Ants?

Hello! So I have a custom made bio-active vivarium for my baby ball python and recently I have noticed some carpenter ants have gotten in it. I have only seen 3 so far but I don't know how many are hiding or if they have bred or not. Can these ants harm my snake? I do not mind the ants as long as they are not harmful. If they are, does anyone know how to remove them without using pesticides that will harm my snake?

Ants are invaders from outside. Reptile and Amphibian Bioactive Setups (RABS) on Facebook has a file about tank invaders and how to get rid of them. Here's the section from the file about how to get rid of ants.

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Originally Posted by Leanna Bender from RABS

Diatomaceous Earth can be your best friend! It is safe for kids and pets. How you use it is a bit of a trick though because you don’t just want to put it in your tank. What you want to do is set up a sugar/water attractant outside of the tank. Sprinkle the Diatomaceous Earth around the outside of your tank and let the ants do the work. As the ants walk through the powder it sticks to their skeleton and causes them to dry out.

There are a few other things you can try but they will require a bit of upkeep. Lemon juice and vinegar can slowly kill off ants and drive them away. Both kill the ant’s scent trail and drive them away. Mix a bit with some water and spray on the substrate.


If ants are coming into your tank but aren’t established in your tank lemon and vinegar sprayed around the outside can keep them from coming back. Surprisingly enough so will cinnamon and cayenne pepper sprinkled in the same fashion.

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You can use chalk. Ants wont cross a chalk line as i guess it screws up their little scent trail they leave. Also can use diatomaceous earth around the cage as well but I'd be careful as breathing it can cause problems. Then just find where they are coming in at and stop it at the source.

Can't you 'lure' them into a little container then remove them .. they will be attracted to sugar / sweets / jam / honey ..


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Can't you 'lure' them into a little container then remove them .. they will be attracted to sugar / sweets / jam / honey ..


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True but the problem is ants leave a little scent trail whereever they go. It's kind of like a guide to the other ants if he finds some goodies. So you really need to severe that trail to stop them or they will just keep following each others trail and leaving a new one as they go.

Maybe try my trick but spray or wipe something all around the tank so they can't get back in ??


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Diatomaceous Earth also is harmful to your isopods so use it with care. If the ants establish into your substrate you might be in for an uphill battle.