ANTS and the Outdoor Enclosure Invasion! Now premiering!

[Future4Animals]

Hopefully that got you attention. Thanks for taking a look here are my dilemma. I have to side by side enclosures that have ants crawling through them and snacking on my tortoises' meals. Plus, there are like 3 different types of ants making their way in for the food. I have 16 inch wood sides like you find in a raised bed setup on two sides and 6 foot tall cinder block wall on the other two sides. I have been avoiding spraying any type of ant/bug spray anywhere near the enclosures. Any natural solutions or non-natural solutions that people could recommend?

 

[Megatron's Mom]

Regular ants I don't worry about. But you can try food grade diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle it around the outside perimeter of to enclosures. You can also move the food to a different spot. It will work for a bit until they find it again.

 

[Tom]

Hopefully that got you attention. Thanks for taking a look here are my dilemma. I have to side by side enclosures that have ants crawling through them and snacking on my tortoises' meals. Plus, there are like 3 different types of ants making their way in for the food. I have 16 inch wood sides like you find in a raised bed setup on two sides and 6 foot tall cinder block wall on the other two sides. I have been avoiding spraying any type of ant/bug spray anywhere near the enclosures. Any natural solutions or non-natural solutions that people could recommend?

I have two methods that work. You should employ both.

1. Terro ant baits. These are just sugar water and boric acid. Relatively safe. I place them where the tortoises can't get to them. You have to let the ants swarm them and carry the good stuff back to the colony. They work great in our dry climate because the ants want the water.
2. Amdro ant granules. These are a toxic pesticide, so don't let your tortoise have direct access to them. Don't follow the directions on the package that tell you to scatter it every where. That doesn't work. Instead pour a little pile of it right in to the entrance to any ant hill you can find anywhere on or near your whole property, This one works great on the big and small red ants, and the big black ants too. If the ant hill in inside your enclosure, pour the granules on and then use a metal basket, or something like that, and some tent stakes to cover it and prevent your tortoise from reaching the granules. Within and hour or two, the ants will carry the product underground to the colony. Large colonies will mostly die off, but sometimes you will see a small resurgence about 3 or 4 feet away after a few days. Hit 'em again, and there won't be a third coming.

Megatron's Mom is awesome and I love her, but I've tried diatomaceous earth and it does absolutely nothing to the ants here. Repeated applications over weeks did nothing. Also, you should be worried about "regular" ants. Those will kill a resting tortoise at night, just as well as any other ant. I have an empty Russian tortoise shell to prove it.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

If you can find the nest, you can try pouring boiling water in. This has worked for me in small fire ant nests.

 

[Megatron's Mom]

I have two methods that work. You should employ both.

1. Terro ant baits. These are just sugar water and boric acid. Relatively safe. I place them where the tortoises can't get to them. You have to let the ants swarm them and carry the good stuff back to the colony. They work great in our dry climate because the ants want the water.
2. Amdro ant granules. These are a toxic pesticide, so don't let your tortoise have direct access to them. Don't follow the directions on the package that tell you to scatter it every where. That doesn't work. Instead pour a little pile of it right in to the entrance to any ant hill you can find anywhere on or near your whole property, This one works great on the big and small red ants, and the big black ants too. If the ant hill in inside your enclosure, pour the granules on and then use a metal basket, or something like that, and some tent stakes to cover it and prevent your tortoise from reaching the granules. Within and hour or two, the ants will carry the product underground to the colony. Large colonies will mostly die off, but sometimes you will see a small resurgence about 3 or 4 feet away after a few days. Hit 'em again, and there won't be a third coming.

Megatron's Mom is awesome and I love her, but I've tried diatomaceous earth and it does absolutely nothing to the ants here. Repeated applications over weeks did nothing. Also, you should be worried about "regular" ants. Those will kill a resting tortoise at night, just as well as any other ant. I have an empty Russian tortoise shell to prove it.

