Fire Ants

[tczar]

Moving to central Texas soon where they have fire ants. Anyone have problems with them and adult sulcatas?

 

[WillTort2]

Some one on the forum had designed an elevated platform with coated legs or legs sitting in buckets of water to avoid fire ant intrusion.

 

[SpdTrtl]

Some one on the forum had designed an elevated platform with coated legs or legs sitting in buckets of water to avoid fire ant intrusion.

Oh I would love to see that!!!

 

[WillTort2]

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-23380.html

This link helps prevent or destroy ant intrusion.

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http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-68311.html

Here's the raised platform. It would need to be enlarged for sullys.

Other ideas would involve an island with a moat.

 

[AustinASU]

It really depends for larger sullys on how big the yard is, if it's at least 14inches in shell diameter he should be able to get out of the way fast enough as long as the yards big enough for him to escape. Your torts will get stung by the ants it's just a matter of time, it's the little guys 8in and smaller you got to worry about as they will swarm these guys to death. What part of central Texas are you moving to?

 

[tczar]

It really depends for larger sullys on how big the yard is, if it's at least 14inches in shell diameter he should be able to get out of the way fast enough as long as the yards big enough for him to escape. Your torts will get stung by the ants it's just a matter of time, it's the little guys 8in and smaller you got to worry about as they will swarm these guys to death. What part of central Texas are you moving to?

Actually north texas, dallas area.

 

[J REED]

Im worried about the fireants here in Alabama as well...

Jeremy

 

[tschetterb]

Last summer my tort had one bite his eye. The ant died at some point during the process of being rubbed off, but it stayed attached to the eyeball and I had to put the tort under the kitchen sink, water at full pressure on the eyeball, to get the dumb thing off. Other than that I've had no problems.

 

[Vickie]

Oh I feel for you. I lived in FL for a few yrs after I turned an adult and one thing I will always remember are those darn fire ants.....such a pain in more ways then one. Can anyone tell me are fire ants deterred by chalk as "normal" norther ants? Outside I put a chalk mark around our dog dishes while outside working and the ants won't cross it. However, when I don't within minutes the food is covered with them.

 

[diamondbp]

I live in south Louisiana and my adult and sub adult sullies have no issues with the ants. But my brother made a mistake of leaving his hatchling to close to an ant pile and it was found dead covered in ants. Whether its death was due to the ants is uncertain, it's still a risk for young sullies below 5 inches.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Here in the wet and rainy PNW, we don't get fire ants. The ants we do get build elevated mounds like the termites of African plains. These mounds can be upto 12" tall. If you scrape at the top few inches, you expose the tunnels. I think they build them elevated to keep from getting flooded.

I've heard of people putting grits or cream of wheat on the mounds and that this kills the fire ant colony, but I have no personal experience.

 

[AustinASU]

The major thing is after it rains is when the fireants come out like crazy. The best thing to do is feed them grits and they will die. But when it's dry their numbers are small so you don't have to worry as much.....also the moat idea would be perfect.

 

[sunshine_hugs]

This might be a crazy question, but will grits hurt the tortoises?
We have fireants, and are headed into rainy season...I'm really worried about my torts. Every time I put food down in their pen, the ants seem to find it in seconds. I've been switching around the feeding spots because of the ants (not all fireants).

 

[AustinASU]

No grits will not harm a tortoise.

 

[tortadise]

Never had an issue with them in the dallas area. When i see a mount. I just dig it up put it in a buckrt with a trash bag and chuck it in a dumpster. Then use toilet bowl cleaner and refill the hole where they were that i dug up. Never had any problems.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

The major thing is after it rains is when the fireants come out like crazy. The best thing to do is feed them grits and they will die. But when it's dry their numbers are small so you don't have to worry as much.....also the moat idea would be perfect.

2nd this, but not "instant" grits...they're not very effective. Regular grits.

This might be a crazy question, but will grits hurt the tortoises?
We have fireants, and are headed into rainy season...I'm really worried about my torts. Every time I put food down in their pen, the ants seem to find it in seconds. I've been switching around the feeding spots because of the ants (not all fireants).

Nope, grits are harmless.