Ants in Viv???

[discojan]

Hi all,

Spring is coming on strong in KY and the ants in our kitchen are back with a vengeance--I've even spotted a few in our girlz' vivs. Obviously I take them out as soon as I see them, and we're trying to get the problem in our house under control--but I"m worried about the best way to do this. I know the ants themselves are poisonous t beardies. But if we lay traps with ant poison inside them, and for some reason, it doesn't work, I'm worried about the ants eating the poison, entering the vivs when we can't see, and our girlz eating the poisoned ants.

Is there a beardie safe way to get rid of the ants? Or should we lay the traps and hope for the best. The girlz's vivs are in the room adjacent to the kitchen, so the ants are moving from one place to the next.

Any advice/insight would be greatly appreciated.

A worried lizard momma,
Jan

 

[wckdbtch]

I had the same problem a while ago, and had mixed results with both vinegar and borax. I washed the floors and skirting boards with neat vinegar and wiped down the vivs inside and out with a mix of 50% water and 50% vinegar. It worked well for a while (maybe two days) and then I had to repeat the process. I had better results with sprinkling borax around the walls of the room and it lasted a little longer.

 

[HeatherSullivan]

What part of KY? I'm in northern TN and having the SAME PROBLEM!!! They hadn't quit got in to the boy's tanks yet, but I know its coming...I used to put a cup of sugar water on the counter and the ants would drown themselves...But I've got traps as well. The traps I have dont kill the ant quickly. It allows them to take the poison back to the hill so that the whole colony will be wiped out. Thats why they don't die instantly.

 

[discojan]

Thanks for the responses. I remembered that borax was anti-ant, but wasn't sure if it is also anti-beardie. Heather, we're here in Lexington, KY, waiting for it to get warm enough to take the girlz outside!

 

[ziggy23]

Make sure you clean the area where they have been especially if you notice them on the outside of the viv. They get around by following each other's scent trails. You destroy that scent and they're lost and have to find the way in all over again. It's not killing them of course, but it slows them down considerably. You don't have to do a full cleaning, just wiping it down real quick will do.

 

[discojan]

Would steaming the cage kill the trail? We have a steamer that we bought when Salsa was fighting coccidia, and it's pretty efficient. Thanks!