I guess I've been lucky. I've used DE around my chicken coop for years with pretty good results with regular ants. Now fire ants that's a whole different ball game. Luckily my tortoise enclosure is where we have heavy clay and it seems the fire ants don't like clay. I'll be more watchful with all ants by the tortoises though. Can't be to careful.

 

[Pattjunior]

Hopefully that got you attention. Thanks for taking a look here are my dilemma. I have to side by side enclosures that have ants crawling through them and snacking on my tortoises' meals. Plus, there are like 3 different types of ants making their way in for the food. I have 16 inch wood sides like you find in a raised bed setup on two sides and 6 foot tall cinder block wall on the other two sides. I have been avoiding spraying any type of ant/bug spray anywhere near the enclosures. Any natural solutions or non-natural solutions that people could recommend?

Dawn Dish soap, is what I use inside the enclosure. Then I just make sure to rinse it out good.

 

[Tom]

Dawn Dish soap, is what I use inside the enclosure. Then I just make sure to rinse it out good.

How does one use Dawn to get rid of ants? Do you dilute it? Where do you pour it? How do you rinse it out of an outdoor dirt enclosure?

 

[Pattjunior]

How does one use Dawn to get rid of ants? Do you dilute it? Where do you pour it? How do you rinse it out of an outdoor dirt enclosure?

If I see the mound I pour it on the mound and then spray it with the hose. I have a bottle I use with equal parts water and soap. It penetrates their exoskeleton and suffocates them. Outside I just spray the ground till it stops foaming up.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I have two methods that work. You should employ both.

1. Terro ant baits. These are just sugar water and boric acid. Relatively safe. I place them where the tortoises can't get to them. You have to let the ants swarm them and carry the good stuff back to the colony. They work great in our dry climate because the ants want the water.
2. Amdro ant granules. These are a toxic pesticide, so don't let your tortoise have direct access to them. Don't follow the directions on the package that tell you to scatter it every where. That doesn't work. Instead pour a little pile of it right in to the entrance to any ant hill you can find anywhere on or near your whole property, This one works great on the big and small red ants, and the big black ants too. If the ant hill in inside your enclosure, pour the granules on and then use a metal basket, or something like that, and some tent stakes to cover it and prevent your tortoise from reaching the granules. Within and hour or two, the ants will carry the product underground to the colony. Large colonies will mostly die off, but sometimes you will see a small resurgence about 3 or 4 feet away after a few days. Hit 'em again, and there won't be a third coming.

Megatron's Mom is awesome and I love her, but I've tried diatomaceous earth and it does absolutely nothing to the ants here. Repeated applications over weeks did nothing. Also, you should be worried about "regular" ants. Those will kill a resting tortoise at night, just as well as any other ant. I have an empty Russian tortoise shell to prove it.

You know I love you Tom, however, just because it didn't work for you doesn't mean it won't work for everyone. I have and do use diatomaceous earth inside and out. I had black ants coming into my house and climbing up to my numerous bird cages water dishes. A light dusting of the white stuff and gone, I had ants in my tort shed eating leafy tort food and they really were in comptition with the tort for food! Anyhow, a dusting outside around the shed...ants gone. Diatomaceous earth worked for me and I do recommend it.

 

[Tom]

If I see the mound I pour it on the mound and then spray it with the hose. I have a bottle I use with equal parts water and soap. It penetrates their exoskeleton and suffocates them. Outside I just spray the ground till it stops foaming up.

Thank you for elaborating. I'll give that try here and see how it works.

 

[Tom]

You know I love you Tom, however, just because it didn't work for you doesn't mean it won't work for everyone. I have and do use diatomaceous earth inside and out. I had black ants coming into my house and climbing up to my numerous bird cages water dishes. A light dusting of the white stuff and gone, I had ants in my tort shed eating leafy tort food and they really were in comptition with the tort for food! Anyhow, a dusting outside around the shed...ants gone. Diatomaceous earth worked for me and I do recommend it.

I wonder if it requires humidity to work? Everyone who says it works is in a more humid climate.

Is there anyone out there in a dry climate that has had success with DE treating ants?