Tarantulas and ants....hurm...very strange

[Flexzone]

Hi everyone. I myself have been experiencing problems with ants colonizing my T tanks. They are tiny black buggers that seem to be attracted to the water reservoirs I use in my tanks. Now obviously, a small colony shouldn't pose much threat, but my fears are if they grow in numbers and decide that my T's aren't paying enough rent. What would be the best solution to get rid of them?

Hey, majority of these people haven't logged on in year(s), However even @ a relatively small population can be dangerous if god forbid they catch the T molting or freshly finished and jump on the opportunity to start munching the poor bugger. What is the source of them establishing a foothold? Do you have an infestation in your house or something?

 

[darkness975]

Agreed with Tarantula1995, you have to figure out where they are getting in and stop them before they do get in and start scouting and colonizing.
You have to be wary of pesticides but if you can figure out where they are getting in from the outside perhaps an outside perimeter treatment could take care of the issue.

 

[Abyss]

Strange read........

I dont see or understand why your even chancing it?
Why have you not regoused your T or removed the colony?

This is a very very bad idea no matter how you slice it. I cant think of a single soecies of ant that is friendly in any way possible. All i know about ants says your T's are gonners (especially the one you left in the same enclosure as the colony) if you dont remedy the situation asap

 

[CreepTumorXD]

Always keep in mind a colony will grow and wouldnt put yout T's life in their hands but that me.

 

[darkness975]

Ants are surprisingly aggressive despite their size. The classic "strength in numbers" deal.

 

[Abyss]

Agreed with Tarantula1995, you have to figure out where they are getting in and stop them before they do get in and start scouting and colonizing.
You have to be wary of pesticides but if you can figure out where they are getting in from the outside perhaps an outside perimeter treatment could take care of the issue.

Lol they are getting in from the OP bringing them in to raise them lol

 

[cold blood]

Hi everyone. I myself have been experiencing problems with ants colonizing my T tanks. They are tiny black buggers that seem to be attracted to the water reservoirs I use in my tanks. Now obviously, a small colony shouldn't pose much threat, but my fears are if they grow in numbers and decide that my T's aren't paying enough rent. What would be the best solution to get rid of them?

Come molt time a small colony will most certainly be a threat...a large one. Sprinkling diatomaeous earth around the area is a good deterrent...they touch it, they die.

 

[Sana]

Come molt time a small colony will most certainly be a threat...a large one. Sprinkling diatomaeous earth around the area is a good deterrent...they touch it, they die.

It won't hurt the tarantula though? Or am I misunderstanding where to sprinkle it?

 

[cold blood]

It won't hurt the tarantula though? Or am I misunderstanding where to sprinkle it?

Sprinkle it OUTSIDE the t enclosure, at all the points of access for the ants.

 

[Sana]

Sprinkle it OUTSIDE the t enclosure, at all the points of access for the ants.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Blue Jaye]

I had a horrible experience with ants 2 years ago. They killed three of my Ts and wiped out all of my centipedes and it pretty much happened over night. Left my t room the night before all was well. Came in the next afternoon and saw three lines of tiny black ants going into my enclosures.
It was a nightmare ! Three of my Ts were in pieces and my centipedes were just destroyed. I quickly got to work removing all of my Ts from the room. Then looked to see where the ants were coming from. When I started cleaning them up they were biting me too. It took me two weeks to completly get rid of them . So I say no ants whatsoever around Ts. And there is the issue of the t molting and the ants eating it just because it's easy pickings.

 

[SinBin]

I just lost my beautiful 5 year old female Venezuelan Suntiger and my 2 year old male Blue Fang to ants. Such a horrible thing to find. Small little 1/8" ants swarmed both Ts overnight.

 

[Matabuey]

@SinBin How did the ants get in?

 

[SinBin]

@Toxoderidae

- Woosa

@SinBin How did the ants get in?

Cracks between where the floor and wall meet. Long line of them. Moved my whole collection to the other side of the house. I think the ants were looking for water. Found a lot of them in my sink as well.

 

[Matttoadman]

I discovered an ant colony under one of my pigeon nests. The ants swarmed the baby pigeon stinging it. It died within minutes. I personally would not use diatomaceous earth. I am extremely allergic to it myself. I would think the easiest would be to remove the t and dump the contents.

 

[Toxoderidae]

@SinBin How did the ants get in?

???

 

[The Snark]

Just a quick FYI.
We've got ants. End of the wet season right now and a feeding frenzy. In and around our house, at a rough guess, 500 times the ant population of the average rural town in America. Quite a few makes and models. From 'that's a mite!' sized up to 1/4 inch across mandibles.
They have chewed through: heavy bubble plastic packaging, neoprene petro-chemical resistant gaskets, ANY and ALL normal flexible food packaging plastics, mortar, brick, and cement, 8 feet of termite cemented soil, wood window frames, corroded and worked through aluminum window frames, through and built nests under teak flooring, perforated a decaying stump with dozens of tunnels, chew heavy plastic trash bags to shreds (in less than 24 hours) and chewed the cambium layer off mango trees.
Ant proof = hermetically sealed glass jars with PVC seals or in the refrigerator. Hermetically sealed heavy PVC type plastics must be very thoroughly cleaned at the seal. If they smell the food, they're going to work their way through.

Can you eradicate a swarming? Two tried and proven methods I've found. Refrigeration. They die off below 45F or so or Chaindrite<TM> poison. Nothing else is fully effective and I've tried everything.
Oh yes. If you can get it to thoroughly penetrate the entire nest, a good long blast from a CO2 fire extinguisher will work. Great for the invasion of electrical appliances.

 

[Jeff23]

Come molt time a small colony will most certainly be a threat...a large one. Sprinkling diatomaeous earth around the area is a good deterrent...they touch it, they die.

^ This
I am ordering mine tonight. But I wish they sold it in smaller bags. We have ants of all types around here including fire ants.

Ants will only find your T's if there is a path to them. If you have a movable shelf make sure it is not touching the wall or other furniture. Also make any electrical cords for lamps, etc. come down to the floor near the legs so they don't create an additional path from the wall outlet area. At this point you only have to treat the areas next to the legs on the floor to protect your T's.

EDIT* Found smaller bags on Amazon.

 

[Estein]

I highly recommend Terro brands ant killer for small infestations--it's what my family always used as I was growing up with great success. It's a sticky, sweet poison that ants take back to the nest, so no danger to Ts.

These days I can't use any poisons where I live, so thank you for the tip about diatomaeous earth. Does anyone else have any poison-free deterrent tips in their arsenal? I've used the cinnamon trick with some success.

 

[Praxibetelix]

I have been able to keep ants out using a salt barrier. The idea is the ants will not cross a line of salt, so I simply pour it around door jams and window frames.

As for a cheaper version of Terro....boil 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, and 1/4 cup Borax until it is a syrup. Pour syrup around ant nest. They eat it and take it to the larvae and to the queen.

Another good trick is Dawn. Pour some into a bucket, spray with hose until it is REALLY sudsy, then pour suds onto ant nest, stir with a stick. Sometimes you may need two treatments of the Dawn to kill them all.