sugar ants in my vivariums

[dadofsix]

Well, I thought that I had licked the problem but I was wrong. I woke up to hundreds of sugar ants in one vivarium and dozens more in the other vivarium that used to be infested.

It appears that wherever there is a water source you can find them. You almost can't read the two humidity gauges/digital thermometers I have up against the glass in the heavily infested vivarium because hundreds of ants are hiding between their faces and the vivarium glass. I took a picture of the situation and will post it if need be.

Now for my question: I've read through a number of other threads dealing with ants and see that corn-starch and Terro bait stations are often recommended. My concern is that if the ants now living in the vivarium eat the Terro bait outside the vivarium, they'll probably be bringing it into near proximity to a snake when they return. Can contact with this stuff do damage to my snakes or do they have to ingest it? Also, I feed my snakes in their vivariums. If a dead or dying ant, or ants, somehow get(s) on the thawed rat, and is/are swallowed by the snake, is that enough to harm it? I'd rather ask a silly question and feel foolish than not ask the question and hurt or kill my snakes and then feel really stupid.

Thanks.

<><Peace

[Prognathodon]

I’d use diotomaceous earth (DE) outside of the viv - DE is fossilized diatoms, and it works by eroding their joints and exoskeleton, and shouldn’t harm the snakes if the ants track it in and/or the snakes swallow a little. You can leave some mixed with sugar to decoy the ants that are in the viv to it. IIRC they’ll also pass it along when grooming each other.

One of the selling points of DE is that it is safe around small children/furry pets. We have a re-occurring issue with ants between the concrete front stoop and the house coming inside under the door, and a couple applications of DE on the stoop each summer takes care of them.


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[ElliotNess]

I’d use diotomaceous earth (DE) outside of the viv - DE is fossilized diatoms, and it works by eroding their joints and exoskeleton, and shouldn’t harm the snakes if the ants track it in and/or the snakes swallow a little. You can leave some mixed with sugar to decoy the ants that are in the viv to it. IIRC they’ll also pass it along when grooming each other.

One of the selling points of DE is that it is safe around small children/furry pets. We have a re-occurring issue with ants between the concrete front stoop and the house coming inside under the door, and a couple applications of DE on the stoop each summer takes care of them.

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I use FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth in my rat colony. It curbs ear mites which all rats carry in tiny amounts. A friend who probably breeds a few hundred thousand rodents a year recommended it. So I have been feeding my snakes feeders that have been in bedding dusted with it for over a year. My one question is how assistive is it in their digestive process because all of my reptiles have "perfect poops" I guess you could say. People use FOOD GRADE DE in smoothies and drinks to assist in digestion issues so make sure you get FOOD GRADE.

[SDA]

DO NOT use diatomaceous earth if you value your cleanup crew. Same thing happens to them that happens to the ants. Your options are get insects that eat ants or rebuild your bioactive soil. Most times once you see ants in the vivarium they already are establishing a colony. In the future take better care to keep the enclosure away from walls and prevent ants from being able to enter the vivarium via traps or other non chemical means.

Again using diatomaceous earth means springtails and isopods will die.

[Prognathodon]

Thank you SDA! I was assuming a non-bio-active setup!


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[dadofsix]

Thanks for the replies. I learn something every time I log in here.

Truth be told, I may have incorrectly labeled my enclosures as Vivariums. While they are both designed to LOOK like natural habitat, but for the snake (and now ants!) there's nothing actually alive in there.

This ant infestation is getting out of hand in one of the enclosures, so I'm strongly leaning towards using Terro Ant Bait. I just don't want to hurt my snakes in doing so. Hence my original query. But all replies are deeply appreciated.

<><Peace