Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, my greek tortoise, Spartacus WAS enjoying his outdoor enclosure until about a week and a half ago when I came home from work and there were ants all over his food! Luckily, Sparty had burrowed down in the dirt at the opposite end of the enclosure by then, but who knows how long the ants were there? I hate the thought of him going over to snack and finding the ants!

I think what attracted them was the Mazuri. I haven't had any problems on days when I feed him only greens. There was a huge trail of ants, so I removed Sparty, brought him inside and sprayed the trail with ant spray. I realize now this was probably not a wise decision. That said, when would it be safe to put him back in the enclosure? I have saturated the dirt and walls with water twice, and it has been 10 days since I sprayed the ant poison. Any ideas?

Also, given that I work 8 - 5 during the week, does anyone have any suggestions for keeping the ants away (other than not feeding Mazuri any more)? Will ants be attracted to the greens alone?

Thanks.
Kate

Ant Control Recipe:

Most can be controlled with a sugar/boric acid combination.
The following is a recipe:

1 teaspoon boric acid (available at any drug store- $2.99 for 4 oz)
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups water
mix together in a jar till all dissolved,, label and store safely
soak a few cotton balls with it
put in a small plastic container (margarine or

Ant Control Recipe:

Most can be controlled with a sugar/boric acid combination.
The following is a recipe:

1 teaspoon boric acid (available at any drug store- $2.99 for 4 oz)
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups water
mix together in a jar till all dissolved,, label and store safely
soak a few cotton balls with it
put in a small plastic container (margarine or

? freshen it 1-2 times a
week)
with a few small openings in it for them to get in,, I also put a brick on
top so other curious creatures could not get in..
This is a slow acting 1 percent solution to get them to take some back to the
nest and even feed the queen :> after a few weeks changing to a 1/2 percent
should keep them gone.

Thanks for the info! Do you place the margarine tub or just the cotton balls outside the enclosure (or inside)?

Kate

Hi. You put the cotton balls in the margerine tub and put VERY small (an sized) holes in the top then put it inside and outside the enclosure but make sure the torts cannot get into it or they will get sick and (im not positive but) die

I've encountered the same problem.

Ants like any kind of pelleted food. Mazuri, Repcal dragon or iguana pellets. The also like the canned dog food I sometimes feed my box turtles. Anything sweet or smelly.

And the ants seem to ignore the greens.

So what I do is this:

1) If I need to put food in for the torts to eat but can't wait for them to eat it, I feed them greens and weeds.

2) If I want to give them Mazuri/pellets/etc, I have to find a time when I can give it to them and make sure they eat it before the ants attack.

This works well for me because I rarely feed the Mazuri to them more than once a week, and I can wait until the weekend when I have more time to stand around.

I have noticed that the ants I have around here only go for the food and leave the torts and turtles alone. If I turn over the large rocks in the tort pen I find ant colonies. I may try to nuke 'em over the winter while my creatures are indoors.

What is the exact poison that was used. I would be a bit apprehensive about putting the animal back in too quickly. You need to first find out what the toxin was and the properties of it (like how long it is effect etc.-oilbased waterbase? that sort of thing) I imagine it cannot stay in the soil forever but I am no expert where anything like this is concerned. I have so many animals in enclosures that I really avoid all this stuff as much as possible.

Well, I don't know if this helps, but it was Raid Ant spray. I'll have to look at the can when I get home. I'll call the company and see if they have a recommendation.

I wish I could go back in time and take back my actions! : (

Kate