Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello Everyone!!
I have 2 ornate box turtles. I have had them for about 3 years now and so far every thing as gone very well *this site helped me alot*. The problem is, this morning I realized that both of my turtles were sitting in the water dish. They each have their own habitat. Sammie doesn't like to share is home and attempted to kill Speedy, so they are separated. But, they were both in their dishes when I got home this afternoon as well. I saw it as odd and checked it out. I found ants in both of their habitats. No wonder the poor turtles were in their water dishes! I need help. I've never had this problem before. What do I do to get rid of the ants?? Plus both of their habitats are above ground...sitting on two tables which are outside. Thanks....Jaime

Try finding the ant nest, when you do, boil water, and soak the nest - at least that is what I do, as I am afraid of using poisons around my turtles.

Bill G.

You could also try using something called Diatomaceous Earth, which is basically made up of very finely ground seashells. It is a powder that, to something the size of an ant, is exceptionally sharp and gritty. It literally cuts them up and causes them to dehydrate and die, and would be safe to use around the outside perimeter of the pen, forming a barrier that the ants would have to cross to get to the inside.
It is not a poison: its a "mechanical" killer. The only hitch is that its not cheap, and you would have to re-apply it if rainfall washes it away.
I have used it successfully, and I have lots of pets.
I'd try the boiling water trick first, though.

Interesting - I know they use that for pool filters, maybe a visit to the pool store would be in order - great suggestion.

Bill G.

When I worked at a garden center, we sold it as an organic/non toxic insect control: works well for slugs and snails, too, although now that I have turtles, I encourage those!
Stephanie

it's actually fossilized diatomes, which are small single celled creatures, (maybe multicellular... hrm... can't remember).

Anyway, it is totally nontoxic. It used to be used as a flea powder, but when dusted it can get into the eyes of animals and harm them. This is not a problem when putting it into the pen for ants unless you are dusting your turtle with it (which would be a bad idea).

good stuff.

....I think they're taking a shortcut in the manufacturing process & grinding seashells these days... The end result is a great product, though, and you're right about the dust: that is the only side effect that could be detrimental.