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



## whitehaze2008 (Oct 27, 2007)

ok ok 
so let me explain this very strange situation........

i caught an ant colony from outside. Its a strange NONE AGGRESIVE small tiny black ant. 
There a small species of wood ant that burrows in wood or in easy soil.
There a scavenger ant, meaning they hunt by themselves and bring back tid bits of food by themselves rather than over powering and killing prey.
ANYWAY i had them in this very nice ant farm that i had bought from petsmart.
Well stupid me, i tried to leave a tiny tiny crack in the opening to let it air out for a min.....and forgot to close it back before i went back to bed.
I woke up and the ENTIRE colony had moved out.....and into my room.
I coudnt find them, but knew there in my room cause i can see the tiny single ant soldiers walking around and grabbing tid bits of whatever on my desk.
So i get a new T and put her in, and notice one of these tiny ants crawling over a piece of "trash" discarded by the T, a used up dead cricket.

I turn my tank around and the entire colony of ants is actually in the tank with my tarantula...several inches down into the substrate, i can see there eggs and the queen and all happily digging deeper and now i still have my ant farm....under glass haha.

The ants i believe are harmless......they from what i have observed have no stingers. These are NOT the terrible fire ants that most people in the south are familiar with.

My question is...has anyone else even thought of ants and Tarantula's co-habitating like this?
The ants have now lived with the grown T for over two months now....and they simply eat the scraps she has left. 

Any thoughts of ideas?


----------



## Zelli (Oct 27, 2007)

That's awesome! I've never heard of such a thing in captivity. Though it surely happens in the wild.
Right? hehe


----------



## intriqet (Oct 28, 2007)

be very careful. i use to think ant in my t enclosure wasn't so bad since they took care of all the cleaning up. until of course it was time for my t to molt. i came back home to find only the exoskeleton of my tarantula. yeah just a heads up.

Reactions: Agree 5 | Sad 1


----------



## whitehaze2008 (Oct 28, 2007)

*well*

the entire colony ant included wouldnt even be able to cover two finger tips put together, there very small....and none aggresive.
The colong is not very large at all.:?


----------



## P. Novak (Oct 28, 2007)

Those small "harmless" black ants killed 7 of my tarantulas a few months ago. I would remove them asap.


----------



## Talkenlate04 (Oct 28, 2007)

P. Novak said:


> Those small "harmless" black ants killed 7 of my tarantulas a few months ago. I would remove them asap.


If it is the ants I am thinking of they were not the ones that killed your Ts Paul. 

But ether way..... I would keep an eye out on the situation, maybe not removing them yet but I bet you will have to at some point.


----------



## P. Novak (Oct 28, 2007)

talkenlate04 said:


> If it is the ants I am thinking of they were not the ones that killed your Ts Paul.
> 
> But ether way..... I would keep an eye out on the situation, maybe not removing them yet but I bet you will have to at some point.


What species are his then? Are they common?


----------



## Talkenlate04 (Oct 28, 2007)

I think they are somewhat common..... but they have very small colonies. When I am at work tomorrow I'll have to look up some pictures to see what they could be. 

I am pretty sure I know the  little black ones that killed your Ts. And even though those things are very small and seemingly harmless they can kill with the best of them. I see them here all the time killing things like large larva by ganging up on it by the hundereds. 
:8o  Sigh.... your poor Ts. That had to be a horrible ending.


----------



## P. Novak (Oct 28, 2007)

talkenlate04 said:


> I think they are somewhat common..... but they have very small colonies. When I am at work tomorrow I'll have to look up some pictures to see what they could be.
> 
> I am pretty sure I know the  little black ones that killed your Ts. And even though those things are very small and seemingly harmless they can kill with the best of them. I see them here all the time killing things like large larva by ganging up on it by the hundereds.
> :8o  Sigh.... your poor Ts. That had to be a horrible ending.


Awesome, I'll try to do some research as well. Whitehaze can you get some pics of your ants as well?

