outsmarting the ants..the little Bast$#&s!!

[carol5208]

So I woke up this morning to about 5,000 ants in my cricket tank I keep out on my patio eating all the food! What a nightmare seperating about 300 hundred crickets from the ants! So I came up this idea. I did want to put buckets with water or vaseline all around the legs of the table. So I filled a large pan with water, inverted two pots and set tank on top. Supers on top of that and everyone is safe and sound. Incase you are wondering in the cricket tank, I call that a cricket mansion! It is found in boxes with electronic stuff and works great. They all hide up underneath it like the crates.

 

[maxttu]

what a great idea! you're so smart!

 

[kokom05lb]

Lol good idea. I leave my crickets inside due to high number of red ants I've found in my backyard and front yard. I've had the exterminator spray and they keep coming back *sigh*

 

[SpartyTessy]

That looks like a good idea. I also have ant problems and if the cage is left overnight there will be tons of ants in the crickets cage. What a PITA. So what I did was put the 10 gallon aquarium(which has all the crickets) in a large Tupperware container. What is good about the container is around the edges inside are lower than the center. So what I did was put vegetable oil around the edge which shields the cage like a river running around it. This works very well and I have not had a single ant inside the cage since I did this 3 weeks ago. The ant trap has even caught two king spiders as they tried to get too close. One was very large

 

[SpartyTessy]

The only thing I would worry about with your setup would be it knocking over due to wind or something but it seems like yours is inside so it should not be a problem like it would for me as mine are outside. Very good idea indeed

 

[carol5208]

The only thing I would worry about with your setup would be it knocking over due to wind or something but it seems like yours is inside so it should not be a problem like it would for me as mine are outside. Very good idea indeed

Thanks! I don't usually keep it up on that table so high up so I am not worried about the wind. That would be one heck of a mess if it did blow over though. Yours is a great idea too!

 

[romulan]

Soldier ants can still make a bridge over water FYI but I doubt it will happen

 

[Elizadolots]

I suspend mine by fishing line from the roof of the storage shed.....That's been working for the better part of a year for me (mine is a 5 gallon plastic bucket).

 

[carol5208]

oh great thanks for the heads up! these were fire ants. haha like hearing everyones ideas!!!. The consensus is they are a pain in the butt!

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

I HATE HATE HATE ants! We get them so bad no matter what we do here. I woke up, looked at my custom cage, and I don't know what they were attracted to but there were SO many I saw BLACK, not the cage, BLACK. After getting Bobo out (luckily they didn't get to him) I took it outside, hosed it down, then replaced the bottom with chickenwire, I think they might have found mold. None since.

 

[ColombiaCham]

Diatomaceous Earth

You can use Diatomaceous Earth and buy the food grade. It can be used as a barrier. You can even sprinkle it around the house.It takes care of unwanted ants and crawling pests. It will be suicidal if ants try to cross it as it will be absorbed by the joints in the ants body literally drying them out. Ants seem to know better. Just make sure that it does not enter your roach or cricket container. Very simple to apply, cheap, and very effective.

 

[AlecWade]

I should do something similar to this too! I keep my crickets inside but a few earwigs keep invading their food. I would feed them off but they are darn nasty bugs!

 

[Lizardlover]

You can use Diatomaceous Earth and buy the food grade. It can be used as a barrier. You can even sprinkle it around the house.It takes care of unwanted ants and crawling pests. It will be suicidal if ants try to cross it as it will be absorbed by the joints in the ants body literally drying them out. Ants seem to know better. Just make sure that it does not enter your roach or cricket container. Very simple to apply, cheap, and very effective.

That was going to be my advice, I use the same thing.

 

[ataraxia]

Try out some liquid pepper mint. I swear by the stuff. Put a little on a paper towel and place it beside the bin..Its an old school ant deterrent.

 

[carol5208]

thanks for all the good ideas everyone! and here I thought my "moat" was just the coolest

 

[panther67]

What works for me Carol is a pan of water with some liquid dish soap added. Learned this with dogs water and food bowl outside. They will and have crossed just water on me but not with the soap.

 

[carol5208]

What works for me Carol is a pan of water with some liquid dish soap added. Learned this with dogs water and food bowl outside. They will and have crossed just water on me but not with the soap.

thank you! gonna add some dish soap to the water! Crafty little suckers they are!!

 

[trd1215]

Great thread and ideas here... have ants all over the place messing with my crickets/roaches and chameleons.. I hate them! Which one is the best idea? I have to experiment lol.