Help! ANTS!!!!

[MrsHaas]

I’m sorry I’m advanced, this is a long post… bare with me:

So, I live in the bay area of California. When the weather changes and it gets moist out, we get a lot of ants that try to find dry territory within the sanctions of our house. I don’t blame them. But I am getting very frustrated because it seems that every few months we have been getting crazy ant infestation‘s , and this last time was the worst.

So, my husband always goes to bed really late so he came to lay down around three in the morning he said. When I woke up in the morning that same day, I walked into the bathroom and I saw tons of tarantula terrariums filling up our tub and sink and counter, etc.; I noticed about 13 tanks, all of which belong to adult females. One of the enclosures was open and I freaked out and screamed to my husband that one of our spiders may have gotten out… specifically a big mean AF p. Cambridgei named Person (lol).
My husband shortly awoke just to mutter something about tons of ants attacking the tanks on one side of our room (one of two huge shelves and he had to “rehouse” them all in the middle of the night. When I went back into our room, I noticed that one of the two of our “spider shelves” was completely bare. Very confused, I waited for him to wake up before asking more… When he did, he told me the whole terrible story.
Apparently… we had had a crazy swarm of ants over night that infested one of two of our tarantula shelves and was trying tenaciously to get into all the cages on that shelf! So, at 3 am, my husband decided to catch up all 13 of those Ts (including several AF pokies, h Mac’s, pamphos, and psalmos). While I am VERY proud of him and grateful he was able to complete such a daunting task at 4am, even after we moved the old tanks outside and poured boiling hot water in the substrate etc to hopefully kill the ants naturally, they continued to be crazy persistent.
We put out ant bait around 2 weeks ago - the kind that says it doesn’t kill ants on contact, but allows the ants to take poison with them back to the colony and queen in order to not just kill off all the ants we could see (the “scouts” or the worker ants - whatever they are called) but destroy the entire colony.

Like I said, the traps have been here for 2 weeks and there’s still tons of ants… we’re actually thinking maybe one population got killed off and another colony has taken its place as the new swarm of pests… that we’re hoping will also die soon…

This is the point that we’re at now. This is the poison we put out… any and all advice would be massively appreciated!! Thanks!

 

[jbooth]

Vaseline around every leg of the shelves a couple inches wide will keep them away. As for effective killing you may have to go outside to the hives... I'd shy away from anything in the room if they can carry it to enclosures or anything.

 

[kingshockey]

you need to find out where/how the ants are gaining entry then seal em out with caulking/vaseline etc. i have used food grade de powder thats still keeping what pest control calls big headed ants from coming out f my wall furnace

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

you need to find out where/how the ants are gaining entry then seal em out with caulking/vaseline etc. i have used food grade de powder thats still keeping what pest control calls big headed ants from coming out f my wall furnace

Yeah that may be warranted with thousands of ants coming inside …

I’m sorry I’m advanced, this is a long post… bare with me:

So, I live in the bay area of California. When the weather changes and it gets moist out, we get a lot of ants that try to find dry territory within the sanctions of our house. I don’t blame them. But I am getting very frustrated because it seems that every few months we have been getting crazy ant infestation‘s , and this last time was the worst.

So, my husband always goes to bed really late so he came to lay down around three in the morning he said. When I woke up in the morning that same day, I walked into the bathroom and I saw tons of tarantula terrariums filling up our tub and sink and counter, etc.; I noticed about 13 tanks, all of which belong to adult females. One of the enclosures was open and I freaked out and screamed to my husband that one of our spiders may have gotten out… specifically a big mean AF p. Cambridgei named Person (lol).
My husband shortly awoke just to mutter something about tons of ants attacking the tanks on one side of our room (one of two huge shelves and he had to “rehouse” them all in the middle of the night. When I went back into our room, I noticed that one of the two of our “spider shelves” was completely bare. Very confused, I waited for him to wake up before asking more… When he did, he told me the whole terrible story.
Apparently… we had had a crazy swarm of ants over night that infested one of two of our tarantula shelves and was trying tenaciously to get into all the cages on that shelf! So, at 3 am, my husband decided to catch up all 13 of those Ts (including several AF pokies, h Mac’s, pamphos, and psalmos). While I am VERY proud of him and grateful he was able to complete such a daunting task at 4am, even after we moved the old tanks outside and poured boiling hot water in the substrate etc to hopefully kill the ants naturally, they continued to be crazy persistent.
We put out ant bait around 2 weeks ago - the kind that says it doesn’t kill ants on contact, but allows the ants to take poison with them back to the colony and queen in order to not just kill off all the ants we could see (the “scouts” or the worker ants - whatever they are called) but destroy the entire colony.

