Hello everyone

Young C.B. horned lizards from the USA are being offered for sale here in Banglok, and would like to set up a desert vivarium with young horned lizards as a "class ecosystem". Granted, it won't be a true self-sustaining ecosystem, but will have some non-spiny cacti and succulents, etc. I have been keeping reptiles for years and understand the UV requirements, etc.

My main concerns is ants. The problem with having a vivarium in the class until now has been ants, which will invariably find any source of water or food left anywhere, and set up a nest overnight in any kind of soil or moist area. Obviously the ant species here are different from those in the US, and there are several species that routinely invade the classroom, ranging from tiny "red ants" to 1/4 inch "black ants". I don't know if they would be a suitable food source for the horned lizards, or if it might be possible to encourage a controlled flow of ants into a feeding area. Some of them certainly do have formic acid!

Any advice would be much appreciated. I don't want a swarm of ants in the classroom, but a controlled steady flow might be OK.

Regards

Michael Salter

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