Okay ...now this is just NUTS!! Ants ate...

[AneesasMuse]

Yes! The flippin' ants ate my nest full of fuzzies!!!!!! Mogwai dropped her load about a week ago ..and Satellite's little ones were hopping already ....and now NOTHING!!

I saw the trail of ants last night and raised the water barrier ..sprayed the essential oil and castille mix ...put sugar traps down (the ones with borax in 'em) ...and killed a couple hundred little flickers!!

This morning, I see what I think is a Hisser roach cruisin' the hallway ...Big Betty free ranges sometimes.... but then it is moving a little faster than a roach, so I end up on my knees ...slap palming the mad little speed demon ..and it's the soul survivor of hoppers..



Closer inspection and thorough cleaning of the cage ...2 little carcasses (probably hoppers) and one little pink's tail (The Triplets fought over those).


This is just wayyy out of hand ..these darn ants.... please help me fix it!!

[Damnitbonnie]

Blow torch? Sorry I don't have a clue.

[BalloonzForU]

I'd start thinking about demanding the landlord do something about it.

[FloridaHogs]

Maybe you should feed the ants, so they will leave your critters alone....

[MrsWTownsend]

Maybe you should feed the ants, so they will leave your critters alone....

This could be a viable option! Distract them!!!

Man, Aminah, I don't know how you keep from going nuts! I'd be so dang livid!!!!!!

Seriously, maybe your landlord needs to pay for an exterminator to come out~

What else is there left to try???

[BalloonzForU]

Maybe you should feed the ants, so they will leave your critters alone....

I gave that sugestion last time, I think she said she was doing it but it doesn't seem to be helping either. This is just crazy and I would have an exterminator there dealing with it. However I don't keep any inverts that would be effected by an exterminator coming to the house, so I'm not sure what she can do.

[anendeloflorien]

That really sucks Aminah, IDK what I'd do if ants started eating my baby rats (I might have a litter waiting for me at home tonight :bounce:) I'll try and do some research for ya and find some invert friendly ant-control methods though I'm sure you've already tried most of them. Sorry hon :sad:!

[Cool Evil Liz]

Have you tried this:

Ant Killer Recipe
1 teaspoon boric Acid (you can get this at Wal Mart)
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups hot water (this water must be really hot)
Mix ingredients and pour over cotton balls (cotton out of med's bottles works too)
Put mixture in cottage cheese containers with lids and poke holes about 1/8 inch up from the bottom.
Don't worry if you have more ants the first couple of days after third day ant problem should be gone.

BE SURE TO PUT THIS WHERE CHILDREN OR PETS CANNOT GET INTO IT.



Found this while searching for you so not sure if will work but worth a try

[Cool Evil Liz]

Also found these so again worth a try:

http://www.wikihow.com/Kill-Ants-Without-Pesticides

http://www.thefrugallife.com/ants.html

http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/ants.php

[Chandler Rep]

Not feasible but I would move or raise the house a few feet off the ground...

[tokaysunlimited]

Better watch your inverts!!!!My buddy in SOCAL (Raul) had a VERY good portion of his scorps get attacked!!!!!!And killed!!!!!

[AneesasMuse]

Cool Liz ...I've tried that recipe with a few different twists on it, even ...they come right on through... stupid flickers!! :mmph:

I'll look at those links, though ...thank you so much!

My landlord is an imbecile ...doesn't give a crap about the bugs ..been complaining since we got here over 2 years ago ....he won't do squat! :icon_rolleyes:

And then there's the inverts... I can't risk killing them ....and I've tried talking to exterminating companies about doing something that will wipe out the ants and not kill my T's and roaches, etc. ..once I bring them back in here. Besides the fact that my rodents and lizards and fish really can't take the toxins very well either ..and snakes.. can't forget them. :madgrin:

..oh, and I do feed the stupid ants ..sugar baits! These are supposed to be sugar ants ..but they obviously have a taste for meat, as well.... and expensive meat, too! :tsk: L'il Abner was a Super Dal and so was Sashti ..the Cresteds; and pinks and hoppers go for about $1 anywhere, frozen or live ...FLICKERSSSSSSS!!! :mad2:

Jeremy, I lost Grundo to ants ..last year! He was my rescued B. vagans ..eaten alive by ants ..attacked once, destroyed and consumed the second time :icon_frown:

...cuz water moats don't stop them ..and boric acid/chalk doesn't either!! :icon_neutral:


Thanks, everyone... :sad:

[markface]

have you thought about investing in an ant eater or maybe an ardvark ?