Like I said, the traps have been here for 2 weeks and there’s still tons of ants… we’re actually thinking maybe one population got killed off and another colony has taken its place as the new swarm of pests… that we’re hoping will also die soon…

This is the point that we’re at now. This is the poison we put out… any and all advice would be massively appreciated!! Thanks!


View attachment 448875

Ouch ants never bother my basement so Ts are safe but I gotta make sure to keep my roach colony’s away from the ‘window scout ants found it once . Did anything sweet attract them or just the bad weather??

 

[viper69]

I haven’t dealt with as many ants at one time, but I have delt with them with exotics.

I can tell you that no other animal on Earth is as organized and “ruthless” as ants.

Tero is the best generally.

But it’s not instant. You def need to identify the source of entry, and potentially source of ants, ie their colony home.

As you know they are highly organized, and chemical scent trails guide them!

You definitely have to wash down every area inside the home they touch!!! Or they will never stop, like never. I used about 20% bleach in a spray bottle, maybe higher percentage.

Vaseline - it depends on the species - some it doesn’t act as a barrier, others it does according to ant keepers.

I’d search out ant keeping forum.

I would NOT wait for Tero, nor hope the ants move on. Also if they are in the walls you will have to check other ones if you stop them from in- those inside may die inside the walls or may find a new home until they die in another room if they are attracted for some reason. If you have food, esp sweet food laying out now’s the time to immediately clean the house and make it incredibly clean. They are ruthless.

You’re in for a worse fight than me due to sheer numbers. They are ruthless foes, worse than Thanos in the Avengers!

 

[Ellenantula]

I'm thinking moat or shelf/cabinet legs each in a bowl of water so ants can't gain access to your Ts. If doable, could tape plastic bags tightly around unit's legs (or bottom of flat unit) so the dish of water can't damage wood (or rust metal). More a thought -- I don't know the exact way to accomplish this. Esp inside a house. But I think it'd work.

Your best advice is already shared above -- clean, remove tracks and stop/kill them at the source.

Wishing you best of luck in stopping the ants. I detest ants.

 

[BillieMoran]

If you are in a state where it's available to ship to, go online and purchase Advion ant bait and put little pea size portions around where you are seeing the ants (but away from the enclosures). Also use Advance granular ant bait on the exterior of the house. The other tips mentioned here are terrific as well. As an exterminator these are the products I use that work great keeping ants out of Tom's room.

 

[Hardus nameous]

Follow the trail as far back as you can and caulk entry points. I like to erase their trails with brake cleaner, but carb cleaner works too (not in the house of course). If you can find an entrance to the colony put a few cans in it with the straw.
Glue traps around the colony may help too.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I haven’t dealt with as many ants at one time, but I have delt with them with exotics.

I can tell you that no other animal on Earth is as organized and “ruthless” as ants.

Tero is the best generally.

But it’s not instant. You def need to identify the source of entry, and potentially source of ants, ie their colony home.

As you know they are highly organized, and chemical scent trails guide them!

You definitely have to wash down every area inside the home they touch!!! Or they will never stop, like never. I used about 20% bleach in a spray bottle, maybe higher percentage.

Vaseline - it depends on the species - some it doesn’t act as a barrier, others it does according to ant keepers.

I’d search out ant keeping forum.

I would NOT wait for Tero, nor hope the ants move on. Also if they are in the walls you will have to check other ones if you stop them from in- those inside may die inside the walls or may find a new home until they die in another room if they are attracted for some reason. If you have food, esp sweet food laying out now’s the time to immediately clean the house and make it incredibly clean. They are ruthless.

You’re in for a worse fight than me due to sheer numbers. They are ruthless foes, worse than Thanos in the Avengers!

I was watching nat geo once they said if the lions didn’t leave the army of ants would eat them .. how true it is I Don’t Know but Amys of Ants can destroy any caged pets besides fish. Unless you happened to have an ant eater …
stop the scout ants or be invaded..

 

[MrsHaas]

I haven’t dealt with as many ants at one time, but I have delt with them with exotics.

I can tell you that no other animal on Earth is as organized and “ruthless” as ants.

Tero is the best generally.

But it’s not instant. You def need to identify the source of entry, and potentially source of ants, ie their colony home.

As you know they are highly organized, and chemical scent trails guide them!

You definitely have to wash down every area inside the home they touch!!! Or they will never stop, like never. I used about 20% bleach in a spray bottle, maybe higher percentage.

Vaseline - it depends on the species - some it doesn’t act as a barrier, others it does according to ant keepers.

I’d search out ant keeping forum.

