Larvae and Ants

[Nate1224]

I was just about to change my torts substrate and when I took his wooden play thing out there was ants and larvae or maggots underneath it. I’ve cleaned them out and I’m changing the substrate and washing everything. Will my tort be ok? Is there anything I can do to keep the larvae and ants away?

 

[Tom]

I was just about to change my torts substrate and when I took his wooden play thing out there was ants and larvae or maggots underneath it. I’ve cleaned them out and I’m changing the substrate and washing everything. Will my tort be ok? Is there anything I can do to keep the larvae and ants away?

Find out where they are coming from and put out Boric acid based ant baits for them. These are relatively safe for kids and other pets, but deadly to ant colonies. Don't remove or kills the ants once they find your bait. Let them swarm it and go crazy. They will tank up on it and carry it back underground to kill the whole colony that you cannot get to any other way.

 

[Yvonne G]

The little white things were probably eggs. You uncovered a nest. What I do when I find an ant nest is get my shop vac and vacuum up the whole section of them, substrate and all. I always keep those ant baits Tom spoke about around in safe places (away from the tortoises) around the enclosures and in the sheds.

 

[Nate1224]

Find out where they are coming from and put out Boric acid based ant baits for them. These are relatively safe for kids and other pets, but deadly to ant colonies. Don't remove or kills the ants once they find your bait. Let them swarm it and go crazy. They will tank up on it and carry it back underground to kill the whole colony that you cannot get to any other way.

I’ve got rid of them, I think they came in the bark I got, I switched to coco coir yesterday when I found them anyway. I’ll set down some ant baits, thanks for helping!