Help with ants

[Ellenantula]

I've seen the documentary vids of ants taking out spiders. 1 spider cannot compete against 500 ants -- ants will always win and kill the spider.

I also fear ants invading my feeder colonies. My bins are too big or I'd put them in a moat.

I think most T keepers have lots of things of interest to ants -- feeders, feeder foods, etc.. Ants are an occupational risk in T keeping.

 

[pyro fiend]

Your not gona convince me they wont harm a T... My male irminia you cant get out of a hide even for a rehouse (trust me hes had same cork till recently) yet i moistened up the sub cuz i knew it was getting dry and i was gona be busy a few days(maybe i made it too moist no clue)... But right after moistening the cage we had a few storms sweep in out of nowhere.. After 2 busy days i go to check on my little ones for feeding.. And both irminia, the pcamb and p. Pulcher was out with their burrow hiding because its hole and web was overran with little ants.. I had to rehouse everybody... No trail in sight, no food on that side of room.. Just ants overruning a T home.. And i only moistened 2cages(larger irminia and pcamb in 6*6*12's) ..they was in 4 cages including 2 32oz cups..... And all Ts where in lids and in furthest away corner.. Im sure if i was to use alot more decore i may have list my beloved psalms.... I had to lay down some diotomacious earth to feel secure...and have not seen them back

 

[louise f]

They didn't come back because they didn't have a reason to, not because you bleached here and there and killed 20 ants. Depending on the species, ants may go for your plants to milk leaf mites, in which case I can tell you my grandmother tried everything and it had no effect.

Bob, what evidence do you have that ants can be a great threat to your spiders? Have you lost a spider to ants? Have they ripped off its leg or gotten into a sac and ruined it?

Watch and learn
https://youtu.be/VIX0EBurrJg

 

[pyro fiend]

Watch and learn
https://youtu.be/VIX0EBurrJg

Onlybthing that makes me think angel can be so ill informed is he thinks were refering to sugar ants only.. Which as far as i know MAY not hurt Ts... (Afterall their so tiny) but ants come in all shape sizes and levels of evil (im looking at you fire and bullet ants!)

 

[Ellenantula]

Onlybthing that makes me think angel can be so ill informed is he thinks were refering to sugar ants only.

I guess I make no distinction; I'm not gonna ask the next ant I see if he's just a sugar ant or if he's looking to conquer my Ts.

All ants must die in my home!

 

[Angel Minkov]

These look like ants from a big genus, like Camponotus, and the clip is from the wild. I'm not saying ants can't kill a spider in a fight, I'm saying they simply have no business in its cage in the first place in large enough quantities. I requested a pic down the threat somewhere so I can at least identify them to a genus level. That could help A LOT, because some ants feed with seeds, others don't care about your home at all and go for the plants, they may be just some sort of Lasius spp. which eat almost anything they can get their jaws on.

If she has bullet ants in her home, which is unlikely unless she lives in humid, lowland rainforests in Nicaragua and the far east of Honduras and south of Paraguay, she should definitely do everything she can to get rid of them. Now they're serious business. Their sting hits a 10/10 in the Schmidt pain index and they have the most painful sting of all known animals. Fire ants can also pose a threat, because their sting can cause anaphylaxis and death.

 

[pyro fiend]

I guess I make no distinction; I'm not gonna ask the next ant I see if he's just a sugar ant or if he's looking to conquer my Ts.

All ants must die in my home!

Sugar ant is a basic name for many teeny tiny ants xD. But i understand thats how i kinda am ;p

 

[viper69]

They didn't come back because they didn't have a reason to, not because you bleached here and there and killed 20 ants. Depending on the species, ants may go for your plants to milk leaf mites, in which case I can tell you my grandmother tried everything and it had no effect.

Bob, what evidence do you have that ants can be a great threat to your spiders? Have you lost a spider to ants? Have they ripped off its leg or gotten into a sac and ruined it?

They didn't come back because I removed the lettuce, and covered up their chemotrails with my own concoction of chemicals. "Here and there", sounds so sporadic and without thought on my part, which was hardly the case. I watched them for a while sprayed down their trails, as well as the surrounding area in its entirety within 3 ft of the trail, including the cabinets inside and out.

Their not coming back wasn't because they changed their collective mind randomly. I didn't kill 20 ants, I killed hundreds.

 

[Blueandbluer]

Sorry to resurrect this ancient thread, but I thought I'd do a followup. It took a little while, but despite what the naysayers on this thread thought, the diatomaceous earth did a GREAT job of cutting down on the ant issues. After about 2 weeks, there was nary an ant to be seen.

Thanks all for the recommendations!