[AneesasMuse]

:lol: I think Ken'yeti and Jeff are looking for one, for me... :lol:

[Chandler Rep]

When you say you have water barriers is it possible to move everything just a bit away from the walls and put the legs of the shelves into buckets of water? Given if they are not wood or metal....

[AneesasMuse]

I have the actual vivs in water moats ...my shelves are either attached to tracks on the wall or they are my own fa'dangled ones on cinder blocks with 2 x 12's ...no legs :D

I wish there was a way for me to seal off my garage ...air tight.. and then I could bomb the be'jeezus out of this place ..but there isn't. I need more "cool" friends that don't freak out at the sight of "bugs" ...then I could just move them temporarily and rid my house ...maybe!

I still have the stupid termites underneath ..which is why we have ants in the first place! :doh:


I went to the Farm on Mars ..my buddy's little urban place... yesterday, and we discussed me renting from her or being her roommate ..but then I noticed all of her ants! :twitch:

[Palor]

Ants hate cinnamon, if you sprinkle cinnamon around things you don't want ants to get into they won't.

When we setup the Dune Gecko cage the ants decided the occasional dead cricket was for them. A little cinnamon around the tank and they left it alone.

[snowliz]

When i lived in Florida I had an ant problem when I first moved in. Then they sprayed something around the condos and it took care of them. Wish I new what it was. Sorry to here about yet another loss.

[AneesasMuse]

Ants hate cinnamon, if you sprinkle cinnamon around things you don't want ants to get into they won't.

When we setup the Dune Gecko cage the ants decided the occasional dead cricket was for them. A little cinnamon around the tank and they left it alone.

I've tried cinnamon ...they march right through! :doh: I've tried just about every herbal ..essential oil ..."natural" ...you name it ....."cure" ..known to man ..and WOman! I have demonized ants!!

Teresa ...I can't have an exterminator cuz I have 100s of dollars worth of T's and roaches, not to mention my other animals that will be too sensitive to the toxins.

There's a solution out there ...I'm just not finding it ....YET!! :painkiller:

[snowliz]

I hope you do soon.

[snowliz]

check out this site if you haven't already.
http://www.gomestic.com/Do-It-Yourself/DIY-Amazing-Nontoxic-Organic-Ant-Killer.62265

[AneesasMuse]

You know what ..I have used Cream of Wheat ....to no avail ..but I'm going to try the Instant Grits today! Maybe they are southern ants... :madgrin:


Thank you, Teresa!! You're a genius! :D

[Cool Evil Liz]

Try all the things & do one of each around your critters.

Also have you traced the ant hill source????

[AneesasMuse]

The source is underneath the place ...within the stucco ...and under the sidewalk slabs. I have moth balls and Terro granules in every single orifice outside ...risking Joob's (my tortoise) life and freedom, too ..but I still have ants in here!!

You should see all the goop and grit (not grits, but powders and so on) surrounding my vivs and everything ...it's crazy nuts!! :wacko:

[Cool Evil Liz]

Get sealant or concrete and seal those holes

[AneesasMuse]

We don't own this place ...and the holes are HUGE!!

At best, I can minimize the ants ...or MOVE! :tape2:

[Cool Evil Liz]

I WOULD MOVE then as how many more need to be lost to the demons ants

[Chandler Rep]

You have ghetto ants....they are hard core, well adapted to the normal methods....got to give them credit to adapt and survive...

[AneesasMuse]

I definitely have ghetto ants!! :sad: While I give the little buggers credit for being so resilient, they are definitely wreaking havoc on my pets ...and that is not good!

I'm doing every thing possible ..within my power.... and I still feel like I'm not doing enough ..and people are blaming me for the deaths of my animals.

These are not simply ants in a ant hill that have wandered into my house for whatever ...they are IN the foundation and I can't kill my animals while trying to protect them from the ants.. :tsk:

...and I can't just move that easily, either.