I can only imagine how long they were being eaten and attacked for. It couldn't have been longer then 2 days because I was only gone 2. It was a horrible site when I returned though, I hope I never have to experience that again. I'm glad that they didn't kill off all my Ts though. The weird thing is the Ts that were killed weren't in the same area, They were spread around my room. :? 

Anyways, whitehaze, for the sake of your Ts, I'd say remove the ants as a precaution. You don't want to wake up and find it dead.

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## PhormictopusMan (Oct 28, 2007)

Look up Argentine Ant and see if that is the culprit.  They are pretty invasive, and very difficult to control due to their non territorial nature and multiple queens per colony.  I've had to deal with them many times.  I ultimately had to build a water moat around my tarantula enclosures so that they couldnt get to them.  

--Chris


----------



## whitehaze2008 (Oct 28, 2007)

*no guys*

these ants are not the argentine ant

these ants dont even defend there colony when i caught them. They just run like hell.
There is a small ant that is wasp like, that is very aggressive and will easily overpower other creatures 
we call them "sugar ant" and yes a large colony of them could easily kill your tarantula.
These ants have a big blunt fat abdomen, not wasp like - meaning they very well may not even have a stinger.
They normally nest in rotting wood and i think eat the termite trash and poop.

Im watching them, my GBB is about to cover the whole enclosure with webbing so they may end up leaving =(

there very cool just one queen ant, and she is very fat.

i will take some pictures when i get a chance atm i have a severe case of food poisoning from chedders right now 

david


----------



## ranchulas (Oct 28, 2007)

I had a problem with some small black ants a month ago...Don't know what kind but they never bothered my Ts they just seemed interested in the water source. They had a long trail leading from out of the T enclosure to the water bowl and back. I never saw one on my Ts and never really noticed them eating anything.


----------



## syndicate (Oct 28, 2007)

get them away from your tarantula.they will eventually kill it.ants and tarantulas dont go good together!


----------



## whitehaze2008 (Oct 28, 2007)

*ok*

they have been there for like 2 months now...and no prob. 
The colony is small and the ant is tiny.....
like i said the whole colony can fit on the underside of two fingers
They have actually been rather nice in keeping the trash off my desk and stuff.


----------



## fartkowski (Oct 28, 2007)

wow 2 months
I would be worried more around molt time.
Got any pictures? I'd love to see them

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## P. Novak (Oct 29, 2007)

whitehaze2008 said:


> they have been there for like 2 months now...and no prob.
> The colony is small and the ant is tiny.....
> like i said the whole colony can fit on the underside of two fingers
> They have actually been rather nice in keeping the trash off my desk and stuff.


Why did you start the thread yesterday then?


----------



## Stylopidae (Oct 29, 2007)

I also find it very strange that an entire ant colony moved it's queen to a different location that would be frequently disturbed by a larger animal.


----------



## PhormictopusMan (Oct 29, 2007)

Cheshire said:


> I also find it very strange that an entire ant colony moved it's queen to a different location that would be frequently disturbed by a larger animal.


Argentine ants will do this, but Whitehaze says these are not the same ants so not sure.

--Chris


----------



## chandlermonster (Oct 29, 2007)

I too have lost a T to some small black ants.  Last summer I came home one night to find a line of ants headed straight into one of my slings cages.  Low and behold, the sling was gone.  Broken down into tiny, easy to carry ant food.  There are two other members who have had their T's eaten by black ants on this thread.  You really might want to take our advice before it's too late.  A GBB is way too precious of a prize to lose for the sake of a cohabitation experiment.    Why not just move the T and let the ants stay in that tank by themselves?


----------



## IownVertigo (Apr 24, 2016)

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?


----------



## Flexzone (Apr 24, 2016)

IownVertigo said:


> 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 (Apr 24, 2016)

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 (Apr 24, 2016)

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

Reactions: Agree 2


----------



## CreepTumorXD (Apr 24, 2016)

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

Reactions: Agree 2


----------



## darkness975 (Apr 24, 2016)

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

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## Abyss (Apr 24, 2016)

darkness975 said:


> 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 (Apr 24, 2016)

IownVertigo said:


> 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.

