Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got home and found a TON of little black sugar ants in my king worm supply!! They are everywhere! I moved Chloe and Stitch to a "safe" room and have been vacuuming up the nasty little things! I don't want to spray them, so has anyone had this problem before?? Or does anyone have a nontoxic way to get ride of them?? Looks like they are making a home in my ficus tree and feeding on the the kingworms!! I took both out of the house and they are not in any other room but they are all over this room, what next??? Help this is soooo gross!!!!!
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Feenie

1.1 vieled cham.- Stitch and Chloe
2.2 Canines Junior-pitbull chiuahuah mix, Jose- chiuahuah, Pearl- Staffie, and Daisy- Red nose Pit- foster child
1.0 boyfriend- Trent species unknown

will kill all the ants very quickly and it won't hurt most pets but I would not use it too close to the chams. Maybe just kill the ants by sprinkling it on the floor or where they are then using a vacume or sweep it up. I sprinkle a small amount on the floor around the legs to my stands that the cages sit on so they can't climb up to my chams.
www.mulberryfarms.com sells a chalk or crayon that makes a line that ants will die if they try crossing so you can draw this chalk around furniture legs, make a circle around a cage on the floor ect.

THANKS so much!! I've cleared out the room and thrown out all the plants. They were making homes in them!! I threw out all the kingworms and crickets, so I've been running around like a mad woman all morning trying to replace everything!! I went to the pet store, but no one knew of anything that would be safe for Chloe and Stitch, but I'm going to order a whole damn box of killer crayons. Their cages sit about 4 feet up and the floors are wood, so I think that will work out perfect!! Thanks Again for the hint, I have my little nephew sitting in there with the vaccuum at a rate of 5.00 per hour sucking them up. Don't tell the child labor board!! hahaha.
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Feenie

1.1 vieled cham.- Stitch and Chloe
2.2 Canines Junior-pitbull chiuahuah mix, Jose- chiuahuah, Pearl- Staffie, and Daisy- Red nose Pit- foster child
1.0 boyfriend- Trent species unknown

p.s. they were even in my misting set up!!!! I hate those damn things!!!!
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Feenie

1.1 vieled cham.- Stitch and Chloe
2.2 Canines Junior-pitbull chiuahuah mix, Jose- chiuahuah, Pearl- Staffie, and Daisy- Red nose Pit- foster child
1.0 boyfriend- Trent species unknown

I have a few ants around my cage, is it something to worry about. They arn't in swarms they are maybe 5-10 all together around the area, never see them bite or even get close to cham. Should I get rid of them?

I try to keep them away because I don't want them biting my cham while he sleeps. In FL we have to be careful of fire ants though those are usually outside or on porches, screened in rooms and such.

Ya I would not worry about a few, but my "colony" moved in over night and there was about 5000 of them. I'm not kidding. They were making nests in the flower pots. I just worry because I don't want them to bit me chams either, also they were dismantling the crickets and killing the king worms, and eating the horn worms chow. Major pains!!!!! I think our unusually warm weather woke them up and then they were looking for a warm place too stay with a neverending food supply!!
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Feenie

1.1 vieled cham.- Stitch and Chloe
2.2 Canines Junior-pitbull chiuahuah mix, Jose- chiuahuah, Pearl- Staffie, and Daisy- Red nose Pit- foster child
1.0 boyfriend- Trent species unknown

WoW...all those pets in a new york apt?? Must be quite cozy
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Raf

1.0 Jacksons baby (Frankie)
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.3 Bearded Dragons (Diego, Ginger, Baby and Georgia)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

hmmmm....I'd be real careful with Sevin dust- it is a poison. Just make sure that if you do use it you clean anything that may come in contact with your chams. This came up once before so I have a site on hand
householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=19022001
the main ingredient is Carbaryl which is toxic to the nervous system.

Once you get rid of them I know there have been many posts on how to avoid them in the setup: vaseline around the legs of the cage, etc. You may find some other tips if you do a search here - probably a search fro ANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! will do the trick b/c that's what most folks put as the subject! lol!

I DO sympathize with you though - they can be a [bleep] to get rid of; boric acid will kill them if you can safely put a barrier on the ground near the cgae(?) just make sure no kids or animals can get to it - good luck!!!

>>will kill all the ants very quickly and it won't hurt most pets but I would not use it too close to the chams. Maybe just kill the ants by sprinkling it on the floor or where they are then using a vacume or sweep it up. I sprinkle a small amount on the floor around the legs to my stands that the cages sit on so they can't climb up to my chams.
>>www.mulberryfarms.com sells a chalk or crayon that makes a line that ants will die if they try crossing so you can draw this chalk around furniture legs, make a circle around a cage on the floor ect.
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
?.? Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula (no name yet)