Captain Murphy
New Member
- Joined
- May 20, 2017
- Messages
- 10
Hello everyone!
Recently I relocated to a place overrun with crazy ants. If you're not familiar with these ants, I hope you never have to be.
I've seen some great advice for treatments of ants and their hills like boric acid concoctions, so I'm throwing my line out to see if anyone here has experience in dealing with these crazy ants. These ants do not have hills and they have multiple queens. They get into and run all over everything, but generally do not bite. They like to climb into and under things, and are notorious for shorting out electrical. They are unlike any invasive ants I have ever come across here in Texas.
My partner uses pesticides and with my torts pens only 20-30ft from where he'll spray, this has become a point of contention for us and extreme anxiety for me. The idea of regularly spraying pesticides just to live here while also keeping tortoises nearby throws my anxiety into high gear because I don't want my tortoises exposed. I find myself reconsidering tortoises altogether (I have had them for years and had a strict no-pesticide policy where I lived before) every time spraying is brought up because the ants are particularly active (-- some days they're very active, some days they're not).
The pens are cinder blocks arranged 1 block high, and so far I have only come up with covering them with tarps and moving potted plants far, far away from spraying areas.
What else can I do? Would any of you consider giving up your tortoises if regular pesticide application couldn't be avoided?
Edit: I should probably add that he says he tried "all the hippy solutions" before resorting to poison including DE and orange oil to no avail.
Thank you in advance for any help or advice.
Recently I relocated to a place overrun with crazy ants. If you're not familiar with these ants, I hope you never have to be.
I've seen some great advice for treatments of ants and their hills like boric acid concoctions, so I'm throwing my line out to see if anyone here has experience in dealing with these crazy ants. These ants do not have hills and they have multiple queens. They get into and run all over everything, but generally do not bite. They like to climb into and under things, and are notorious for shorting out electrical. They are unlike any invasive ants I have ever come across here in Texas.
My partner uses pesticides and with my torts pens only 20-30ft from where he'll spray, this has become a point of contention for us and extreme anxiety for me. The idea of regularly spraying pesticides just to live here while also keeping tortoises nearby throws my anxiety into high gear because I don't want my tortoises exposed. I find myself reconsidering tortoises altogether (I have had them for years and had a strict no-pesticide policy where I lived before) every time spraying is brought up because the ants are particularly active (-- some days they're very active, some days they're not).
The pens are cinder blocks arranged 1 block high, and so far I have only come up with covering them with tarps and moving potted plants far, far away from spraying areas.
What else can I do? Would any of you consider giving up your tortoises if regular pesticide application couldn't be avoided?
Edit: I should probably add that he says he tried "all the hippy solutions" before resorting to poison including DE and orange oil to no avail.
Thank you in advance for any help or advice.
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