Not your typical ant problem

[Crashbandit05]

So I just moved into our first house (woot homeowners) and a few days ago I set up Leif's enclosure after taking everything apart and cleaning. When I came home I went upstairs to check on the cage and noticed at least a dozen or so large, black ants. Especially under the uvb/light hood!?!
I find it hard to believe they are attracted to something electrical.. and I don't see any on the schefflera (yet). I've read about mixing hot sauce and water as a natural deterrent but I've seen my panther lick the branches so I don't think that is an option. Has anyone experienced this before??

 

[Chompingreens]

Unfortunately there attracted to the heat coming of the fixture. Make sure you don’t have any open food sources available in the house. Big one is water. Dripping sink leaky faucets, standing water. Take that away and they can’t survive in the the house. You can get sticky mouse/insect pads from your local hardware store or go online to diypestcontrol.com the have many things and tips for home owners.

 

[chameleonneeds]

I've had tiny ants attack and kill a few of my hatching veileds once. My crickets also never stand a chance. Never underestimate the buggers. I had to float my cricket tubs in a larger tub of water.

You can place chalk powder around your cages to stop them from climbing up. You can also put something like Vaseline on plastic surfaces to stop them climbing.

But best try completely exterminate them. I've always struggled with them. Goodluck.

 

[Chompingreens]

Oh yeah if u find a cluster of them use a shop vac to get rid of them, then either dump em in the toilet or outside no where near your residence.

 

[Crashbandit05]

Unfortunately there attracted to the heat coming of the fixture. Make sure you don’t have any open food sources available in the house. Big one is water. Dripping sink leaky faucets, standing water. Take that away and they can’t survive in the the house. You can get sticky mouse/insect pads from your local hardware store or go online to diypestcontrol.com the have many things and tips for home owners.

Ok, interesting.. thanks for the information! We're in the process of updating the plumbing and I have a shopvac handy!

 

[Crashbandit05]

I've had tiny ants attack and kill a few of my hatching veileds once. My crickets also never stand a chance. Never underestimate the buggers. I had to float my cricket tubs in a larger tub of water.

You can place chalk powder around your cages to stop them from climbing up. You can also put something like Vaseline on plastic surfaces to stop them climbing.

But best try completely exterminate them. I've always struggled with them. Goodluck.

I've delt with the tiny, black ants before. We call them sugar ants around here. I used a theves oil spray and that helped with those guys. They are uncontrollable in the warm months.

 

[Crashbandit05]

Bump! Anyone else run into this issue?

 

[CJ's Exotics]

What do they look like? You live in NC, correct?

 

[NickTide]

Cornstarch will slowly starve ants to death. They will fill up on it but cant digest it. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is lethal to ants and many insects. it is like little shards of glass but harmless to larger animals. it is available at pool stores but is in larger bags. pet shops carry it for specialty filters. You might be able to find it in a feed store. Just put it in their path. I wouldn't risk poisons unless I had no other choice.

 

[JacksJill]

I have had ant issues from time to time but they were after water and not power or heat. I put water filled containers around the legs of the cages to create moats to keep them out. I also sprayed the entire perimeter of my foundation to keep them away.

 

[jamest0o0]

Ants can also be attracted to aphid sap on leaves

 

[Crashbandit05]

What do they look like? You live in NC, correct?

They are solid black and probably half inch long or less. Yeah I live in western NC. We just had a bunch of rain so that could attribute to it..

 

[Crashbandit05]

Cornstarch will slowly starve ants to death. They will fill up on it but cant digest it. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is lethal to ants and many insects. it is like little shards of glass but harmless to larger animals. it is available at pool stores but is in larger bags. pet shops carry it for specialty filters. You might be able to find it in a feed store. Just put it in their path. I wouldn't risk poisons unless I had no other choice.

I'm familiar with DE. My inlaws use the human grade kind. I will look into that. I have yet to see a dignified path but will keep an eye out, thanks!

 

[Crashbandit05]

I have had ant issues from time to time but they were after water and not power or heat. I put water filled containers around the legs of the cages to create moats to keep them out. I also sprayed the entire perimeter of my foundation to keep them away.

See that is what I'm thinking. We just had several days of straight rain so that could be the cause, just looking for dry area. They also seem to only be upstairs, have yet to find any downstairs.

 

[Crashbandit05]

Ants can also be attracted to aphid sap on leaves

Thanks for the tip. The scheflerra is brand new, I'll give it a good once over and check.

 

[jamest0o0]

My umbrella plants have been getting murdered by aphids even with good lighting. Very annoying

 

[OldChamKeeper]

Yur'all amateurs.

Go buy some Terro liquid ant traps. Place them at the base of the cage on the outside. If they are in the house they will flock to it. Then move it farther away from the cage in case they keep coming. Stuff works

 

[Crashbandit05]

Yur'all amateurs.

Go buy some Terro liquid ant traps. Place them at the base of the cage on the outside. If they are in the house they will flock to it. Then move it farther away from the cage in case they keep coming. Stuff works

I greatly appreciate you coming out of your 'cave' to offer advice, thanks!

 

[OldChamKeeper]

<closes the boulder to the cave while mumbling something about hating ants>

 

[absolutbill]

Those Terro ant traps really work - we are in Fl, and that's the only thing we've found to kill the sugar ants down here!