Reactions: Informative 2


----------



## Sana (Apr 24, 2016)

cold blood said:


> 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 (Apr 24, 2016)

Sana said:


> 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 (Apr 24, 2016)

cold blood said:


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


Thank you for the clarification.


----------



## Blue Jaye (Apr 27, 2016)

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.

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## SinBin (Sep 17, 2016)

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 (Sep 17, 2016)

@SinBin How did the ants get in?


----------



## SinBin (Sep 17, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> @Toxoderidae
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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 (Sep 17, 2016)

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 (Sep 17, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> @SinBin How did the ants get in?


???


----------



## The Snark (Sep 17, 2016)

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 (Sep 18, 2016)

cold blood said:


> 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 (Sep 18, 2016)

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 (Sep 18, 2016)

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.


----------



## The Snark (Sep 18, 2016)

Question. Why don't the ants attack the Ts in their holes in the yard right now? The ants are in a feeding frenzy at this time and anything is getting attacked. Dogs and cats, even the squirrels aren't using the phone and power wires because of the ants. They will swarm people wearing socks and shoes if you standing still for even a moment. Even swarmed the motorcyle due to the faint scent of food carried previously in the basket.
But a couple of active T holes, webbed every night, are ignored.


----------



## Jones0911 (Sep 19, 2016)

The Snark said:


> Question. Why don't the ants attack the Ts in their holes in the yard right now? The ants are in a feeding frenzy at this time and anything is getting attacked. Dogs and cats, even the squirrels aren't using the phone and power wires because of the ants. They will swarm people wearing socks and shoes if you standing still for even a moment. Even swarmed the motorcyle due to the faint scent of food carried previously in the basket.
> But a couple of active T holes, webbed every night, are ignored.


Maybe the webs they make are too much  for the Ants to take on??


----------



## The Snark (Sep 19, 2016)

Jones0911 said:


> Maybe the webs they make are too much for the Ants to take on??


ZOTS!! And if that is the case, here we have humans jumping through hoops of fire trying to figure ways to keep ants out when the Ts have it worked out all along! Some sort of 3 dimensional very fine fabric.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Jones0911 (Sep 19, 2016)

The Snark said:


> ZOTS!! And if that is the case, here we have humans jumping through hoops of fire trying to figure ways to keep ants out when the Ts have it worked out all along! Some sort of 3 dimensional very fine fabric.


.

If you think about it webbing is very strong but obviously not to us because we are big humans.... To ants...webbing is probably quick sand in strand form or something


----------



## 14pokies (Sep 19, 2016)

The Snark said:


> Question. Why don't the ants attack the Ts in their holes in the yard right now? The ants are in a feeding frenzy at this time and anything is getting attacked. Dogs and cats, even the squirrels aren't using the phone and power wires because of the ants. They will swarm people wearing socks and shoes if you standing still for even a moment. Even swarmed the motorcyle due to the faint scent of food carried previously in the basket.
> But a couple of active T holes, webbed every night, are ignored.


Possibly the ants are saving the T for hard times.. Kind of like a root cellar.. 

Possibly the ants know that when the T feeds it's going to leave them a juicy little bolus..


----------



## The Snark (Sep 19, 2016)

Jones0911 said:


> If you think about it webbing is very strong but obviously not to us because we are big humans.... To ants...webbing is probably quick sand in strand form or something





14pokies said:


> Possibly the ants are saving the T for hard times.. Kind of like a root cellar..
> 
> Possibly the ants know that when the T feeds it's going to leave them a juicy little bolus..


