Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I live in Southern California, and the past week we have had an unusual amount of rain for this time of year. With the rain, my snake cages have been invaded by Ants drinking water (mostly), but I'm sure looking for anything they can eat, etc.
The amount of Ants varies from a couple to 30-40ish per cage. They don't seem to bother the snakes, but they are driving me crazy. My tanks are very clean, as I look for waste daily, but am at a loss for what would be the best way to get rid of these things.

Any ideas would greatly be appreciated!

Thank you,

Kerry

Try removing the water bowls for a week or so (as long as you have snakes that can be fine with that.) The ants may still be there for a few days following the scent trail, but very often they become disinterested when the cages are dry. Also, replace the bedding. Good luck. So Cal is one big ant farm.
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Mark G

Assorted rosy boas, some annulata. That's it.

Run a chalk line around the perimeter of the area you maintain your snakes, as ants are fastidious creatures and will normally avoid such areas.

Best regards,

Jeff

I had a similar problem with ants in my reptile room. They were mainly there to feed on the lettuce bits in my dragons' cage. Anyways, there are a number of things you can do. I was told to use vaseline. I put a ring of vaseline around the base of my setups and it worked. Its kind of a pain though. I've also heard Cayenne pepper does the trick. however, if you use cayenne pepper you gotta make sure it goes nowhere near the openings of your tanks.

Thanks for the great feedback! I have already taken the water out of the cages, hoping this will do the trick! Ifnot, I will have to look into my drastic measures....

Thank you again,

Kerry

While I'm not certain what species you are keeping, certain animals will become dehydrated quickly and incur chronic renal problems within a short time period.
I know most Drymarchon spp. begin to feel the effects of dehydration after only two days without water.

Jeff