Ants?

:snake:Hi everyone, I have just recently moved and have found out that the new place has ants crawling around. It's not enough to call a problem but I wonder if there is anything wrong with them being in my ball python's tank. Not being an ant expert I suspect they are odorous house ants (small black ants found in Nova Scotia and probably other places). Any input would be appreciated!

AS long as thier not fire ants your fine. Most ants will only bother the snake or the snake wont care.

Set ant traps everywhere and you can also use some Provent a Mite on and round the rooms floor to help. Pest strips on the floor, NOT in the snakes cage will also help

Yeah if you can ahold of some provent a mite wow does that stuff work wonders. I only use it around the base of my racks, along walls and in doorways. It has residual affects for a few weeks. Ive seen a spider walk across an area I sprayed and just keel over. Spiders are hard to kill too. A good flea and tick powder along walls, enclosure stands etc, will also kill them and keep them from getting into the snakes enclosure. The ant baits will be good long term as they take the poison back to the colony.

i agree with richs b/p unless if there bothering the snake or harming it its fine :)

So my solution was to scald the substrate with boiling water and then after it cooled put my snake back. It killed all the ants. But they are back, and I get the idea they just like being in the cocoa fiber I am using becuase there is nothing else for them in there (last time I thought they were eating a urate). So the fiber is going to have to go. I am just wondering if aspen will give me the same problem (I doubt it), I am also considering Repti-bark. Anyother substrate ideas are welcome.

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Originally Posted by TimmyG

So my solution was to scald the substrate with boiling water and then after it cooled put my snake back. It killed all the ants. But they are back, and I get the idea they just like being in the cocoa fiber I am using becuase there is nothing else for them in there (last time I thought they were eating a urate). So the fiber is going to have to go. I am just wondering if aspen will give me the same problem (I doubt it), I am also considering Repti-bark. Anyother substrate ideas are welcome.

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Move to newspaper or paper towel

ants come onto all my substrate for some reason too, and i just use paper towel or newpaper. Its a pain with the monitor cages, especially the savannah that eats crickets, any little scrap of cricket or meal worm that gets left i get a 100000000000 ant swarm and they tunnel and nest in the decomposed granite/soil and i have to completely replace EVERYTHING as far as the dirst substrate in the tank. Im still trying to find a way to keep the ants out of it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TimmyG

:snake:Hi everyone, I have just recently moved and have found out that the new place has ants crawling around. It's not enough to call a problem but I wonder if there is anything wrong with them being in my ball python's tank. Not being an ant expert I suspect they are odorous house ants (small black ants found in Nova Scotia and probably other places). Any input would be appreciated!

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Odorous House ants are brown for the record and are very annoying to get rid of. They will seek moisture or sweet food, but will most likely not accept ant bait. They also have multiple queens, which means if you spray the wrong product to kill them they will split up and take a queen in each direction, which will make your problem much worse. Not sure what other kind of ants you have in Canada, but if you in fact have OH ants you will have your hands full. GL