I'm frustrated and I feel helpless ...just thought I'd ask again for some unheard of and miraculous remedy :noidea:

[Cool Evil Liz]

I cannot even imagine what it is like and what I say to you is just MY opinion and I know you love and care for your critters and NOT NOT NOT your fault with these demon spawn ants

[Chandler Rep]

I'm not blaming you at all for them, just saying they have built up a tolerance to normal stuff due to the age of the neighborhood....alot of bugs get that way in certain areas because it is either that or die so the strongest live to breed and the weakest die off, then the same with the next generation and so on...you are just victim of natural selection caused by humans and not nature....

[AneesasMuse]

Thanks ...and no, I didn't feel like you were blaming me here ...but it has happened elsewhere and it hurt my feelings a little..

** thicker skin.. thicker skin.. thicke.... **


...so I called all of them "A$$Hats!!" ..and left! :madgrin:


Believe it or not, I had a freecycle lady give me the 3rd degree about how the ants wouldn't kill the geckos to eat them ...and that I must've had dead geckos before the ants ate them ...like I don't pay enough attention to my animals to notice when they are DEAD!! :doh:


Anyhoo... I've found a way to rid my block of crispy critters ..and I will find a way to rid my house of ghetto ants!! :PDT_Armataz_01_36:

[snowliz]

I hope you find something that works and soon. How are the baby creasties doing? I hope them nasty getto ants don't get near them. That would be just heart breaking. I am real sorry for your troubles.

[AneesasMuse]

The little Lucille/Abners are doing great! Thanks for askin'!! :D They had their first dubias the other day ..that was a HOOT!! :becky: They've been eating CGD since day 2, but I give all the new hatchlings bugs once a week also.

...annnnnnnd.... I found 2 more eggos in the box the other day, so I have four cookin' now ..YEY!! :dance:

Oh.. and my Cresteds and Micah (the Bibron's) are at the foot of my bed and on top of my freshwater planted tank beside the bed ...when they're not ON my bed (...when the DH isn't here, which is usually), so I can keep a close eye on them :loco: I've turned into the crazy gecko lady, I think :heh:

I'm going in and out of The Room many, many, many more times a day ..and some during the night ...now, as well. I used to just go in and look around, spot clean, mist, etc. ...twice a day or so.... no more! I even cleaned off my clutter struck desk, so I can hang out in there and keep a vigil against "ghetto ant brigade" :der:


Now.. I'm off to post the last couple of days pics with some Zoo kids and a new rescued baby... stay tuned.. :icon_winkle:

[tokaysunlimited]

What i have noticed and heard more,is that it happens more in CA.NM,AZ,and most of the western states.
I got a colony of carpenter ants from out there to see what they cou8ld do!!
Well compaired them to the species out here and what a damn difference!!!!!
Again these were capenters!

[AneesasMuse]

Mine are Carpenter Ants, Jeremy ...but they don't just like sweets ..they LIKE meat, as well :scared:

[SNSnakes]

Hmmmm, maybe you need a few "horny toads"...Texas horned lizards. Their diet is ONLY ants!! I used to catch them all the time when I was a kid in OK.

[Damnitbonnie]

You know what ..I have used Cream of Wheat ....to no avail ..but I'm going to try the Instant Grits today! Maybe they are southern ants... :madgrin:

:D
I'LL COME KILL THEM FOR CREAM OF WHEAT.

You have ghetto ants

MAYBE THE GHETO ROACHES WOULD KILL THE GHETTO ANTS---BUT THAT'S A WHOLE NOTHER PROBLEM.

WHAT THE HELL IS A FREECYCLE LADY? THIS WOMAN NEEDS TO BE SLAPPED. LIKE YOU CAN'T TELL A DEAD ANIMAL. SORRY THIS IS A NO TOLLERANCE DAY FOR ME. (DRUNKEN BAD SPELLING TOO ME THINKS BUT DON'T CARE)

[AneesasMuse]

I'LL COME KILL THEM FOR CREAM OF WHEAT.



MAYBE THE GHETO ROACHES WOULD KILL THE GHETTO ANTS---BUT THAT'S A WHOLE NOTHER PROBLEM.

