i brought my box turtle inside for the winter and while we’ve had a really mild and not very cold past month or two I’ve only been letting the turtle outside for short periods of time before bringing her back inside. Today I went to put her outside and was going to leave her out for the day but I went to move her outside water dish to wash it out real good and leave her with water for the day and underneath was an ant hill. I immediately brought her back indoors because I don’t want to chance her being bitten. My question is how do I get rid of them out of the outdoor enclosure? Normally my husband treats the whole yard for ants and skips treating the turtles area so we don’t accidentally poison her but he didn’t treat over the winter and hasn’t started treating the yard yet this year but since they are in the enclosure what do I do to get rid of them as quickly but safely as possible so I can get her back outside?
Need help with ants
- Thread starter DaniH
- Start date
Yeah, ants are bad this time of year. You said 'bitten' does that mean red ants?
Some people have used diatomaceous earth with good results. Seven dust isn't toxic to tortoises and I have used that. I don't know if it kills them, but they don't like it and they go away. I lifted a feeding tile in my leopard tort table and there were a million ant eggs under there (but these were black, non-biting ants). I covered the eggs with a layer of Seven dust and put the tile back. Next day all the ants were gone and the eggs were starting to shrivel.
For red ant hills outside I make the hole in the top of the hill a little more volcano-like then I pour real poison down slowly into the hole. Then I cover the spot with something heavy that the tortoises can't move.
Here's a bunch of ant remedies that I've accumulated over the years:
1 – Boric Acid
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of Boric Acid, 1 tsp of Sugar, 4 oz water, Cotton Balls.
Mix Boric Acid and Sugar in a bowl. This can be poured over a cotton wad in
a small dish or bottle cap. Keep this from drying out for continued
effectiveness. Place Cotton balls in path of Ants. If the ants are drawn to sugar, if you make a solution of boric acid and sugar, not too much boric acid initially, the ants will eat it up take it to their young and feed it to them. This method will kill the entire nest in about two weeks. The solution should initially be weak because you don't want them to taste the boric acid and you don't want to kill the ants before they feed the rest of the nest. If they are protein eating ants mix the boric acid in broth.
2 – Another Boric Acid
>> 1 teaspoon boric acid (available at any drug store,, $2.99 for 4 oz) 6 tablespoons sugar
>> 2 cups water
>> mix together in a jar till all dissolved,, label and store safely.
>>Soak a few cotton balls with it, then put them in a small, covered plastic >container (margarine or <?>) with a few small openings in it for the ants to >get in, (I also put a brick on top so other curious creatures could not get >in)and then freshen it 1-2 times a week.
>> This is a slow acting 1 percent solution to get them to take some back to
>> the nest and even feed the queen :>
>>after a few weeks changing to a 1/2 percent solution should keep them gone.
3 - bacon grease
....in a margarine tub which is sunk into the ground level. The ants here can smell animal fat from what seems like a mile away...Around the outside of the margarine tub I place a big circle of boric acid...and cover it with a rock. The ants have to walk through the boric acid to get to the bacon grease, then back through it on the way out. If they get back to the nest carrying it on their legs, it kills whatever it comes into contact with. We have 4or 5 species of ants here...two of which are lethal!
4 - Found this in Jerry Bakers stuff
Ant Ambrosia
4-5 tbsp. of cornmeal
3 tbsp. of bacon grease
3 tbsp. of baking powder
3 packages of baker's yeast
Mix the cornmeal and bacon grease into a paste, then add the baking powder and yeast. Dab the gooey mix on the sides of jar lids, and set them near the anthills. The pesky critters will love it to death!!""
5 - If you can't find Everclear, liquefy orange peels and pour it around the ant hills. You may get fruit flies, but you won't have any trouble with ants!
6 - I have a friend that put a circle of diatomaceous earth around her aviaries and
effectively kept the ants out that way. She also uses it to directly attack any hills in the area.
7 - I believe that the "new age chalk" is a combination of diatomaceous earth and boric acid. Boric acid is the major component in "Roach Proof" and is a fairly benign and very effective means of insect control.
8 - Amdro is another effective treatment, but it is an actual poison, but safer than others. Both Amdro and Logic are baits that the ants pick up and take into the mound so that the queen eats it.
9 - (this one's from Tortoise Forum Member, Loni: I had a yard that was half fire ant hill because there were a lot of fruit trees. I used the "erupting volcano" recipe from the kids science fairs. Sprinkle the ant hill liberally with baking soda and then pour concentrated white vinegar (from Home Depot, etc not food grade) on it. The resulting foam is acidic and follows their tunnels into the nest itself and kills them. Then water heavily t
Some people have used diatomaceous earth with good results. Seven dust isn't toxic to tortoises and I have used that. I don't know if it kills them, but they don't like it and they go away. I lifted a feeding tile in my leopard tort table and there were a million ant eggs under there (but these were black, non-biting ants). I covered the eggs with a layer of Seven dust and put the tile back. Next day all the ants were gone and the eggs were starting to shrivel.
For red ant hills outside I make the hole in the top of the hill a little more volcano-like then I pour real poison down slowly into the hole. Then I cover the spot with something heavy that the tortoises can't move.
Here's a bunch of ant remedies that I've accumulated over the years:
1 – Boric Acid
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of Boric Acid, 1 tsp of Sugar, 4 oz water, Cotton Balls.