There has to be some substantial explanation. A T or Ts have lived in that immediate area for over 5 years and have never been attacked. But within 10 feet of their holes...
-Is the driveway light. Tens of thousands of insects get swarmed every year the moment they hit the ground. Termite carpets an inch thick during swarming are hauled away within hours.
Observed being swarmed and killed while still moving:
-A 3-4 inch giant cicada
-An injured tokay
-A big black scorpion
-A garter snake

The neighborhood dogs won't touch our trash bags due to the ants. Our dogs had to move to the back of the house and wouldn't set foot in the carport or out front. Ants carved a trail an inch deep and 2 inches across within a foot of a T hole. Right now some big red weaver ants have been scrounging right up to the edge of a hole, but not entering.


----------



## Tvibez (Apr 9, 2018)

Stupid question but what about those ant traps with bait in them???


----------



## Dave Jay (Apr 9, 2018)

That would most likely be the same sticky stuff that was already covered, the borax based baits I think. I have never found them very effective myself, they just empty them as fast as you can replace them and still keep coming in my experience, but there may well be different sorts with different poisons, I don't really know. Our little dog thought they were pretty tangy when she snagged one from behind the fridge going by the look on her face, it didn't make her sick or put her off trying to get to them though. They would have to have been pretty pet safe for me to buy them, so maybe they weren't the most effective kind.
In the end just generic brand surface spray used outside on the brickwork has proven to be the most effective, I don't care if they live outside, just not in the kitchen. 
When they have been in the loungeroom during a particularly bad year I've taken tables and chairs outside and sprayed surface spray at the bottom of each leg. 
I read this thread when you bumped it up, it was an interesting read and a subject we all have to deal with at one time or another .
 The start of it is pretty amusing, although it went on to discussing different scenarios. His ant colony escaped from the ant farm and he couldn't find them .

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## Mirandarachnid (Apr 9, 2018)

Dave Jay said:


> I read this thread when you bumped it up, it was an interesting read and a subject we all have to deal with at one time or another .
> The start of it is pretty amusing, although it went on to discussing different scenarios. His ant colony escaped from the ant farm and he couldn't find them .


Right? I found The Snark's posts particularly interesting.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Tvibez (Apr 10, 2018)

So I removed my T from her housing that night I posted, after I found her shaking her hind legs to get the ants away. I then went to the depot and picked up hot shots left two of them in there, I also treated the Scopes housing which were way more infested.. left them in overbite and this afternoon checked em all and don't see any movement any ants I see now are dead. Sucks i wish T's could eat them all

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Dave Jay (Apr 10, 2018)

Tvibez said:


> So I removed my T from her housing that night I posted, after I found her shaking her hind legs to get the ants away. I then went to the depot and picked up hot shots left two of them in there, I also treated the Scopes housing which were way more infested.. left them in overbite and this afternoon checked em all and don't see any movement any ants I see now are dead. Sucks i wish T's could eat them all


Wow! No wonder you were searching for ant threads! Total invasion by the sounds. Those baits work because the ants take it back to nest, meaning that they are carrying it around, I'm not sure that having them in the enclosures is a great idea, especially if they were nesting in there. Even dead poisoned ants in the enclosures would worry me. It may still be wise to re-do your enclosures. I've never had ants in my enclosures, but they have wiped out tubs of crickets now and then, it would be a nightmare! Ants will kill anything, I once had a healthy Corrella (parrot) killed by ants in a standard cocky cage because it couldn't escape them, It had only been in the cage for less than an hour and there were no ants present when I put it down. A horrible thing to see, they had eaten the eyes while it was still alive, I had to put it out of its misery  I'm not a huge ant fan!

Reactions: Sad 3


----------



## Greasylake (Apr 11, 2018)

When we go to Sweden to visit my grandparents we always see massive ant piles, and I mean 3 or 4 feet tall on the regular. Those ants will eat absolutely anything that touches the nest. We would occasionally throw a trash fish on the pile or the skins and intestines after cleaning the fish, and the ants would come out and carry everything into the nest. My grandpa said once he put a dead snake on a pile and they even carried that in with them too. I have a feeling that if there were enough large ants they'd just take over the world.

Reactions: Like 1


----------

