Saved my P. regalis from an ant colony..help

Arachne97

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Dec 23, 2016
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I found ants all over my P.regalis's enclosure. There were some ants on her that i carefully removed using the tip of a tiny plastic brush. I immediately removed her(or him?unsexed) from her enclosure. Atleast one of her legs is broken. She didn't bolt out like she normally she would she was actually limping. She's usually shy and has given me a threat pose once but when I moved her to an ICU she didnt have the strength to run or bolt so she let me handle her while moving her. It seems that the ants the ants may have critically injured her. She also barely reacted when I touched her. What do I do? She's actually in premolt. Will she recover?
 

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ledzeppelin

Arachnobaron
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Before I get serious, just a tip: don't handle pokies :)

First of all, ants? that's a new one for me.. But I guess it can happen lol. Examine it for any possible wounds, although I doubt that there are any. Broken leg might pose some problems with the molt, but there's nothing you can do ATM, considering that it is in premolt. I would remove it from the ICU. ICUs are used for dehydrated tarantulas and this one is quite plump and does not look dehydrated at all. I would change the soil in the enclosure completely, making sure that no ants can reach it again. Then, I would put it back and just let it be. If it really is weak and not just stunned or premolt lazy, put it near the water dish and just leave it alone.

Now that we got this out of the way, how on earth did ants make a colony in its enclosure, and how have you not noticed that ? o_O
 

Arachne97

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Before I get serious, just a tip: don't handle pokies :)

First of all, ants? that's a new one for me.. But I guess it can happen lol. Examine it for any possible wounds, although I doubt that there are any. Broken leg might pose some problems with the molt, but there's nothing you can do ATM, considering that it is in premolt. I would remove it from the ICU. ICUs are used for dehydrated tarantulas and this one is quite plump and does not look dehydrated at all. I would change the soil in the enclosure completely, making sure that no ants can reach it again. Then, I would put it back and just let it be. If it really is weak and not just stunned or premolt lazy, put it near the water dish and just leave it alone.

Now that we got this out of the way, how on earth did ants make a colony in its enclosure, and how have you not noticed that ? o_O
I didn't intenionally handle her. She just went up to my hand while I was trying to move her to the ICU. They didn't. I guess the ants just reached her. I've been having problems with these ants lately as they ate all of my feeders just a few days ago and I've been trying to find places where ants cant get to them ever since. ( I havent had this problem before since I was living at my dorm but now Im currently at my parents house)
 

Arachne97

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Update: I havent put her back in the container yet. Ever since she's been in the ICU, she's been looking very limp and has not moved at all except for some of her legs slightly twitching and changing position. There are no wounds though
 
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Andrea82

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This thread contains some info on how to deal with ants, I believe.
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantulas-and-ants-hurm-very-strange.107226/page-2#post-2529545

I'm not sure an ICU will help in this case. I think I would set her up in a temporary enclosure, provide her with an easy to reach waterdish. Put her next to the dish, make sure
she is warm, and put her in a dark quiet spot. Check on her regularly. If she remains limp, flip her over and try dropping some water on her moutparts, one drop at a time.

@ledzeppelin
It happens more than you think, often with horrible results. Ants can creep through any gap, crevice, hole, and once one is inside, the rest will follow fast. A vent hole, a tiny space where to sides of glass meet on the enclosure is all it takes. Ants are enemies of the tarantula, especially in large numbers.
 

ledzeppelin

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@ledzeppelin
It happens more than you think, often with horrible results. Ants can creep through any gap, crevice, hole, and once one is inside, the rest will follow fast. A vent hole, a tiny space where to sides of glass meet on the enclosure is all it takes. Ants are enemies of the tarantula, especially in large numbers.
yikes! glad I don't have any problems with ants mites, flies etc ><
 

Paiige

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I had an ant problem in an apartment I lived in years ago. There are some natural ways to get rid of them that work pretty well! For example they hate lemon juice. Real lemon juice though, not like lemonade or anything with sugar in it because sugar obviously attracts them. Cayenne pepper works as well. I got a spray bottle, mixed some lemon juice with the pepper and some water (I've heard dish soap works too but never used it because I have curious pets) and sprayed it all around where the ants were congregating/coming in - problem solved. I'd do the same if I were you and spray around your Ts enclosure and maybe coat the bottom inch or two of the enclosure itself with it to discourage them climbing in. Wishing you the best of luck!
 

Arachne97

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Thanks for all the help guys. I'll definitely that thing with the lemon juice though. I just got home and she's currently molting inside the ICU so I guess I'm gonna move her to her permanent enclosure(before she molted she was 4" and her current enclosure is now too small)
 

Paiige

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Thanks for all the help guys. I'll definitely that thing with the lemon juice though. I just got home and she's currently molting inside the ICU so I guess I'm gonna move her to her permanent enclosure(before she molted she was 4" and her current enclosure is now too small)
Don't move her while she's molting or for a few days after, she'll be soft and you can hurt her
 

Andrea82

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Don't move her while she's molting or for a few days after, she'll be soft and you can hurt her
This^^
Also, be careful when rehousing here from the temporary enclosure to her final one. She will probably be a lot more feisty and skittish than how she was today!
 

Matttoadman

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Double check any flower pots in the room. Ants love to set up nests in them. Especially if they were outside during the summer.
 

Andrea82

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Forgot to add. Until you have discovered where the ants come from, you could put a....I don't know the word in English, a ring of water around the enclosure. (Like they did with castles in medieval times)
Get a bigger tub, and place the enclosure on a stand in that tub, and fill that tub with water.
Do you have more T's? I would check them for ants as well.
 

Paiige

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Forgot to add. Until you have discovered where the ants come from, you could put a....I don't know the word in English, a ring of water around the enclosure. (Like they did with castles in medieval times)
Get a bigger tub, and place the enclosure on a stand in that tub, and fill that tub with water.
Do you have more T's? I would check them for ants as well.
The word you are looking for is "moat" :)
 

Spidermolt

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I would put the cage on top of a table that isn't touching a wall and then coat the table legs in petroleum jelly so the ants cant climb up.
 

BobBarley

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I would put the cage on top of a table that isn't touching a wall and then coat the table legs in petroleum jelly so the ants cant climb up.
I do this to all my shelves and haven't had ant problems since.
 

awiec

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I was having some ants wandering into the house that I was paranoid that were going to be an issue. Problem was solved when I allowed some grass spiders (Agelenopsis) to set up shop around the house, they are one of the few spiders in my area that will take out ants and wasps.
 

Haksilence

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Take it out of the ICU asap and put it in a new, clean enclosure and treat husband's as usual

Edit: saw you said it's molting,
DO.
NOT.
TOUCH.
IT.

The limpness and aparent weekness is obviously a product of it's very imminent molt. Just leave it be, don't even open the ICU for a day or two after her molt. And then get it back in a proper enclosure.

To elaborate more, ICUs will do ZERO for anything other than a dehydrated tarantula. So using them in any other case will only stress the animal out
 
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Arachne97

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Dec 23, 2016
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I found a place where I can safely put my Ts its a table far from where I usually see the ants. My regalis just finished molting and its had a really bad molt obviously to the stress it went through before molting. Its lost a leg and a pedipalp. Can it survive until the next molt without a pedipaplp?
 
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