately I can't give any advice on fire ants as I live in the UK.

I hope your other Ts make it. *hugs*

 

[TweedMcQueen]

As both a father to a 9 month old daughter and a tarantula keeper I can feel your pain and horror at this on many levels. I am sorry for the loss of your Ts and the blow to the sanctity of your home and security of your family. The thought of an ant swarm in my T collection is awful, the idea of that swarm even approaching my daughter is infuriating. Thank you so much for sharing this experience though. Reading about things like this helps the rest of us, especially newbies like me, gain valuable knowledge. Also I respect the hell out of you for your quick and selfless action. I would have done the same. You were a one woman rescue team/war machine! Cheers to you!

I agree with the others, I hope this does not at all discourage you from the hobby. If anything the hobby needs more people like you. People that get faced with that kind of situation and care enough about their Ts to jump in and take quick action.

 

[Bill S]

The OP said the ants were identified as Solenopsis invicta. Definitely a horrible story and while I love all of our crawling friends in one way or another, invasive, non-native species need to be dealt with harshly.

I completely agree with you about dealing with invasive species - but keep in mind that native species of ants can be just as much of a threat. I had an invasion a couple years ago by a native species of ant and lost several animals to it. They can appear very suddenly and do an amazing amount of damage in a very short time. In my case there were a few ants on the floor in the morning, and when I got home late that evening an army of them had taken over several cages in my tarantula room. As Skitter describes, even otherwise defensive tarantulas (including several P. murinus)allowed me to take them out of their cages and brush ants off them. Ever since then I've kept a bait trap on every shelf and have watched for ants. That was the only invasion I've had to deal with - but it was one too many.

 

[paassatt]

I completely agree with you about dealing with invasive species - but keep in mind that native species of ants can be just as much of a threat. I had an invasion a couple years ago by a native species of ant and lost several animals to it. They can appear very suddenly and do an amazing amount of damage in a very short time. In my case there were a few ants on the floor in the morning, and when I got home late that evening an army of them had taken over several cages in my tarantula room. As Skitter describes, even otherwise defensive tarantulas (including several P. murinus)allowed me to take them out of their cages and brush ants off them. Ever since then I've kept a bait trap on every shelf and have watched for ants. That was the only invasion I've had to deal with - but it was one too many.

I have to admit that this thread has made me pay more attention to ant trails along the perimeter of my house. There's a small one leading from my backyard into the back door. I've yet to see any in the house anywhere, but methinks I'm going to have to go on the offensive and order a preemptive strike on these jokers.

 

[kwacky]

This reads like a horror movie. I really feel for you, both in terms of the loss of your spiders and for the fear it's given you regarding your family.

I hope you make a full and speedy recovery, both physically and emotionally.

It's pleasing to hear that people have made offers to replace your Ts. That's what a community is all about.

All the best.

 

[kelvintheiah]

sorry for the losses. if this would happen to me, i'll scream to death until im exhausted. gggrrrr those ants also attacked my B. Lateralis. even though they are not my pets, i still care for them since they will fill my pets stomach.

 

[SkitterAlong]

Update time. The chaco is no longer in a death curl but isn't moving much; however I did see her grooming herself a bit this morning. Fingers crossed for the big gal! The murinus is behaving very normally (the ants didn't get at her) and I'm thinking of letting her eat tonight.

We've been told that it will be safe to move back into our home in another 5-6 days and the kill-off is going very well. We could move back earlier, say 3 days but with a small child and new baby on the way the company would rather we wait until they're sure they got them all. No problem there, we will gladly wait. The CDFA is very involved now and is in the process of treating a perimeter area around the original nest sight (aka the construction zone behind our property.) Turns out that the construction company trucked in dirt from out of state where these ants are native...GEE, maybe that's where they came from, eh? No other nests have been found so far and we've been told that a live s. invicta has not been seen in two days! We confirmed that the cost of our original home treatment will indeed be reimbursed, but not the cost for any damage to the house or the value of the T's I lost. (Didn't expect that anyway.) Flyers have been given to all residents in the neighborhood letting everyone know what invicta looks like, advertising free treatments to encourage reports, etc. I have been assured that the house will be safe and ant-free when all is done, and follow-up perimeter treatments (without toxic insecticides, as requested...I hope) will be done every 90 days for the next six months to ensure eradication. Also they are going to release a species of whitefly in the area that specializes in killing s. invicta, anyone heard of this before?

