Yikes - Ants!

[georgekathe]

So, I put GeeBee out in his outside pen, as I've started to do now the weather's warm enough, and a while later I went to check on him & found a bunch of ants crawling over him!

I brought him in & rinsed them off with warm water in the sink & put him back in his indoor habitat.

Question - is there anything I can do?

Though the pen is movebale (it's four sides of a 6' x 4' open wooden box with the bottom my lawn), I guess wherever I put it with him inside it there could be ants.

I want to have him outside for obvious reasons but don't want ants on him as I don't want them brought back into the house when I go out on an errand & therefore bring him back in for safety & I obviously don't want them on him - surely they could hurt him?

What can I do?

Thanks for responses, George

 

[Fernando]

Here you go

 

[Fernando]

Tom posted a thread about this a while back.

Here you go

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

My redfoot was attacked by fire ants once, too. She was obviously in pain, and although I was able to brush most of the ants off quickly, one of them was stubbornly biting her on the eyelid! Fortunately, a quick dunk underwater got the ant to let go.

Ants build their anthills in disturbed areas - those that are dry and denuded of vegetation. To prevent the ants from hurting your tortoise, I would destroy the nest, poison the ants, and grow plants there. This would create more moisture, and encourage other invertebrates to take up residence there to keep the ants out.

 

[georgekathe]

My redfoot was attacked by fire ants once, too. She was obviously in pain, and although I was able to brush most of the ants off quickly, one of them was stubbornly biting her on the eyelid! Fortunately, a quick dunk underwater got the ant to let go.

Ants build their anthills in disturbed areas - those that are dry and denuded of vegetation. To prevent the ants from hurting your tortoise, I would destroy the nest, poison the ants, and grow plants there. This would create more moisture, and encourage other invertebrates to take up residence there to keep the ants out.

The trouble is it wasn't a visible anthill. The tortoise was on an area of lush growth - on the lawn amid grass and lots of small clover, when around 20-30 ants got on it.

So not really an answer that applies to my case. Thanks for response, though.

---

Tom posted a thread about this a while back.

Here you go

Sorry, maybe I'm stupid but I don't see an attchment here I can open. Please can you try again or post the attachment if you did not already do so. I'd be most grateful. George

Sorry - looked again - see what you meant by "Here you go."

Would a borax spray (mixed with sugar?) Like one of the postees work outdoors on a lawn - would the dew/my sprinkler system it straight into the soil?

 

[georgekathe]

Hi - anyone got any more suggestions.

Borax sounds good but is there anything I could treat/spray tortoise directly with that would keep them off. Any other comments? thanks for both responses so far, guys.

Thanks, George

 

[RV's mom]

I'd be afraid to put anything toxic to ants on my tort.... having said that, we do put out ant poison in the yard - under a 1x1 paver stone so RV can't get to the poison. The bait goes right next to the nest (we take care to track the ants to the nest) and then we stir the ants up by thumping on the ground. Paver goes over the hill and poison (supported by stones) and the ants are generally gone in a day or two.

teri