Invading ants...

[Leonardo]

...leads to a very ill day.

black ants are a real menace in south ga. especially around my house. they get into everything. they'll eat anything they can. they get into cars, houses, garbage cans, dog and cat food, they even eat the paint off the cars!

i recently moved my mealies to a rack by my gecko tank for easier access. the beetles stayed on the top of the vanity table. I woke up this morning to find that a trail of ants had crawled in through my window seal and invaded my meal worm colony. the unsorted ones and the large and small sorted tubs had no chance. i quickly grabbed a few containers and started sorting them out one by one. oi, its so difficult to sort out the mealies that arent even over a cm long. theyre the same color as the substrate and near impossible to see.
the beetles were untouched.
i sorted most of the mealies out, sprayed the ants, all around the window and floor, coated the outside of the tubs and sprayed the outside of the house.
not only is it a threat to my meal worm colony, its a threat to my gecko if they get in the tank.

after spending hours doing saving my mealies im exhausted and ill. darn ants!

 

[moosassah]

Someone recommended using baby powder on the table beneath the tanks/containers. I haven't had ants invading my crested's home since.

 

[Leonardo]

interesting. ants stay away from baby powder? i never heard that. i will try that. thanks!

 

[Halley]

Well, I don't have any tips, but that is nuts!!!!!!!!!

 

[Leonardo]

weve tried everything around the house, nothing works. we spray the yard theyll just come inside, if we spray around the house they flock to the cars and my cat and dog, either way theyll find a weakness in the houses defense and invade. ive basically had to ban all food and drinks from my car bc everytime i get in i get bit by ants. its ridiculous!

 

[efx*]

Sorry that happened to you..

 

[bitterbeauty]

Cayenne pepper is what I use to get rid of ants (I live in NC) It is a safe way to go when you have a house full of animals. Also, a slower but good way of getting rid of them is putting dry grits down. They eat it and carry it back to the nest and when they drink water they explode when the grits expand. (Thats what they say lol) Good luck and getting rid of your ants!

 

[gothra]

If your mealworm tub isn't too big, you can put a dish of water beneath it.

 

[LadyGecko]

I have heard/read to use coffee grounds as a barrier

I honestly don't know if it works or not

The instructions are to put them down as a barrier wherever the ants are coming in

Good Luck getting rid of them

I get them for a few weeks to a month every spring when the ground is first thawing and is very wet and they drive me crazy

So far they have only been in two spots in the house and thankfully they haven't been near any of my reptiles or their food

In the kitchen and the bathroom-I use a lot of bleach and that seems to discourage them

Sandy

 

[sweetgecko]

pesky ants

I have been having ant problems for years. I would see the small brown ants( nasty pinch), now I see the small black ants, not much of the red carpenter ants ( brown ants are smaller than the black ants). It varies from month to month :main_angry:. I live in Key West, FL. I tried Vaseline trick and the ants just walk through it, baby powder was useless after a few days. I found a small swarm under the towel that I use, a few drinking water and one was pinching the gecko who was in the process of shedding. I took the gecko out, put a thick coat of vaseline around the vivarium glass below the vents, cleaned everything. I will try vinegar and cinnamon powder. I wish there were no such thing as ants.
The gecko is fine and happy, the vivarium is clean and no pesky ants.

 

[acpart]

Try spraying cooking oil around the top outside of the enclosure.

Aliza

 

[Dimidiata]

I see weve reached a conclusion. In my work and study with pest management its been found that Ants dislike strong or subtle smells such as cinnimon, pepper, lemon pepper, season salts, coffee, Hot pepper juice and so on, also to be included are onions(for certain species anyways, hence one of the reasons to grow onions around larger crops.) If you want a back up/extra security, line a barrier of double sided tap around the edge/legs of the table. USed to have them destroy my potted plants, a little cinnimon and lemon pepper baririor worked great.

 

[The Gecko Person]

Just let a few of these go.:main_laugh:

 

[Dog Shrink]

To get rid of any ants mix powdered bleach and sugar (preferably powdered sugar but any sugar will work) the bleach sticks to the sugar and when they take it back to the nest to eat it they ingest the powdered bleach and it killls them. Done it and it works great!