I would NOT wait for Tero, nor hope the ants move on. Also if they are in the walls you will have to check other ones if you stop them from in- those inside may die inside the walls or may find a new home until they die in another room if they are attracted for some reason. If you have food, esp sweet food laying out now’s the time to immediately clean the house and make it incredibly clean. They are ruthless.

You’re in for a worse fight than me due to sheer numbers. They are ruthless foes, worse than Thanos in the Avengers!

The only thing more ruthless than ants, on this forum, is you @viper69 loooool …man I miss you, bro!!

But you are certainly more than correct when you say that they are tenacious!!!!

….basically, we took all of the spiders out of their tanks and put them in individual cups as I mentioned before. we are still fighting the ants, so we haven’t redone fully or replaced the tanks back on the particular shelf from which we first noticed them. Also, we used caulking around/on all of the windows and baseboards in our bedroom (we cohabitate lol).

And then a few days ago we noticed that another random trail of ants were using our front porch as a highway, just simply for convenience, not really for any particular food-obtaining reasons.

I’m pretty 100% sure that we’re dealing with several ant colonies at this moment. And of course we are, they’re everywhere…. Ugh!

also, does that bleach idea work if there are tarantulas in the same room that you’re spraying the bleach? Even if the windows are open, I still feel like it could have some kind of issue with the fact that bleach is highly toxic especially the fumes.

thank you so much to everybody that replied to this, I am in a battle royale for sure but thanks for being on my side guys!

Lol

 

[Arachnopets]

You might find the following threads helpful.

Ants

I hate ants. I have them in the bedroom where the spiders are. I've laid down terro for them to eat and spread and die. Theyre coming from the wall outlet on that side. Because my place is small I can't really move my spiders anywhere else. In the other room the AC runs a lot and the temp goes...

arachnoboards.com

Ant Control - Are Baits Okay?

I've got a bad ant problem in my tarantula room. There are a series of steps I'm taking to get rid of them and (hopefully) prevent them from returning or at least from getting into enclosures. I'm wondering, if I put down one of those baits where the ants take it back to the colony and it's...

arachnoboards.com

I believe I made several posts as to how we handled ant invasions and how to create successful barriers. However, thankfully, they were never inside any tanks. Multiple colonies mean a larger issue. That is out of our depth. Might actually require an exterminator, as much as I hate to say it.

As for your bleach question, I defer to @HooahArmy every time, as they are the true expert in that field.

Good luck!

 

[HooahArmy]

As for your bleach question, I defer to @HooahArmy every time, as they are the true expert in that field.
Good luck!

Sound the kazoo for she has arrived! HooahArmy in the flesh!

Alright, ladies and gents, let's take a look at bleach and what it is and how it is toxic.
The Science:
At its most common form, bleach consists primarily of sodium hypochlorite and water. While that latter ingredient is obviously safe, sodium hypochlorite (which I'll call SH) is a different animal of its own. During the time I've spent researching it and using it, I've learned that it is the most toxic to invertebrates and fish. It is extremely corrosive to the eyes, mucous membranes, and skin
and is rapidly dispersed in both water and air (as fumes). While a vertebrate can easily snort/sneeze/cough/hold breath or run away to be away from the SH, an invert may not have the same level of cognitive response to get far enough or detect an airborne chemical threat. Most inverts also 'breathe' through pores on their exoskeleton or with book lungs, so holding their breath or sneezing is out of the question. Their bodies are also generally smaller than vertebrates, so it takes quite a bit less SH to be toxic for them than with another animal.

The Quick and Dirty:
- Bleach is a contact hazard and vapor hazard. It's no more safe for an invert than it is for you or any other pet.
- Bleach vapors can be harmful for inverts.
- Don't spray bleach, regardless of dilution, around invert buddies.

The Ants:
Need to spray ants with something safer?
1. Add some dish soap into a bottle of water (1 part soap, 2 parts water) and spritz! The ants will suffocate almost immediately on the compounds within the soap. The tackiness of the soap will also keep the mist from going airborne. The soap will also make wiping up the ants a clean and easy breeze!
2. A 50/50 vinegar and water mist is also a common broke soldier's barracks trick. It does the same as the soap water, but just has a smell. Ants also hate vinegar, so wiping entry points with the stuff also deters them.
3. No vinegar? Grab some lemon slices at your local restaurant drink stop. The citric acid in lemons also irritates ants but smells better. Rub some slices around entry points to keep them from coming in.
4. As mentioned by @viper69, petroleum jelly is also your buddy. A small smeared ring around invert terrariums or in front of pantries will also bar ants entry.

 

[viper69]

The only thing more ruthless than ants, on this forum, is you @viper69 loooool …man I miss you, bro!!

