Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This has probably been asked and answered alot, but how do you keep ants in the cage? Or do you watch them the whole time and what is not eaten take out? I have my HL in an aquarium with a screen lid and the ants keep climbing up the silicone and escaping into my house through the screen. Thanks, Tom
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1.0 Tiger Retic.
1.0 Columbian Boa?
1.0 Mexican King
2.1 Alterna Gray Bands
2.1 Speckled Kings (1 albino pair)
1.0 Melanistic? California King
1.1 Black Pines
1.0 Red Northern Pine
0.1 Mexican Black King
1.1 Bearded Dragon

What type of ants are you feeding it? Are they caught ants or do you buy them? You may be feeding the wrong type of ants if they are able to climb out.
Ryan

When You keep ants you put them into a container and keep them in the refrigerator and take them out to feed your lizards. Generally you put in a few at a time until the lizards seem to have thier fill. Never leave a whole bunch of ants in the cage with the lizards. Too many can stress them out and overwhelm them (Hl's). YOu should be feeding them the big red ants not the small grease ants. You can buy them commercially for $10.00 per 500 or locate ant piles in your area and collect them. If you collect them yourself, then I put a ppaert towel that has been wet good in with dirt from around the ant pile where I have collected them and put them in a tupperwhere container that has tiny holes, they usually stay alive for a week or slightly more, but I usually use them up anyway. Hope this is clearer, because it sounds like your putting in some specie of ants and just leavoing them in there whether the lizards eat or not. It's best just to put in a few at a time, and if they begin eating maybe 10 or so and after they eat those another 10 but don't leave them in the cage.....Cheers!!!
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Phrynosoma.com

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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]

Thanks guys, I have not been leaving ants in there with him. It just seems before he can get to some of them they climb out. I appreciate the advice, but I would like to avoid spending alot of money on ants. I don't know anything about ants, but I went out yesterday and found thousands of different kinds in the wild. It's just, I don't know which ones are best. I am in Missouri. I found huge colonies of Big (about a half inch) black and red ants. I also found the same amount of black and red ones that were under a quarter inch. Don't know if this is enough info. to tell me which ones to get, but maybe. Also, if I was to bring a whole lot of them home is there any good ways to keep them alive for more than a week or so. This is a Texas Horned Lizard that a neighbor of mine brought back from New Mexico and then decided he didn't want it. He knew I kept reptiles and offered him to me. I took him, because if I didn't he was going to let him go here (where I am pretty positive he wouldn't survive) or freeze him to show him off to his friends. I did explain how irresponsible this was, but there was nothing else I could do except take him and give it a shot. He is only about the size of a quarter and I have seen him eat some ants, so I guess that's a good sign.
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1.0 Tiger Retic.
1.0 Columbian Boa?
1.0 Mexican King
2.1 Alterna Gray Bands
2.1 Speckled Kings (1 albino pair)
1.0 Melanistic? California King
1.1 Black Pines
1.0 Red Northern Pine
0.1 Mexican Black King
1.1 Bearded Dragon

This is a post I found on another forum and was wondering if anyone agreed with this theory that they don't need ants and can survive on just UV light and mealworms and crickets.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 8:07 pm Post subject:

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Sorry to be a fly in the ointment but they're not that hard to keep.

When I was a kid, (16) I tried to get as many species of these as I could. I ended up with a coastal, a MtN short horned and a desert or two. The coastal was huge and ate PINKY MICE on a regular basis. All three species ate meal worms and crickets. Anything that moved actually. I only supplemented ants about once a month. I kept them on sand with high heat and "vitalights" they did great for two years. I let them go when I joined the Army.

In 1991 I met Brian Mc Gurdy, he was giving a speech about the coastals that he was researching for some environmental study. He mentioned he had several generations in 4x8' enclosures in his backyard. He only fed them meal worms and crickets. I questioned him about lack of ants and or formic acid. His reply was that he thought the ant thing was bunk and that demise of most captive HL's was lack of UV. His were outdoors. He mentioned the shape and the fact that most are out at high noon.

It makes sense to me. I've had other friends keep them alive for years on non ant diets by allowing natual sunlight for basking.

Perhaps they eat ants bacause ants are abundant and not much else competes for that food sourse. And they fit in the mouth easily. maybe these things are smarter than us!

Ok, now all you research types can refute, just remember, this info is real life experience, not opinion.
chuckl
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1.0 Tiger Retic.
1.0 Columbian Boa?
1.0 Mexican King
2.1 Alterna Gray Bands
2.1 Speckled Kings (1 albino pair)
1.0 Melanistic? California King
1.1 Black Pines
1.0 Red Northern Pine
0.1 Mexican Black King
1.1 Bearded Dragon

It is very nice that you have taken this little guy in. I have recently learned (the hard way) how delicate and difficult these creatures can be. I have automatic shipments set up thru Life Studies, so the ants are at my doorstep. It's somewhere around $20 with shipping a month. They are a little more than you would spend on crickets, but you don't even have to go to the store for them. You can also get them from www.phrynosoma.org and they are supposed to be better. I have been told that mealworms, crickets and waxworms can be fed also, but fact is they NEED ants. I know this post was some time ago, but I have 400 harvester ants (the kind they eat) free for the taking. I can ship them to you. I don't want them to go to waste. My HL is sick and I have more than I can get thru. They have been in the fridge about a 1 1/2 weeks. Since my HL has been sick, I have seen other shipments last at least a month in the fridge. For more info on HLs go to www.phrynosoma.org. Je has given me a ton of advice and she has always been right on. They know what they are talking about!!