New 8ftx4ftx2ft ant resistant enclosure

[AustinASU]

So for those of you who know about fire ants, you all know they are the spawn of satan when it comes to tortoises. Living in Texas it's next to impossible to get rid of these things.....soo how do we keep the ants away from tortoises. Well one, use boric acid.....it works....but after a ran you better hope you can put a defensive barrier back up ASAP....highly unpractical. So this is my plan, 8ftx4ftx2ft wood enclosure raised up on cinderblocks. To keep the ants from climbing up i will cover the base of cinderblocks with petroleum....vasoline...axil greese works all the same, but make sure its all the way around. Im then coating the entire thing in outdoor latex paint as well as sealing all nooks and crevices with silicon. I will then put a fish pond liner in to line the entire bottom. To keep the soil aerated for plant growth I will drill a hole in the bottom and insert a 1inch bulkhead. To keep the water coming out effectively i will screen the bulkdhead off and cover this area with a expanded shale. For the final layers I will add about 6-8in of organic soil/dirt mix. As for the tortoise hide, I will be installing a 150watt ceramic heat bulb. As for the interior I plan on using Velcro reptiturf for easy clean. As for planting i plan to grow a mixture of grass and Hibiscus. Also for water, I plan to incorporate a small scale aquaponic waterfall system.....(no fish, will run off tortoise urates ...will be cleaned frequently. (stay tuned for this small project). Here is what i've done today, and yes I literally have built all of this from scratch today ( most ideas came from pictures i've seen on google over the years). This is about 90% done at this point, I plan on insulating the tortoise hide to make it durable for winter time.

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Take note all the materials is less than $200

 

[Tom]

I think that is going to get way too hot in the Texas summer sun. Probably work great for the rest of the year. I have experienced those fire ants first hand a few times. No thank you! Our big red ants are a pain in the rear sometimes, but they are nothing compared to Texas fire ants!

 

[AustinASU]

Yeah it will get hot in the summer and I dont plan on keeping them out there in the summer days, if i do it'll be from evening to early morning then back inside. I think with the grass grown in and the aquaponic pool, I feel that it will tremendously cool it down. Last year i left my leos in the greenhouse in the summer and they did great even in the 100F. But i had an earthened hide that read ground temps around 78F so it worked really well.

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And yes the fire ants that are in my area are originally from brazil/argentina......i've seen them attack and kill a full grown RES female (14in long) while she was laying her eggs on the lake bank of my backyard.....needless to say within 24hrs all that was left was a shell and bones.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

And yes the fire ants that are in my area are originally from brazil/argentina......i've seen them attack and kill a full grown RES female (14in long) while she was laying her eggs on the lake bank of my backyard.....needless to say within 24hrs all that was left was a shell and bones.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I'm am freaked out by this.

Note to self: NEVER go to TEXAS!!!

 

[AustinASU]

Haha it's no joke, east texas doesn't have the fire ant problem like central and west texas does (i'm west texas). Thats why it's been a nightmare trying to figure out how to build the right enclosure....if you build one on the ground you need to have at least 2-3ft of solid concrete poured around the perimeter so that they dont build their colony up and under into the enclosure. Also placing a metal rim around the the top helps as the texas sun will heat the crap out of it and the ants will not come anywhere close to hot metal. It's kind of a science. But luckily in a year i'll be moving to pensacola and i'm bringing this along with me.....fyi this thing is freaking heavy to move but i somehow moved it by myself onto my truck and then off onto cinderblocks.

 

[ellen]

Heather - Imported Fire Ants were introduced on a South American cargo ship on accident in the 1930's. They're all over the US now, including Southern California. This is a map showing where there are quarantines set up for exporting anything that might contain the ants. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/fireants/downloads/fireant.pdf

They're scary because they're highly aggressive and have flesh necrotizing venom which is delivered by hundreds of ants stinging their victim in unison. They're like normal ants on steroids. There's an episode about them on a TV show called Infested! on Animal Planet. The family in question had them take over their house. They eventually moved out because it would cost more than the house was worth to remove them.

On the original topic, I love the design idea! I use vaseline to keep ants away from my hummingbird feeders. My babies still live inside so I haven't tried this for myself yet, but I've heard about diatomaceous earth being used to prevent red ants from going near tortoises. I think I read about it somewhere on here, in fact. Have you ever tried it? I'd assume it would work on fire ants, but I would hate to be the one testing it out on them...That would involve being near them...

 

[AustinASU]

Thanks for bringing that up ellen, I think I'll add diatomaceous earth around the base of cinderblocks as well to help keep away the ants. Haha yeah vaseline does the job well but tends to dry fast, so i'm going to try axel grease that you use on tractor equipment to cover the base bottoms.....no ant will cross that stuff and it takes years to dry out.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Heather - Imported Fire Ants were introduced on a South American cargo ship on accident in the 1930's. They're all over the US now, including Southern California.

...well thanks alot!

I'll have you to thank for my nightmares tonight... "shiver"

I have never seen one of these, and PRAY I never do!!

 

[AustinASU]

I'll take some pictures of the ants that are found in my yard just to show you the chaos I deal with.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Now Im scared. If i see pics, or google info about them right now I really WILL have nightmares!! (It's late at night)

There is a reason I don't watch shows like that "infested" or ..boy I dont even know the names of them, the shows where people touch or eat creepy things for money??.

I'll take some pictures of the ants that are found in my yard just to show you the chaos I deal with.

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sorry to derail your thread with my human eating red ant fear

back to talking about his enclosure!!

 

[AustinASU]

Hahaha Team Gomberg you crack me up. The waterfall idea is coming into plan already all I can reveal at the moment is that PVC board will be the main material ( found at your local lowes).

 

[AustinASU]

Was going to begin painting today, but rain is in the forecast......maybe i should paint more

 

[jaizei]

Try using an essential oil in place of the vaseline. Like peppermint oil, a few drops in a spray bottle of water. Should work.

 

[lynnedit]

Or both! Eeek.

 

[wellington]

Just looked them up. They make me happy to have cold, snowy winters. I read they wouldn't be able to survive them. I will keep my snow, you guys keep your ants there. I want my tort to be able to graze on the grass, not above in. Thanks for at least one reason to be thankful for cold winters

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I just read another article that talcum powder repels fire ants. Might try that too, just as an added precaution.

 

[AustinASU]

lols ants wont survive with all of these mixtures lols!!!

 

[russianhenry]

We had a full enclosure built for Lola(thankfully hadnt moved her out yet) when after a rain, my dad discovered we had built it over a huge fire ant pile... waste of an enclosure. Looks like Lola will have to stay inside That and the fact that it just gets too hot in San Antonio for her to be outside all the time.

 

[tortadise]

Wow sounds like your ant problem is bad. I find a mound here an there. Only during fall and spring transitions where it gets cold. Ive noticed they cant handle moist earth. In the one area of my greenhouse where some of my leopards are. If you have an irrigation system just run it more often. They will eventually migrate somewhere else.

Enclosure looks good.

 

[AustinASU]

Yeah they are horrible here, but having e lake in the backyard doesn't help the situation at all. I'll try the irrigation method. I haven't had time to finish it all but it'll be done soon.

 

[Raeanncarr1]

I like it