WHAT THE HELL IS A FREECYCLE LADY? THIS WOMAN NEEDS TO BE SLAPPED. LIKE YOU CAN'T TELL A DEAD ANIMAL. SORRY THIS IS A NO TOLLERANCE DAY FOR ME. (DRUNKEN BAD SPELLING TOO ME THINKS BUT DON'T CARE)

Fortunately, I have never had the "ghetto roaches" ...only the ones that I use as feeders :nerd:

Freecycle... (http://www.freecycle.org) is how I supplement my rescue efforts with small animals (cages, shredded paper for bedding and toys, etc.). And I can find a few gardening gadgets or useful scraps, etc. ..if I stay on top of the daily digest (bricks, starter plants, and so on). It's a good thing, mostly ...keeps our landfills less full.. cuts back on silly and outlandish consumerism, blah blah blah :D

[Damnitbonnie]

Fortunately, I have never had the "ghetto roaches" ...only the ones that I use as feeders :nerd:

Freecycle... (http://www.freecycle.org) is how I supplement my rescue efforts with small animals (cages, shredded paper for bedding and toys, etc.). And I can find a few gardening gadgets or useful scraps, etc. ..if I stay on top of the daily digest (bricks, starter plants, and so on). It's a good thing, mostly ...keeps our landfills less full.. cuts back on silly and outlandish consumerism, blah blah blah :D


OK. Just mentally slap her for the comment.

[BalloonzForU]

Hmmmm, maybe you need a few "horny toads"...Texas horned lizards. Their diet is ONLY ants!! I used to catch them all the time when I was a kid in OK.

I think letting loose any animal in the house that eats ants may help this issue. A friend down in FL use to leave her porch open to her house and she had wild geckos in the house..... but never saw a single bug!!!

[sputnik]

Not sure if it's been covered yet, but I think you really need to find where the ants are coming from? Outside, inside?

I'd think your problem might be inside, under the house or in a wall or somewhere like that....

There may be certain poisons you can put somewhere (In a manner that won't affect your zoo) where the ants take it back to the nest.

Maybe I need another cup of coffee....:ranger:

[AneesasMuse]

Actually, I have a loose gecko in here ..Sunny is still on the go ..but she's a Crested. :doh: I am game for anything that may help ..Horned Toads, Aardvarks, bombs, guns... :heh:

Don't Horned Toads need specific ants, though? Harvesters, right? Mine are supposedly Carpenters or Argentines ..or a mutant ghetto hybrid??

[Cool Evil Liz]

Not sure if it's been covered yet, but I think you really need to find where the ants are coming from? Outside, inside?

I'd think your problem might be inside, under the house or in a wall or somewhere like that....

There may be certain poisons you can put somewhere (In a manner that won't affect your zoo) where the ants take it back to the nest.

Maybe I need another cup of coffee....:ranger: They are in the foundation

[sputnik]

Actually, I have a loose gecko in here ..Sunny is still on the go ..but she's a Crested. :doh: I am game for anything that may help ..Horned Toads, Aardvarks, bombs, guns... :heh:

Don't Horned Toads need specific ants, though? Harvesters, right? Mine are supposedly Carpenters or Argentines ..or a mutant ghetto hybrid??

Not sure if this helps....

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/M1166.html

[AneesasMuse]

Thanks, Mr. Cool Scoot!

I have moth balls underneath the house ..and permethrin (sp?) granules all around the perimeter (I think ghetto ants use this as growth hormone, though) ..and I am going to try some Combat (brand) Gel stuff, along with RealKill (that PIG said he used for his infestation and it did not kill his T's)

I just have to be sure it doesn't smell like anything Joob will eat ..the tort.... cuz she's tired of being restricted to free range of the house.

[BalloonzForU]

Don't Horned Toads need specific ants, though? Harvesters, right? Mine are supposedly Carpenters or Argentines ..or a mutant ghetto hybrid??

I know those are really hard to get rid of. A few years ago we thought we had them here, my exterminator took care of them, they were just everyday ants though.

[SNSnakes]

Actually, I have a loose gecko in here ..Sunny is still on the go ..but she's a Crested. :doh: I am game for anything that may help ..Horned Toads, Aardvarks, bombs, guns... :heh:

Don't Horned Toads need specific ants, though? Harvesters, right? Mine are supposedly Carpenters or Argentines ..or a mutant ghetto hybrid??

