Ants in Sulcata Enclosure

[marinaresident]

Hi All,
It turns out that I won’t be able to put my two hatchlings Hemet and Murrieta in their temporary outdoor enclosure this weekend... As you can see in the attached photo, there are strawberry bushes. I recently discovered that there are common household ants all over the strawberry bushes. I’ve poured boiling water onto the bushes where the ants are but the ants are still appearing. I was thinking about making homemade bait of borax, peanut butter and honey on a small saucer and place it near the strawberry bushes. What do you think? Is there better and safer way about killing the ants? Please help.



Thanks,
Marcel

 

[Len B]

If they are just ants (not fire) I wouldn't worry about them I have never seen ants bother a tortoise.If they are on the strawberries they are the kind that like sugar. Len

 

[DixieParadise]

Peppermint oil and salt. Or just add 15 drops peppermint oil to water and spray around enclosure. That should remedy the ants. I do this in the house around my baseboards....Tabasco and water work for spiders as well.

You can probably google and get a better recipe for it...

 

[RV's mom]

If it bites me, I take care of it. If it leaves me alone, it should leave the tort alone as well. If these are simply sugar ants, I don't see a problem - but watch for fire ants if you have them in your area...

good luck

teri

 

[dmarcus]

I am in agreement with Len, Vegas has ants in his outside enclosure but they are small and don't bother him so I leave them alone, but if you want to get rid of them you can use Terro liquid ant bait and Tom talks about it in a thread. i put the link below..

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Ant-Solution#axzz1OAHjzyOP

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Another option is uncooked grits (but not "instant grits"). This is VERY effective on fire ants, yet is perfectly Earth-friendly.

Presumably would be good on other types of ants, as well, but, otoh, if the ants ignore your tortoises, why not leave 'em alome?