Ants as a cleanup crew?

[chamimom]

Hey, Everyone. So I am putting this in enclosures, because I thought it was more fitting since I am asking about ants as a cleanup crew rather than food. In my male's enclosure, I saw a few ants in his soil at the bottom carrying pieces of his skin shed, lol. I am wondering if it is okay to leave them in as long as I put things in the bottom for them to eat--things that would not hurt my cham if he got to them first, of course. They aren't up in the plant pots or anything, and I've been watching Ants Canada on You Tube. It seems as long as they have a supply of everything they need, they will leave alone what you don't want them to go after for the most part. I haven't seen anyone ask this unless I'm missing it somewhere. I know they probably won't eat the poop. I remove that daily when I see it anyways. Any thoughts or knowledge to share on this?

 

[Beman]

Not something I would have in my cage for the simple fact that some ants can be more aggressive than others. A sleeping chameleon can be an easy target for insects.

@jamest0o0 would have better feedback than I would. I have tagged him.

 

[chamimom]

Okay, thanks, so much. I believe what I have to be marauder ants. I am working on doing more research into it.

 

[jamest0o0]

species will definitely matter(a marauder ant doesn’t sound friendly based on the name haha), but there’s a few reasons it might be a bad idea…

- If you had an ant nest in the soil, no matter the species, they will aggressively defend their nest. So if disturbed, your chameleon could be swarmed.
-Even if they’re not aggressive, they can be a nuisance crawling all over things… I’ve dealt with this. Never hurt my chams, but the chams weren’t exactly at ease about them being everywhere.
-Depending on species, they could wipe out the beneficial critters in your soil.
-They(species specific again) could transport plant pests to your plants in order to ‘farm’ their honeydew excretions.

Pros: ants can keep away termites(sorry I just love throwing this out since I learned about it lol) .

So a few lone ants in your enclosure might not be a big deal, you don’t want a nest in there or too many of them to either annoy or hurt your Cham(if they’re of a dangerous variety).

 

[chamimom]

species will definitely matter(a marauder ant doesn’t sound friendly based on the name haha), but there’s a few reasons it might be a bad idea…

- If you had an ant nest in the soil, no matter the species, they will aggressively defend their nest. So if disturbed, your chameleon could be swarmed.
-Even if they’re not aggressive, they can be a nuisance crawling all over things… I’ve dealt with this. Never hurt my chams, but the chams weren’t exactly at ease about them being everywhere.
-Depending on species, they could wipe out the beneficial critters in your soil.
-They(species specific again) could transport plant pests to your plants in order to ‘farm’ their honeydew excretions.

Pros: ants can keep away termites(sorry I just love throwing this out since I learned about it lol) .

So a few lone ants in your enclosure might not be a big deal, you don’t want a nest in there or too many of them to either annoy or hurt your Cham(if they’re of a dangerous variety).

Okay, thank you very much, James. So are I have only seen a few, and I think they are just trying to carry the shed pieces out of the enclosure to wherever. I will be watchful to make sure more don't show up and sort of swarm the ground area, showing evidence of nesting intentions.