I'm not sure. I've seen ads for ant colonies for sale to be used as horny toad food...don't know what type of ants they are.

I know that one type of ant we had in OK in the 60's was a nasty one...big and red...made nests that were flat and 2 feet across. Me, being the curious/ slighty bad boy :pray2:, took a shovel to said nest one time. Only took one sting for me to high tail it out of there...lol. Yeah, I know that fire ants are way worse, but they hadn't made it to the USA back then.

[AneesasMuse]

Horned Toads eat Harvesters ..and exclusively, from what I gather.

I wish the ants here made hills or mounds or something that I could fill with gasoline and torch ..but they are IN the foundation of our home and putting an accelerant and a torch to our own home ..although, tempting... is a little out of the question :lol:

I'm just going to rip out the shelving and everything in The Room ...and fill any and every hole I find with Gel (by Combat) ...vaseline all edges on shelving once again ..and put out the RealKill baits.

Hopefully, I will not lose my fish tanks and my tarantulas and feeder colonies with the toxins ...and my geckos and other reptiles, etc. will not be affected either.

I'm at my end...

[Chandler Rep]

I am still looking for that gecko that eats only termites....

I remember having this bug issue in a garden when I lived in town....the was this thing I used for them but I don't know if it would work given how bad they are....

take 1/2 cup of dead bugs (the more the better)
1 cup of liquid dish soap
1 tbsp of cayenne pepper
2 cups of water

Mix in a blender and strain...use 1/4 cup per cup of water in a handheld sprayer....just overspray the areas...

Also there is something else with yeast and cornmeal if I can find it but really don't know if it would help....

It worked in a garden outside but don't know if it would work inside with them....

I wouldn't worry to much about the roaches....even the sissy ones like dubia seem to be really good at staying alive....minus being eaten or stepped on that is....

I have seen wild roaches at work after the house has been treated just wandering around in open during the day....the funniest thing I have ever seen was a house that was just treated and bombed by some bug company and I walk in and there is a group of roaches playing king of the mountain on top of the bomb....

[AneesasMuse]

You made me spit coffee!! "King of the mountain... " :heh:

I was changing the substrate and tidying up the Lat and Lobster containers the other day and a Lateralis decided to make a run for it ...this is bad stuff.. so I fumbled around for a half second, trying to retrieve it ...and finally just flung it off me and into my foot path. Can you believe that I stomped that damn thing and it still got up and ran some more?? :lol:


Anyhoo... I'm gonna try your bug jamba thing ...dead ants or will any dead bugs work? :madgrin: (Speaking of dead bugs ...I gave Shoog a Hisser body that had been sucked lifeless by the ants ..and she loved it! Shoog is a little rattie girl that came in a week or so back ...crunchCRUNCHcrunc... :wacko: )

Oh ..and the yeast thing with cornmeal ..I've heard of that too ....supposedly the combo makes for a very bad belly ache or something and they all die. I think it's along the lines of the Instant Grits or Cream of Wheat.. maybe?

[Chandler Rep]

Not sure if any bug will work but I would try to use some ants too....

[GoGo]

Uh, If your landlords an assjack who wont call an exterminator, and its a serious infestation, can't you sue him for that?

[AneesasMuse]

Under very different circumstances, we would probably have a legal outlet ...but for our circumstances, no. :tsk:

[GoGo]

Have you tried setting 1 ant on fire and letting all the others watch while it crisps? <<

I wonder if anoles would eat ants...

[MrsWTownsend]

THAT'S IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Horned Lizards!!! They are strictly ant eaters and will camp out by the source picking them off, one by one...

[GoGo]

Arent horned lizards the one that shoot blood from their eyes when they get frightened or startled?

[GoGo]

Arent horned lizards the one that shoot blood from their eyes when they get frightened or startled?

Edit limit wore off...

Yes normally Horned/Horny Lizards eat harvesters, but they're opportunists, and will also eat other small insects. Im sure they would eat your ants too...though you would have to get them some harvesters as well.

[MrsWTownsend]

OK, my next suggestion is an aardvark...

[sputnik]

OK, my next suggestion is an aardvark...

And we want video of that!

[Damnitbonnie]

And we want video of that!


Yeswe do!