When Ants Attack!

[Ilike4hornedchams]

So last week I spotted a few ant roaming around my kitchen not far from my chameleon's so I got some ant traps and thought this would be a decent distraction.. It wasn't.. This morning I woke up to find an Ant on Cricket Genocide going down.. So knew, there was only one thing to do. Drop the bomb on em.. I used a "pet safe" spray on their trail that was leading to my shelves where I keep my crickets . Then at the base of the stand I used some Ant Roach killer, that is some kinda acid in solid crystal form. Then I used simple green and paper towels to literally mop the floors with them clearing about 90% out the the cricket enclosures I have. I'm at work now, but I reeally hope they're ok.

Anyway, anyone know why ant would like crickets this much over many other thinks they could be going for like french bread or some fruits that are left out in a fruit bowl in the kitchen? Are they crazed and just have the taste for crickets?? (Note I have had Chams for about 3 yrs at my current residence and a couple years at my parents place and never has a ant attack. Any ideas why this is happening? I'm just surprised. I got most these crickets just yesterday too. It's like the scout ants were waiting..

 

[jajeanpierre]

You can get a liquid that you put on their trail. They eat take it back to their nest and it will kill the whole nest.

Are they fire ants? Fire ants especially will kill your chameleons. They will kill baby deer. I have a lot of fire ants. I dust with Pyrethrin dust around my outdoor cages and go after any mounds I find. Be really careful with ants.

 

[alphakenc]

The colony of the ants always love to conquer another colony to defend or expand on their own territory,

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

You can get a liquid that you put on their trail. They eat take it back to their nest and it will kill the whole nest.

Are they fire ants? Fire ants especially will kill your chameleons. They will kill baby deer. I have a lot of fire ants. I dust with Pyrethrin dust around my outdoor cages and go after any mounds I find. Be really careful with ants.

Lol, no fire ant in norcal's coastline. Just regular, I already took them out. I think it was the lettuce and some decaying banana that attracted them initially.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

You can't beat the ants with an outdoor set up like yours. The only person I ever met who came up with a neat ass outdoor trick that was actually ant proof was Bill Strand from Dragon Strand.

In your case, I'd pick up the terro liquid ant bait and put it outside and about five feet away from your cage. It will attract them away from the habitat and keep their numbers down.

You can get a liquid that you put on their trail. They eat take it back to their nest and it will kill the whole nest.

Are they fire ants? Fire ants especially will kill your chameleons. They will kill baby deer. I have a lot of fire ants. I dust with Pyrethrin dust around my outdoor cages and go after any mounds I find. Be really careful with ants.

In your case, flamethrower. It's Texas, it's legal. Fight fire with fire. I dealt with some here in SoCal, was surprised as hell to find any here, but the damn things were giants with the biggest being a half inch long. The city even sent some people out to kill them actually (They heard I was gonna use a flamethrower)

 

[jajeanpierre]

You can't beat the ants with an outdoor set up like yours. The only person I ever met who came up with a neat ass outdoor trick that was actually ant proof was Bill Strand from Dragon Strand.

In your case, I'd pick up the terro liquid ant bait and put it outside and about five feet away from your cage. It will attract them away from the habitat and keep their numbers down.



In your case, flamethrower. It's Texas, it's legal. Fight fire with fire. I dealt with some here in SoCal, was surprised as hell to find any here, but the damn things were giants with the biggest being a half inch long. The city even sent some people out to kill them actually (They heard I was gonna use a flamethrower)

They aren't that hard to deal with as long as you know they are there and they make themselves really obvious with their ant hills. I just dust the mound with pyrethrin. The invasive fire ants are pretty aggressive but the local fire ants aren't so bad. I've used boiling water but that kills tree roots and grass so I haven't been happy with that, so a flamethrower is out.

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

Wow, ok for anyone else coming to read this, just know that dealing with ants is REALLY easy. Buy the (Borax) Terro Ant Killer liquid. They love it. I got it the same day, set it up in two different spots in little plastic trays, and they have lost interest in EVERYTHING else! Which is awesome. I can even see some taking back little blobs back with them. May the queen drink it up! Short live the Queen! Ants are no match for Human genius I guess..