Reptile & Amphibian Forums

2day when i was feeding my boxies i turnd ovr a log iib their place and i saw thatit was covered with ants. i tried to avoid ants by taking the uneaten food out after30mins to an hour but they still came. maybe they like the potting soil and peat moss. idk. are they gunna bother my turtles? any advice on getting rid of them?any help would be greatly appreciated
,

mahalo,

Is your enclosure inside or out? Are your boxies adults, juvies, or hatchlings?

I have juvies and one adult in an outdoor enclosure and see ants everday and they don't seem to bother any of my boxies. They are most prevelant, like you mentioned, after I feed, but they're so interested in cleaning up the boxies' plates, they don't even pay attention to the turtles.

There are threads through this forum that discuss getting rid of ants in outdoor enclousures. You might search and read those. If you have an indoor enclosure, you might want to dump out everything and redo it.

i have a male and female who are both adults. both in a out door pen thats raised above the ground. my female used 2 dig undr a log. she even made herself a nice little burrow. but i noticed that she never used it anymore. so i checked what was up. and it was a whole colony of ants. im not sure if the ants are the reason why she doesnt but she dnt go in her burrow any more

what kind of ants?
I have never policed my pen and there are ants.
I throw the food in at various places and leave it.
Also, every few months I clean the ground (in a new place each time) and dump a worm bin, compost and all to attract bugs for them.
I have never thought they were bugged by the ants.
Maybe I'm missing something.
We have the biting ones now on Maui, but not here.
/p
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Patsy

It will get rid of the ants safely.

Here's a link......

http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html

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Vichris
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane"- Marcus Aurelius

Vichris Variables

That's a great, organic suggestion. Just make sure you don't use it around babies, it might be to rough for their tender skin. Also, only use around where ants are present, because it will kill snails, slugs, and worms, and you don't want your boxies missing out on those!

Actually,it not supposed to harm worms, etc. just insects. It makes cuts in their ecto-skeleton and they dehydrate. It doesn't do that to animals who do not have an outside skeleton.
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

>>Actually,it not supposed to harm worms, etc. just insects. It makes cuts in their ecto-skeleton and they dehydrate. It doesn't do that to animals who do not have an outside skeleton.

hello there, well what do worms have?
I've never thought about it.
They don't have skeletons
What are snakes?
They have skeletons, right?
We don't really have snakes here.
well supposedly./p
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Patsy

Some one with a more scientific bent can explain this in more detail. I'm an elemetary teacher, so my knowledge is more aimed at simple explanations! lol!

An insect has 6 legs, 3 body sections and an external "skeleton". If it doesn't have one of these things it isn't an insect. The skeleton isn't really bones. It's that hard "shell" around the outside of the insect. There are no bones or a hard shell inside the insect's body. If the hard shell is punctured or cut, it doesn't heal up.

A snake is a reptile. A reptile is cold blooded, has a back bone and tough, scaley skin. Reptiles have bones inside their bodies like we do. The outside of a snake is skin, that if punctured or cut, can heal. A turtle is also a reptile. It has bones in it's body. Its backbone is modified to form a shell. (I know, it may not stay classified as a reptile, but I'm trying to keep it simple here! lol!)

A worm is neither a reptile or insect. I don't off hand know where it belongs in the taxonimy, not important. It doesn't have bones. Worms have a hydrostatic skeleton, which essentially is a bag of water, that helps it keep its shape. It moves my contracting its muscles. Their outside is skin. Like our skin, it is elastic and resists cutting. If it is cut, it will heal.

lol! I think that is about a semester's worth of science lessons!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

I could not have explained it better myself.

Bottom line, Diatomaceous Earth won't hurt your turtles, or any other reptiles, birds, mammals, or anything with a backbone, or worms but will kill ants and other insects without the use of harmful chemicals.

Your turtles can even ingest it without harm.
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Vichris
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane"- Marcus Aurelius

Vichris Variables

Whew, glad I got it correct! I'd hate to think I was mis-educating the leaders of tomorrow! lol!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
2.2.0 eastern box turtles
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 adult children
1.0.0 husband

wow. thanks.
I have to wait until tomorrow to read and comprehend.
Today is real hectic.
but it looks pretty straightforward and accessable info.
/p

>>Some one with a more scientific bent can explain this in more detail. I'm an elemetary teacher, so my knowledge is more aimed at simple explanations! lol!
>>
>>An insect has 6 legs, 3 body sections and an external "skeleton". If it doesn't have one of these things it isn't an insect. The skeleton isn't really bones. It's that hard "shell" around the outside of the insect. There are no bones or a hard shell inside the insect's body. If the hard shell is punctured or cut, it doesn't heal up.
>>
>>A snake is a reptile. A reptile is cold blooded, has a back bone and tough, scaley skin. Reptiles have bones inside their bodies like we do. The outside of a snake is skin, that if punctured or cut, can heal. A turtle is also a reptile. It has bones in it's body. Its backbone is modified to form a shell. (I know, it may not stay classified as a reptile, but I'm trying to keep it simple here! lol!)
>>
>>A worm is neither a reptile or insect. I don't off hand know where it belongs in the taxonimy, not important. It doesn't have bones. Worms have a hydrostatic skeleton, which essentially is a bag of water, that helps it keep its shape. It moves my contracting its muscles. Their outside is skin. Like our skin, it is elastic and resists cutting. If it is cut, it will heal.
>>
>>lol! I think that is about a semester's worth of science lessons!
>>-----
>>0.1.0 ornate box turtle
>>1.0.0 eastern box turtle
>>1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
>>0.1.0 Red belly cooter
>>0.1.0 Australian shepard
>>1.11.0 chickens
>>1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
>>3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
>>1.0.0 husband
-----
Patsy

How nice of you to explain at the elementary level.
Honest.
I get it!
I couldn't get it yesterday, because there was so much chaos in my home. HELL, I could barely read it, alone comprehend.
So thank you.
NOw, why is part of a worm able to stay alive...
mahalo, P

>>Some one with a more scientific bent can explain this in more detail. I'm an elemetary teacher, so my knowledge is more aimed at simple explanations! lol!
>>
>>An insect has 6 legs, 3 body sections and an external "skeleton". If it doesn't have one of these things it isn't an insect. The skeleton isn't really bones. It's that hard "shell" around the outside of the insect. There are no bones or a hard shell inside the insect's body. If the hard shell is punctured or cut, it doesn't heal up.
>>
>>A snake is a reptile. A reptile is cold blooded, has a back bone and tough, scaley skin. Reptiles have bones inside their bodies like we do. The outside of a snake is skin, that if punctured or cut, can heal. A turtle is also a reptile. It has bones in it's body. Its backbone is modified to form a shell. (I know, it may not stay classified as a reptile, but I'm trying to keep it simple here! lol!)
>>
>>A worm is neither a reptile or insect. I don't off hand know where it belongs in the taxonimy, not important. It doesn't have bones. Worms have a hydrostatic skeleton, which essentially is a bag of water, that helps it keep its shape. It moves my contracting its muscles. Their outside is skin. Like our skin, it is elastic and resists cutting. If it is cut, it will heal.
>>
>>lol! I think that is about a semester's worth of science lessons!
>>-----
>>0.1.0 ornate box turtle
>>1.0.0 eastern box turtle
>>1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
>>0.1.0 Red belly cooter
>>0.1.0 Australian shepard
>>1.11.0 chickens
>>1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
>>3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
>>1.0.0 husband
-----
Patsy