# Bioactive enclosure - sugar ant infestation!



## Nya Wasp (Mar 12, 2020)

Hi y'all!

I have my red tegu in a 8 x 3 x 3 custom cage with soil, mulch, grass, and a variety of fake plants, hides, rocks, basking platforms, and cork tree bark etc. 

But my Virginia native sugar ants have decided to join my enclosure!

Are they safe for my tegu, she doesn't seem to mind but they are everywhere! 

Are there any plants or food sources or other insects I should introduce to keep the balance?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

-Nya


----------



## Walter1 (Mar 13, 2020)

mix 1 tablespoon of borax (a laundry booster related to boric acid, but milder) with 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar, and then blend in just enough shortening or lard to make the mixture crumbly (about a teaspoon).

Put crumbs of bait on pieces of waxed paper and place them near ant trails.

You can even use water instead of shortening, place in test tube with cotton plg and lay on its side.


----------



## Nya Wasp (Mar 13, 2020)

And the borax won't harm my tegu?


----------



## Walter1 (Mar 13, 2020)

I don't know. The recipe should be kept out of reach.


----------



## Nya Wasp (Mar 13, 2020)

Okay thank you!


----------



## Walter1 (Mar 14, 2020)

You're welcome. It's a good recipe for around the house as well.


----------



## TripleTegus (Mar 19, 2020)

Yes the borax could be potentially dangerous if consumed by the tegu unfortunately. Definitely better to try and make some kind of enclosed trap so to speak. Maybe use an older small Tupperware container and cut small holes in the side toward the bottom that the ants can get in but the tegu can't reach your bait mixture.


----------

