I have a different type of ant-related request. I’m not intentionally keeping ants at the moment. However, it seems that a colony of ants really enjoys the terrarium I have set up for my pet land hermit crab, and I think they may be living in it. I am not an enemy of ants and I generally try to leave them alone, but I don’t want them in my hermit crab habitat.
I’m hoping to get some input about the situation from people who know a lot more about ants than I do. I’ll start with some information and the backstory. Sorry if this is just a little long.
I do know from previous experience with these ants that keeping them out of somewhere they want to be is not that easy. Previously, we had this same type of ants entering our window to get to our pantry. We caulked the spot they were coming through, and they simply ate through the caulk and kept coming in.
Some info about the terrarium. It was previously at my parents’ house and I recently moved it to my own house, around the end of last October if I remember right, so it’s only been here for a few months. It’s a 55g tank. The substrate is play sand with eco earth (coconut fiber), moistened with salt water (not full strength salt water), 5-7 inches deep. The humidity stays around 75-80% and the temperature is 69-74 on the colder side, warmer on the other side. One night-time purple light is always on (dimmable if needed), and there is a second night-time light as well as a day-time light which are on timers. There are bowls with fresh water and salt water, and a food dish which always contains a protein (often freeze dried seafood or insects), sometimes seaweed or algae, and fresh or dried fruits/vegetables/flowers/etc. The water and food dishes are on the warmer side of the tank, which is the right side. Currently, only one hermit crab lives in the tank. (If there are any hermit crab keepers out there, don't worry, she's going to be getting some friends once this is resolved.)
Of special note, which I’ll explain more about in a minute, the top of the tank has a plastic lip which sticks out a little bit. On top of the tank is a screen lid, which has a solid metal rim. The metal rim covers the plastic lip of the tank, so there is a narrow strip of plastic all the way around the tank, technically on the inside but at the very top, which has a solid piece of metal a little bit above it (less than an inch), except for when I open the tank. On one side, the right side of the tank, I have a dimmable night-time purple light that I keep on at all times. This is close to/sometimes almost above the lip of the tank on that side.
Now, about the backstory with the ants. I noticed the ants a month or two ago. At first, I tried the standard things usually recommended by hermit crab keepers – Vaseline around the outside of the tank, and also double-sided tape. The ants were temporarily confused, but eventually figured out a way to cross. Around this time, I did notice what seemed like a lot of ants in the substrate around the water dishes. I was concerned that they might be living in the substrate, so I dug up that part of the substrate. I didn’t find anything conclusive.
Later, I watched some of the ants for a while and figured out that their path was down the side of the terrarium, across several feet of carpet parallel to the wall, then towards the wall, then disappearing behind some furniture. So it seemed like they must be traveling to their colony vaguely in that direction. I did have suspicions that they might be living in the attic, walls, or somewhere in the house, because it’s winter, and based on some information that I found on your website previously, I think they should be dormant right now. (It was 10* F last night outside, and yet there are still plenty of ants running around the tank.)
My next strategy was to do a little research on ant care to figure out some ideas to keep them out, and also to set up an “ant station” with some water and food outside the tank. Since I know that the ants are incredibly resourceful and determined, I was hoping to give them an alternative to my hermit crab tank first, and then use something better than Vaseline/tape to keep them from entering the tank. I was going to try olive oil, something I saw mentioned on your site, because that would also be safe for my hermit crab. I hadn’t gotten around to this yet, due to just being super busy.
Now, for a few weeks, when I open the lid to change the water and/or food, I’ve been seeing ants just resting on the lip under the tank, on the right side (the side with the heat lamp). They would just be sitting there, but of course when I opened the lid, they would start running around. I thought this was pretty strange. My husband thought maybe they were resting since they were so far away from their colony.
So, today, I opened the lid. There were more ants there than normal – and it looked like they were scrambling to evacuate some little white ant babies. I went to get my phone and attempted to get a photo and video. It didn’t turn out great and most of the ants had already vanished by the time I got back, but I uploaded it as an unlisted video to YouTube. Here’s the link: https://youtube.com/...w?feature=share
So obviously, I definitely think that the ants are trying to live in my terrarium, or at least on the lip. I don't know enough about ant colonies to know how far this might extend, if they're likely to be living in the sand as well, etc. And now I don't think my plan to use the olive oil trick will do much good, because I can't keep them out of the tank if they're actually living in it.
I'm also going to try to include a few photos of my hermit crab set up and the "ant station" that I set up on the floor nearby. And here's an earlier video of the ants running around inside the terrarium: https://youtu.be/o-Xd0nKQSS0
Some of my questions are:
- Any thoughts on what might be going on with the ants’ living situation? Is the little ant baby station under the lid likely to be an extension of a colony that’s farther away, or does it mean that a queen is nearby?
- Is this a second/new colony, or just an extension of another colony?
- Any tips or ideas of what to do from here? I don’t really want to eradicate the ants, but I do need them to not be in my hermit crab tank.
- I would love any other comments or input that anyone might have!
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Edited by hermitcrabkeeper, January 30 2023 - 11:07 PM.