Mix Boric Acid and Sugar in a bowl. This can be poured over a cotton wad in
a small dish or bottle cap. Keep this from drying out for continued
effectiveness. Place Cotton balls in path of Ants. If the ants are drawn to sugar, if you make a solution of boric acid and sugar, not too much boric acid initially, the ants will eat it up take it to their young and feed it to them. This method will kill the entire nest in about two weeks. The solution should initially be weak because you don't want them to taste the boric acid and you don't want to kill the ants before they feed the rest of the nest. If they are protein eating ants mix the boric acid in broth.
2 – Another Boric Acid
>> 1 teaspoon boric acid (available at any drug store,, $2.99 for 4 oz) 6 tablespoons sugar
>> 2 cups water
>> mix together in a jar till all dissolved,, label and store safely.
>>Soak a few cotton balls with it, then put them in a small, covered plastic >container (margarine or <?>) with a few small openings in it for the ants to >get in, (I also put a brick on top so other curious creatures could not get >in)and then freshen it 1-2 times a week.
>> This is a slow acting 1 percent solution to get them to take some back to
>> the nest and even feed the queen :>
>>after a few weeks changing to a 1/2 percent solution should keep them gone.
3 - bacon grease
....in a margarine tub which is sunk into the ground level. The ants here can smell animal fat from what seems like a mile away...Around the outside of the margarine tub I place a big circle of boric acid...and cover it with a rock. The ants have to walk through the boric acid to get to the bacon grease, then back through it on the way out. If they get back to the nest carrying it on their legs, it kills whatever it comes into contact with. We have 4or 5 species of ants here...two of which are lethal!
4 - Found this in Jerry Bakers stuff
Ant Ambrosia
4-5 tbsp. of cornmeal
3 tbsp. of bacon grease
3 tbsp. of baking powder
3 packages of baker's yeast
Mix the cornmeal and bacon grease into a paste, then add the baking powder and yeast. Dab the gooey mix on the sides of jar lids, and set them near the anthills. The pesky critters will love it to death!!""
5 - If you can't find Everclear, liquefy orange peels and pour it around the ant hills. You may get fruit flies, but you won't have any trouble with ants!
6 - I have a friend that put a circle of diatomaceous earth around her aviaries and
effectively kept the ants out that way. She also uses it to directly attack any hills in the area.
7 - I believe that the "new age chalk" is a combination of diatomaceous earth and boric acid. Boric acid is the major component in "Roach Proof" and is a fairly benign and very effective means of insect control.
8 - Amdro is another effective treatment, but it is an actual poison, but safer than others. Both Amdro and Logic are baits that the ants pick up and take into the mound so that the queen eats it.
9 - (this one's from Tortoise Forum Member, Loni: I had a yard that was half fire ant hill because there were a lot of fruit trees. I used the "erupting volcano" recipe from the kids science fairs. Sprinkle the ant hill liberally with baking soda and then pour concentrated white vinegar (from Home Depot, etc not food grade) on it. The resulting foam is acidic and follows their tunnels into the nest itself and kills them. Then water heavily t
Thank you! I will try some of those.
It’s fire ants which are horrible here in Houston and I’m sure just about everywhere now. It’s a constant battle to make sure they stay out of our yard and with young kids I’m already wary of them in the yard. I hate using normal poison because it keeps the kids from being able to play outside for several days to a couple weeks depending on how long it takes to get rid of them so if these others will work I’m more than willing to try.
It’s fire ants which are horrible here in Houston and I’m sure just about everywhere now. It’s a constant battle to make sure they stay out of our yard and with young kids I’m already wary of them in the yard. I hate using normal poison because it keeps the kids from being able to play outside for several days to a couple weeks depending on how long it takes to get rid of them so if these others will work I’m more than willing to try.
I’ve had luck using borax, google the recipe. You would soak cotton balls in the mixture then put in a jar/container with a lid and poke holes in the top. The ants will go in and take the borax back to their colony. I just rid my kitchen of ants last week doing this. Just be warned using this method that it will get worse before it gets better. Once the ants are onto it they will come out in droves which is what you want. My ants were gone within 24 hours. Good luck!
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I also use jars with ant poison mixed with jelly or whatever else I have around. These make great waterproof and tortoise proof feeders for any and all ants.
I also poisoned the yard.
I have NO fire ants now. And I no longer poison the yard.
They're easy to keep away. Not easy to remove initially.
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I have a slightly different issue. In my case, ants have taken up in the substrate in my juvenile box turtle's indoor enclosure. These are not large or normal-sized ants, they are tiny sugar ants. I am concerned there is a high enough population of ants to bother or even hurt the turtle if the ants were disturbed enough and went swarming (or whatever the right term is).
Further complicating matters is that this is a (partially) bioactive enclosure. There are earthworms and earwigs living in the box turtle's enclosure, as well. The turtle gladly eats both earwigs and earthworms, so I want to make sure that anything I use against the ants does not taint the turtle's food source(s). Any thoughts or ideas?
Further complicating matters is that this is a (partially) bioactive enclosure. There are earthworms and earwigs living in the box turtle's enclosure, as well. The turtle gladly eats both earwigs and earthworms, so I want to make sure that anything I use against the ants does not taint the turtle's food source(s). Any thoughts or ideas?