But you are certainly more than correct when you say that they are tenacious!!!!

….basically, we took all of the spiders out of their tanks and put them in individual cups as I mentioned before. we are still fighting the ants, so we haven’t redone fully or replaced the tanks back on the particular shelf from which we first noticed them. Also, we used caulking around/on all of the windows and baseboards in our bedroom (we cohabitate lol).

And then a few days ago we noticed that another random trail of ants were using our front porch as a highway, just simply for convenience, not really for any particular food-obtaining reasons.

I’m pretty 100% sure that we’re dealing with several ant colonies at this moment. And of course we are, they’re everywhere…. Ugh!

also, does that bleach idea work if there are tarantulas in the same room that you’re spraying the bleach? Even if the windows are open, I still feel like it could have some kind of issue with the fact that bleach is highly toxic especially the fumes.

thank you so much to everybody that replied to this, I am in a battle royale for sure but thanks for being on my side guys!

Lol

I miss you too! Bleach- Good Q, I always let the rooms air out before putting them back in- it’s a process.

Get an exterminator too

 

[Matt Man]

find where they are coming in outside, Find their pathway. You need to clean and windex it to remove any pheromone trail or they will just come back in.

You can elevate your cages over trays of water (or cage feet in small cups of water) to deter ants from getting to your pets

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

I took to the moat technique for wee slings last hell season. Bonus, it creates a bit of humidity. Also found some containers that fit my spider table's legs with enough height that I could lift the legs above the water line, but the ants still couldn't reach them. Crickets are in a moat, too. Of course that doesn't take care of the ants, but does keep them from getting your spiders. Also use Mrs Myers Lemon Verbena for both general cleaning and spraying in entrances where ants are coming in.

 

[SpookySpooder]

Moats only work for smaller collections.

When you start having shelves and walls full, your best bet is to exterminate any nearby colonies residing in the wall or yard to eliminate any scouting or raid parties they might send.

I used to do the whole home remedy back and forth nonsense with them every summer, until they finally managed to bypass everything by tunneling through the drywall and coming out of the floorboards to get into my roach colony to disassemble every roach over night.

I imagine if they did this to your T collection, you would regret not preemptively nuking them all. I have seen threads on other forums where entire adult(s) and collections were disassembled alive inside their enclosures.

A captive T has no defense against an ant colony, and has to sit there and be torn apart.

You can play games with the colony using lemon, vinegar, soapy moats all you want, but they'll be back.

If you can't bait and poison the nest to extinction you should hire somebody to crush the nest. Besides exterminating the nest, I do a perimeter of DE and boric acid around the entire footing of my house. It's a literal barrier against anything that crawls. But still sometimes I get a nest from outside that sends a few scouts inside, they don't find anything and they never make it back to the nest so the raiding parties never show up.

They have their space and I have mine. I don't go into their nests and start eating their larvae. (Though maybe I should to teach them a lesson)

My SO told me a week after I left, scouts are showing up around the kitchen and bathroom looking for water, coming in through the windows. I'll do some preventative measures when I return, but if they keep sending scouts inside, I'll follow them home and exterminate them outside as well.

I have 0 sympathy for predatory pests nonconsensually "sharing" my things

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

While I do not keep a large number of T's, I learned the moat technique from someone putting his shelving units' legs into moats, on risers. Not saying you shouldn't eradicate the ants as well, but moats can be a second line of defense for the whole shelving unit (if you use those). Options.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

What kind of ants are we talking about here? I’m not sure how anyone can provide advice on the topic without knowing that one basic piece of info. Most ants found in or around the home are scavengers and have more interest in what is inside a tarantula’s enclosure than the tarantulas themselves.

 

[SpookySpooder]

Yeah the type of ant would narrow down how to deal with them. In my case, it was carpenter ants, and they will attack live T's and slings in their enclosures.

Luckily for me, they were more interested in the roach bin since it was on the ground. They decimated it over night, by the time I had found it, they had started to move up onto the wall shelves toward my slings.

Managed to rescue a Neoholothele incei sling that was running around it's enclosure like mad trying to avoid a swarm of ants crawling into the vent holes. I had to drop it in a cup of water to dislodge ants off it's carapace.

If I were an hour later, I'd be a lot angrier than I am at these ants.

 

[Matt Man]

While I do not keep a large number of T's, I learned the moat technique from someone putting his shelving units' legs into moats, on risers. Not saying you shouldn't eradicate the ants as well, but moats can be a second line of defense for the whole shelving unit (if you use those). Options.

and using moats around 4 shelving legs is much easier / protects more Ts, than doing them individually