BIG problems: Ants

[Jlynsg16]

Im not sure if anyone else has had this problem before. I got my Avicularia Avicularia about two months ago. I went away from home for about three weeks and I took Her with me. When I came back my brothers disclosed to me that we had an ant problem. I didn’t think much of it, I just cleaned my room and settled Radish (my Ts name) into her usual spot. The next day after coming back I fed her crickets and when I awoke in the morning to check on her and see if she ate all her food, I found her enclosure FULL of ants. Like crazy amount all covers the crickets that were obviously meant for her.

i quickly removed her form her enclosure, I threw out all the substrate and I cleaned her items in there and settled her back in.

i have been keeping a close eye on her since especially when feeding. I’ve swept the room for ants and everything but they find ways in. I hadn’t notice any in her enclosure since I threw everything out.
Today it’s feeding day. I fed her and again I went to check on how she was doing and I noticed TINY ants roaming around her enclosure !!!! Idk if they bread In there??? There’s not that many but I spotted quite a few tiny ants. I don’t know what to do?? Has anyone faced this problem or know what I can do make sure they don’t get back in there? I’m scared they’ll hurt Radish

 

[octanejunkie]

Ants are a nuisance and can be a controlled in several ways.

You can all often stem the tide of ants by finding how they're getting in and eliminating their entrance, as well as the source of food that they have found. Ants will send individual scouts who will report back to the colony to then go to the source. Easiest thing you can do is eliminate the source and their point of entry.

You can also use repellents to drive ants away, but obviously you don't want to use pesticides of any sort, luckily there are a few non-toxic ways to deter ants.

1. Wrap double-sided tape around the legs of the table that the tank or enclosure are on and do the same for any cords that dangle from the table ants will find a way but they don't jump.

2. Ants don't swim, so if you can surround the enclosure or the table that the enclosure is on by putting its legs in little cups filled with water the ants will not be able to swim across the water. This is not always practical.

3. Ants have a very specific kind of biology, their leg joints are one of the most susceptible parts of their body. If you can encircle either the legs of the table or the enclosure with something that will irritate their leg joints, cayenne pepper is very common and popular, the ants will not be able to cross the pepper barrier. this is obviously not very practical in high traffic areas, homes with pets or small children, outdoors where it's rainy, or anywhere where there is significant airflow, wind.

4. Give them a better target. Put some Oreo cookie crumbs somewhere close to the tarantulas enclosure until the ants go there, they'll take the easiest route, follow the path where they're coming from and put cookie crumbs closer to their point of entry repeat this process until the ants are nowhere near your tarantula. Then seal off their exit.

The double-sided tape thing is what I've done and it's been extremely effective. Additionally, I find where the ants are entering and I spray that area with ant spray as long as it's far away from my pet having area.

Best of luck, and let us know how it turns out

 

[Casey K.]

Im not sure if anyone else has had this problem before. I got my Avicularia Avicularia about two months ago. I went away from home for about three weeks and I took Her with me. When I came back my brothers disclosed to me that we had an ant problem. I didn’t think much of it, I just cleaned my room and settled Radish (my Ts name) into her usual spot. The next day after coming back I fed her crickets and when I awoke in the morning to check on her and see if she ate all her food, I found her enclosure FULL of ants. Like crazy amount all covers the crickets that were obviously meant for her.

i quickly removed her form her enclosure, I threw out all the substrate and I cleaned her items in there and settled her back in.

i have been keeping a close eye on her since especially when feeding. I’ve swept the room for ants and everything but they find ways in. I hadn’t notice any in her enclosure since I threw everything out.
Today it’s feeding day. I fed her and again I went to check on how she was doing and I noticed TINY ants roaming around her enclosure !!!! Idk if they bread In there??? There’s not that many but I spotted quite a few tiny ants. I don’t know what to do?? Has anyone faced this problem or know what I can do make sure they don’t get back in there? I’m scared they’ll hurt Radish

I used to get tiny black ants in my T room all the time. They would get in their enclosures and nest in the soil. They don't like "ground cinnamon". I lined my floors along the walls, in window sills, along my tarantula shelves with ground cinnamon. Something about the cinnamon being similar to fire ant mound. If they are black ants they don't cross the cinnamon. It may make your room look "dirty" but it smells amazing and its organic so it won't hurt your T's. Just my personal experience.