How to discourage houseants from t tanks?

[chris collins]

I have two slings (N. Vulpinus, A. Geniculata) and a L. Parahybana 3 yr old. The Lassie is in a tank and the slings are in glass jars. I've moved into a new apartment and it has ants.

The ants are twice as long as the width of a penpoint. They march in lines along the baseboards (where floor and wall meet). Then head up the wall, in a line, to the moulding where ceiling and wall meet.

A platoon infiltrated the N Vulpinus jar and I changed the substrate, sending them to Davey Jones locker while washing out the jar. I've put motor/engine oil around the jar, just off the cuff, to deter them. I haven't addressed the ant problem, household wide, on the whole.

In the meantime is there any better thing to smear on the jar to make an 'abandon hope all ye who enter here' zone they will not walk across, like camphor?

[Simon Batten]

something sticky maybe

[Mark Pennell]

I have two slings (N. Vulpinus, A. Geniculata) and a L. Parahybana 3 yr old. The Lassie is in a tank and the slings are in glass jars. I've moved into a new apartment and it has ants.

The ants are twice as long as the width of a penpoint. They march in lines along the baseboards (where floor and wall meet). Then head up the wall, in a line, to the moulding where ceiling and wall meet.

A platoon infiltrated the N Vulpinus jar and I changed the substrate, sending them to Davey Jones locker while washing out the jar. I've put motor/engine oil around the jar, just off the cuff, to deter them. I haven't addressed the ant problem, household wide, on the whole.

In the meantime is there any better thing to smear on the jar to make an 'abandon hope all ye who enter here' zone they will not walk across, like camphor?

Chris
Try sitting the jars in trays of water or the table or shelf legs.
Cheers
Mark

[chris collins]

Setting the sling jars in trays of water, making them islands across an impassable channel/sea of water, from an ant's perspective, is an excellent idea, thanks. For the Lassie tank some flypaper around the bottom, a strip wrapped lengthwise around the base? I'll try that, thanks.

[Adam Smith]

The tray of water to deter ants from the tank is quite an old trick which can be found in the book "arachnomania" by Philliipe de vosjoli. By nature ants are a spiders enemy as they can attack the spider and kill or eat it. Id never encountered an ant problem here and thought it was more of a threat to the american hobbyists.

[Geoff]

Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline) is an effective barrier.

[chris collins]

Vaseline/Petroleum jelly, good idea.

Re; ants being a threat to tarantulas tending by American hobbyists I'm not in England, but in South Korea. The apartment is beside the river, is older, and I guess the river sand is the haunt of ants. Re; the popularity of T's in South Korea there's a site at www.reptileworld.co.kr

He has one singapore blue for sale now, you can see it on his site, for 160,000 Korean won which is more than 160 U.S. dollars. It is 5-6cm in
length. I have visited his 'tarantula parlour' and he isn't selling so much
as breeding, building up stock, because of sudden import restrictions.

There is one other pet shop, also in Seoul (population 11 million),
that I know of which sells slings. I got an N.vulpinus there for 60 U.S.
dollars and A.geniculata for 25 dollars. He has different slings each time
I visit, which is about once a month. Once he had a Green Bottle about two inches long.

[Ray Gabriel]

Which country are you in?

If you are in the UK and talkign about the black ones (Liasus niger) then you should not really ahve any problems. If you are talking about the small yellow "Pharoe ants" then try to find the colony and destry the queen.

If you are overseas depends on the species.

Ray

[chris collins]

I'm in South Korea.

It's a big apartment building so the queen could be anywhere. I doubt the other tenants would appreciate me knocking on their door, looking for 'the queen ant'.

The ants are twice the length of a pinpoint and are a faded, orange/reddish colour.

[Colin D Wilson]

I've got to agree with the majority here, setting them in dishes of water is the best temperary solution.
It works on the ant farms at zoological gardens to keep them in so it should keep them out.
If you could find the nest that would be a bonus.

[Robert Farmer]

Or you could always invest in an Ant Eater, would clear up the problem in no time and would always be a great conversation starter for any party/social gathering/Bar Mitzvah...

[Daniel Carpenter]

haha..lol...
Dan.

[chris collins]

Invest in an anteater? Don't they have clompy feet and suffer in confined spaces (such as roomate with a T)?

I ended up setting tanks, large and small (for my four eight-legged freaky friends, tank to its own), in trays of water. So each T is in effect a feudal Lord with a moat.

I doubt these T's gloat.

Ant bodies, drowned, sway on the waves.

[alex smith]

these are yellow"Pharoe" ants as Ray has mentioned, out of interest, these are also one of the uk's ever growing list of alien species that has become established here. I had these in my flat when i lived in London. Here in somerset and just across the boarder in dorset we also have the white or false widow spider Steatoda Nobilis, my garage is full of them and they are fairly venomous.I think Ray had an allergic reaction to the bite of this spider.It makes me wonder what effect these are having on our own native species and we will probably not know for years to come.

[Robert Farmer]

Invest in an anteater? Don't they have clompy feet and suffer in confined spaces (such as roomate with a T)?

I ended up setting tanks, large and small (for my four eight-legged freaky friends, tank to its own), in trays of water. So each T is in effect a feudal Lord with a moat.

I doubt these T's gloat.

Ant bodies, drowned, sway on the waves.

Deep man, real deep

Reminiscent of Haiku there lol