Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thought I would write a product review here of sorts.I feed both my HL's a lot of local ants here in michigan, and a few crickets.First, the ants here are not as volatile as some of the warmer areas.One of my favourite ways to catch them is to pat the ant hills here and vacuum the biting ants off my hand,it works great.The one I have found is easily found on E-bay sold by sharper Image.It has a speed control (reostat) on the side.They give ya Two jars/and a narrow and wide tip.Only drawback is that if you want to use rechargeable batteries you need to dissassemble it, and solder some on the contacts where the batteries touch.( some rechargeables don't have as long of an end as throwaways)Crickets are hard to catch by hand, but you can easily catch 50 or so in 5 or 6 min with the vac.Only problem is both of my HL's have bellies that are starting to drag some unless they lift all the way off the sand.One thing thats odd also, is that if I buy a few harvesters,throw them in, they sorta look , hesitate some, grab a few.But, if i throw in 100 or more of the local ants (usually black ones) they run around chasing them and really haveing a good time of it.Some say it stresses them out, they do close there eyes if some crawl on them, but stress,not a chance,they get really agressive,climbing up on there basking rock to get a better look around, then leaping and chasing the ants.Try the bug vac,there about 15 bucks total(uncluding some batteries),and well worth it, I have two now.scott.

HEY-I HAVE BEEN USING A VACUUM FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND HAVE A FEW FRIENDS HOOKED ON IT AS WELL. GO TO WALL MART AND GET A $15.00 HAND HELD RECHARCHAGABLE VACUUM (DIRT DEVIL), AND IT WORKS GREAT JUST NEED TO CLEAN THE FILTER OFF BETWEEN EACH TIME YOU COLLECT A 100 OR SO AS THE FINE DIRT CLOGS THE FILTER AND THEN THE VACUUM DOESN'T SUCK THAT WELL UNLESS THE FILTER IS CLEANED. SO I COLLECT ABOUT A HUNDRED ANTS, THEN OPEN IT UP AND POUR AND SHAKE THEM INTO A TUPPERWARE CONTAINER, BLOW OFF THE FILTER AND THEN REINSTALL IT, AND I USUSALLY CAN COLLECT 500 ANTS IN 10 MINTUES IF IT IS A GOOD ANT PILE. HERE IN TEXAS WE HAVEW A LOT OF ANTS AND BIG PILES AS WELL.
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Phrynosoma.org

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

Well Reptoman spilled the beans on what I thought was my secret weapon! Didn't think anyone else had discovered it yet, hehe. It's Scorpion rechargeable with the flip down 1" crevice tool. My answer to Pogos who don't use a feremone trail/Mark's pill bottle capture method. Works wonders sucking up harvesters from the colony entrance. 2 minutes of operation yields more ants than 20 minutes of the chimpanzee method. The filter can be rinsed and air dried. I use a large funnel to shake contents of the vacuum into a glass jar. This usually includes dirt and small rocks. When I get home, I get a bucket and put another small container in the middle, that the ants can crawl out of. I then pour the ants, dirt, and rocks into the center container. The ants begin to crawl out of the small container and fall into the bucket. And then you have your ants and no debris. ( I find that harvester ants can crawl up a sand sifter pretty good and be on your hand in no time )
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

Who has been stung the most times here?

I've got roughly 50 stings in my career. LOL
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Phrynosoma.Com

I need a vacuum - last night I was just putting my hand around the ant mound and wiping them off my hand - get more this way than just the stick but a little more painful!

That looks like a pretty nice setup! The only thing I might change is to get those lights closer to the cage floor. I usually lay the clamp along the top rim of the tank and let the light descend below the rim. If the tank is too small this can overheat it, but yours looks to be plenty big enough to disipate the heat.
Thanks for the pic!
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Phrynosoma.Com

Given that the Pogo's here don't use feremone trails and I had to gather them before with the chimpanzee method; I should have been stung more times.

Maybe a dozen stings. Less than 20 in 5 years. Really 3 years, subtracting the 2 years I lived in S.E. Texas where there were no Pogo's. Hope to keep it that way!

Actually, I got nipped by a C. atrox ( W. Diamondback ) I was handling last week. It caught the end of my thumb with one of it's rear teeth, giving me a slight envenomation from residual venom in it's mouth. It's mouth was closed so I don't think it cut me with the end of the fang. Anyway, that hurt for a little while. But the next day I was gathering Pogo's and got stung on the same thumb near the knuckle. Guess which hurt worse!?

The Pogo!
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

Dang man! Be careful with them rattlers sir! I was in the petshop the other day and they were talking about crotalus, saying if you keep them it's not "will you get bit, it's when will you get bit."
None for me thanks.
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Phrynosoma.Com

Handled them for years. First time it happened, and you know, this was the only time I can say I wasn't scared when I was holding it. Maybe my grip was too relaxed because I was. She twisted her mouth around on me, but couldn't quite open and get the fangs out. Yeah, sooner or later somethings gonna happen when you mess with "hot stuff". Which is why I stopped keeping them as pets. I just can't resist pulling an Austin Stevens when I'm out herping though.
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

These bug vacuums are also commonly found in Toy's R Us. They generally lack power and capacity for gathering in serious quantity. The Scorpion cordless vacs sold at Wal-Mart are the same price, much more powerful and much more capacity. Only thing I don't like is the lack of a DC charger.

When "some" say that too many ants will stress out the lizard; they are referring to the Harvester ant which has a wasp like sting and is the natural prey of most Horned Lizards species.

A dragging belly is not a good thing, nor is necessarily that the Horned Lizards eat a bunch of what you feed them. They are not likely eating in Michigan what they would be eating in their natural environment, so are dependent on what they are given. Just because they eat much of what you give them does not make it healthy. I got a captive bred box turtle who thinks she should have chocolate ice cream, banana's, and peaches all the time. But ice cream is not a natural food for box turltes, nor is it healthy for them. Nor is too much fruit. Therefore, you cannot dictate what is good to feed to a reptile based on what they go crazy for. A few Iguana's a while back went crazy for some fire flies, and it killed them. Iguana's never see fire flies where they come from...so how were they to know better?

Horned Lizards are not just specialized to eat ants. They are specialized to eat Harvester ants.

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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246