It was going so well... but now ants in Eco earth and T's on sand... I need advice

[SkittleBunny]

I don't know what to call myself, I'm no beginner by now but I'm no expert and I am most certainly not perfect... Let's just say: Idiot. Idiot that needs glasses.

I check my T's every day but I didn't notice ANTS until now. There are little trails like an ant farm in my substrate and when you look underneath you can see more trails. They are well established, and I am kicking myself for not noticing them before.

There are also micro white dots crawling along the sides of the enclosure. I knew this already, so I had new bricks of eco earth drying for two days now so I could put my tarantulas on dry substrate for a bit to kill the mites, (I learned everything I know about T's from THIS site). I moved my gravid T IMMEDIATELY after noticing the ants. I have her on calcium sand right now in a clean enclosure while hers was washed and is freezing overnight to try to kill anything that might be there. She is on the sand because my eco earth bricks are not dry enough yet.

Both other adult T's have not been messed with and also have the ants living underground but before I freak out like I did with my pregnant spider I want to be sure I'm doing the right thing... I know ants are dangerous and mites are obnoxious.

Questions.. will the sand mess with the gravid T? I don't think she's going to lay anytime soon as it is a Curly Hair.

Should I put the rest of them on sand until my eco earth dries in about 2 more days?

Am I doing the right thing?

Any advice is appreciated as I am stumped.
It was going so well..

 

[SkittleBunny]

I'm still waiting on advice, I don't know if I should do the same thing with the other T's...

 

[StampFan]

https://books.google.ca/books?id=rIVAkA3IlHgC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=tarantula+keepers+guide+ants&source=bl&ots=YaqsJ7YQAn&sig=YFwneUWjBs66AGLT3ihqhI2BBN8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiam-HzjPfXAhVB12MKHS3ZAs4Q6AEIXDAK#v=onepage&q=tarantula keepers guide ants&f=false

T Keepers Guide is still the bible until somebody has a better more thorough book to challenge it.

 

[SkittleBunny]

I took sand out of the question completely, they are on a thin layer of semi-dried eco earth until it dries the rest of the way and I can add more. I hope the ants dont return over night

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Ants killed my Selenotypus sling, rehouse them immediately and move the Ts to another room. Either destroy the ants or release them

 

[beaker41]

I would get a shallow tray and fill it with diatomaceous earth, then set your tanks on that, the ants won’t be able to cross the moat and de is non toxic, just kills them with dryness

 

[SkittleBunny]

Woke up this morning to MORE ants so I moved the room they were in completely. I changed an ant problem to a heating problem lol cause I gotta find a way to heat the room they are in now.

 

[Devin B]

I think you can put the eco earth in the oven for a bit to dry it out.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

I would get a shallow tray and fill it with diatomaceous earth, then set your tanks on that, the ants won’t be able to cross the moat and de is non toxic, just kills them with dryness

I would be cautious about that, diatomaceous earth is non-toxic to humans and animals, but it WILL kill your T. It works by getting into bug joints and slicing them up with every movement they make, then they pretty much just bleed to death. So I wouldn't want to risk any of that getting kicked up by a fan or something.

 

[viper69]

I would get a shallow tray and fill it with diatomaceous earth, then set your tanks on that, the ants won’t be able to cross the moat and de is non toxic, just kills them with dryness

Not true. DE kills ants slowly because its sharp edges cut into the exoskeleton of ants and they bleed to death slowly. They can cross DE as well. It's a good ant barrier but no means fool proof against the social insect.

 

[viper69]

Woke up this morning to MORE ants so I moved the room they were in completely. I changed an ant problem to a heating problem lol cause I gotta find a way to heat the room they are in now.

Ants have ID'd a food source, you are in trouble. You need to get rid of their scent trails ASAP. Those white things you wrote about are mites most likely.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I have a outside cat that the ants get into his food. I place his food inside another larger dish of water. They drown trying to get to the food. Maybe you can set up something like that until the scent trail is gone and they stop looking for what they are liking?

 

[Fincloser]

Not true. DE kills ants slowly because its sharp edges cut into the exoskeleton of ants and they bleed to death slowly. They can cross DE as well. It's a good ant barrier but no means fool proof against the social insect.

Well about half right. The ants or other creature do not bleed to death, they die of dehydration. The DE cuts the exoskeleton, then DE being about 85% silica, quickly absorbs any liquid in the creature. With that said I use DE in the house to control fleas. I do not know how bad it is for the T's but it cannot be good. DE I expect can get into the joints of the T's and cause all types of problems. I seal off my T's room and close all vents and turn off the fan. I have never lost a T during the use of DE but I did loose a true spider (could have been old age mature Hogna carolinensis).

 

[Greasylake]

You could set up an ant trap with an opening next to the trail. Basically put chocolate or fruit or something in a container, put baby powder on the end of the tube you'll poke through a hole in the container(baby powder end inside the container so they can't get out) then put the other end of the tube by the trail. They'll eventually start going into the container and getting stuck at which point you can dispose of them however you please. Also in order to get rid of their pheromone trails you can wipe down the surfaces they were on with a little vinegar, this'll make it harder for them to find their ways back to what they have determined to be a food source.

 

[Lokee85]

I use vinegar to get rid of scent trails. I spray my window sills and door frames with vinegar and it helps prevent ants from coming in or coming back. I've done this for years, starting in spring and going til late fall, spraying once every week or so (more often if I notice ants, but that is rare), and I rarely have issues with ants anymore.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

@SkittleBunny Are you still even having problems with ants?

If not, what method worked?

 

[SkittleBunny]

@SkittleBunny Are you still even having problems with ants?

If not, what method worked?

I moved them out of the room where ants are a problem.. I have an animal room now, full of snakes and spiders and my big ole bosc monitor, all living without ants. I believe the ants can get in around our ac unit in our window where the animals were previously kept, but since we moved them we haven't had any issues.

 

[viper69]

Well about half right. The ants or other creature do not bleed to death, they die of dehydration. The DE cuts the exoskeleton, then DE being about 85% silica, quickly absorbs any liquid in the creature. With that said I use DE in the house to control fleas. I do not know how bad it is for the T's but it cannot be good. DE I expect can get into the joints of the T's and cause all types of problems. I seal off my T's room and close all vents and turn off the fan. I have never lost a T during the use of DE but I did loose a true spider (could have been old age mature Hogna carolinensis).

How is bleeding to death not the same as dehydration in this case? Are you saying their blood doesn't get removed from their body at all??

Whether their blood is dripping out of their body, OR absorbed by foreign substance, they are still dying for the same reason, just different mechanisms.

 

[Fincloser]

How is bleeding to death not the same as dehydration in this case? Are you saying their blood doesn't get removed from their body at all??

Whether their blood is dripping out of their body, OR absorbed by foreign substance, they are still dying for the same reason, just different mechanisms.

Ok cool your right.