# Ants in enclosure!!! Please help



## John Franzwa (Jul 2, 2019)

Hello today I fed my tegu a banana and noticed a couple ants like 5 or 7 eating the banana maybe more!! should i be worried, what should I do to remove them? I heard they dont like vinegar so I was going to mix some of that in with his substrate to maybe dissuade them from coming back, I will also be getting ant poison for outside of the enclosure. I was thinking of also pouring boiling water in the substrate to kill any reaming ones but my dad really doesnt want me to do this he says it will cause the orchid wood to rot? Any tips are appreciated thank you.


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## Walter1 (Jul 2, 2019)

Watch first where the ants might be coming from.


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## Tizzay89 (Jul 2, 2019)

A chalk like can prevent ants from crossing. Also there is a special kind that is none toxic that will kill any insect that crosses it. I forget the name and cannot find it on Google by just saying "chalk that cuts insects" lol it's a natural earth element that we add to oats bran wheat etc to kill insects. Safe for humans so I would think safe for a tegu if it some how ate it. Depending on the ant they may not bother your tegu. A carpenter ant is 1 but something like a fire or crazy black or yellow most certainly will eat your tegu. Just dont buy the toxic chalk stick also baby powder mixed with iso alcohol makes an easy paste u can wipe onto your cage. Also forms a none cross able barrier for ants if you dont have chalk


Edit. 
I say cuts insects cuz its microscopic "glass" that cuts into insects dehydrating them.


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## Ivyna J Spyder (Jul 3, 2019)

Diatomaceous earth is what you're thinking of.


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## Tizzay89 (Jul 3, 2019)

Ivyna J Spyder said:


> Diatomaceous earth is what you're thinking of.



Yes. Haha. It's a great none toxic none food choice for doing the job.


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## Tiamat (Jul 4, 2019)

Tizzay89 said:


> A chalk like can prevent ants from crossing. Also there is a special kind that is none toxic that will kill any insect that crosses it. I forget the name and cannot find it on Google by just saying "chalk that cuts insects" lol it's a natural earth element that we add to oats bran wheat etc to kill insects. Safe for humans so I would think safe for a tegu if it some how ate it. Depending on the ant they may not bother your tegu. A carpenter ant is 1 but something like a fire or crazy black or yellow most certainly will eat your tegu. Just dont buy the toxic chalk stick also baby powder mixed with iso alcohol makes an easy paste u can wipe onto your cage. Also forms a none cross able barrier for ants if you dont have chalk
> 
> 
> Edit.
> I say cuts insects cuz its microscopic "glass" that cuts into insects dehydrating them.




Borax. Insects breathe through holes I the carapace called spiracles and this stuff blocks them up. 

I'd just put the gu in a bucket, throw out all the supplies strate, add fresh and put any traps around the enclosure.


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## Mcpinchynubs (Jul 10, 2019)

Like said above, find out where they are coming from. If you got infested substrate you just clean out the tank and put new stuff in. If the problem lies outside the enclosure you might have a bigger problem. Finding out what spices of ant you are dealing with helps alot. 
I had the same problem not long ago in my tortoise enclosure. Turned out they were pheroh ants that were coming from the walls and hiding in my nice warm humid tortoise house. Some ants are easy to get rid of but others need special pesticides like for the pheroh ants.


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