Ants, HELP

[rostykochergen]

Hi everyone,

I just discovered ants in my outdoor tortoise table... ahhhhggggg. I hate ants and they were all in the soil/food.

what if a different substrate I can use that won’t attract ants like soil/eco earth will?

I was thinking something like chips...or cypress mulch?
Thanks!
Rosty

 

[Yvonne G]

It's not the substrate that attracts ants, it's food and water. For example, last night I ate my bowl of French Vanilla ice cream and set the empty bowl on the tv table next to me. An hour later I turned off the tv, grabbed the bowl and started for the kitchen. After two steps I realized my arm was covered with ants. My empty bowl attracted them from OUTSIDE in just an hour!

We have several threads showing how to get rid of ants. You can find them easily by using the 'search' feature.

 

[TortCrush]

I have noticed a few posts on ants and wanted to share how we have been treating for them. Again, not sure it is an optimum solution but wanted to share our experience with it. We use nontoxic dish soap (Dr. B’s castile or EcoMe) in a 1% solution. For direct application from a pump sprayer or bucket, use 2 tsp per 32 oz of water. For application through a power washer, use a premix of 1/2 cup per 32 oz of water. The soap does not kill plants or grass and is nontoxic, especially when diluted to 1%. We bucket treat nests and spray 6’ out from the house with a power sprayer. We used to have all kinds of ants; small, large, black, red; those attracted to sweets, fats, proteins, and even coffee. But we have not had any ants since doing this.