One of the first exterminators on the scene (one of the three that responded to my frantic phone call) said it's the worst home infestation he's seen in four years, that there were literally 3-inch wide streams of these ants going up walls in the pantry and an unopened candy bar had so many piled on it that he couldn't see the candy bar until he used the vacuum. It sounds all of our immediate neighbors had ants in their home to some extent but we were hit the hardest (probably due to that delicious stinky possum in the crawlspace.) One neighbor lost a pet parakeet to them. It's rather disheartening to tell people that most of my tarantulas were eaten, most of them just go "oh.." Now if I'd lost a pet bird, cat, rabbit etc...you get the idea.

I'm going over there tonight with my husband to start throwing ant-eaten food away and cleaning out the spider tanks. I'm tempted to just throw the tanks away but exoterra's aren't cheap, you know? Going to clean the ever lasting crap out of them and toss all the substrate, cork bark etc and start over from scratch.

I need to locate a spider sitter who will keep my T's at their home the next time we go anywhere for a few days. Probably make it a routine for a year or so to be safe. is there anyone on this board whose in the orange county CA area who might be up for the job? Secondly, I'm trying to quickly replace my son's behaved b. smithi - he does not know the full scale of this event and at a tender 4 1/4 I'd rather shield him from the horror factor somewhat. He's already afraid of bees and wasps, no need to make him antphobic too. I have not told him that 'Spark' didn't make it, and I want to get a matching replacement ASAP. Spark was a 3 1/2-ish inch female although my son wouldn't know the difference between male/female so gender isn't too important. Spark was very mild mannered and was easily handled, hardly ever kicked hairs. I got her when my son was 6 months old so they pretty much grew up together and he considered her to be 'his' spider. Knowing the smithi lifespan I had half-expected Spark to go to college with him, heh. Does anyone know where I can get a good deal on a 'Spark II' smithi, and fast? Most of my usual sources (swifts, kens) only have slings available. Short on funds so cheaper is better, I get free Disneyland tix to share out every now and then so maybe a deal can be struck. I'm willing to do some driving to pick the T up before we go back home.

Thanks for the support again, everyone. I'm very glad I found this community. Oh, and my stings are healing fast now. The blisters are gone at least.

 

[Titandan]

Wow... sorry to hear that Skitteralong. I actually had one of my T's die from these pesky ants. Mine was an OBT spiderling that had a bad molt. I don't know what species of ants I have but these ants have been super annoying. I'm thinking of putting some of the jelly someone mentioned for protection.

It sucks because in the wild, the T's would be able to survive but in an enclosed area, the T's have nowhere to run and with all the swarms coming, it's inevitable... their outcome.

Well, best of luck for the rest of your T's and may it be a warning for all.

Blessings,
-dan

 

[Mamisha-X]

I am very sorry to hear about your T's i had an accident were all 13 of my beloved T's fell victim to insecticides and died while i was away on vacation. I had most of them since they were slings.

Do your remaining T's have any wounds that are "bleeding" I had a G. Pulchripes who broke his leg and i had to put super glue on it to stop the bleeding. it helped him a lot! I would even venture to say it saved his life. other than that i would say your doing the right thing with the ICU.

Also not to be insensitive in any way but does anyone else find it kind of amusing that the OBT was the only one the ants didn't mess around with? I know I wouldn't mess with my OBT...

 

[Masurai]

Also not to be insensitive in any way but does anyone else find it kind of amusing that the OBT was the only one the ants didn't mess around with? I know I wouldn't mess with my OBT...

yeah it is kinda amusing, i think humor is the most important thing in a time of crisis.

 

[Shrike]

This thread was a real bummer to read. I'm sorry for your loss! In addition to sprays, baits, etc, you could try some of the protective measures in the TKG. I believe one of them was something along the lines of elevating enclosures on four supports, with each support resting in cap full of oil or some other deterrent. A moat of sorts. It seems like a lot of trouble to go to and I honestly can't speak to the effectiveness, but in your case it might be worth a try.

 

[annabelle]

that's truly horrifying... i'm deeply sorry for your loss, i wish there was something i could do to help.

 

[captmarga]

Glad to hear your own bites are healing. Mine never look as tame as that, I get HUGE red welts around the pustules, then craters and scars. Keep treating them, fingers crossed you will never have an allergic reaction to them!

Hope you find Sparky II - my smithi that size isn't handle-able.

Marga