3 replies to this topic

[LowQualityAnts]

The outworld of my mini hearth has grown a decent amount of mold on its bottom from some spilled food and water. What can i douse the ground with to kill the mold that won't harm my ants?

Would vinegar be fine?

Edited by LowQualityAnts, April 7 2023 - 8:06 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Ants are olfactory creatures. Dousing their tiny enclosure with a powerfully smelling substance like vinegar seems kind of like a torture to me. Instead, I would advise trying to leave the lid off to increase air ventilation. Adding springtails could be another option.

[LowQualityAnts]

What if I seal the nest entrance and wait a few days for the vinegar to dissipate?

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

What if I seal the nest entrance and wait a few days for the vinegar to dissipate?

 

 

in my mini as best as i can tell it is not a perfect seal and I believe some liquid that soaks into the outworld have potential to find it's way to evaporating into the nest.

 

however as said, if you can just leave the lid off for a few days so it can really dry out, that'll shut down whatever is growing.

A bit of fluon around the top edge for sure, as even my Pogonomyrmex that are bad climbers can still occasionally make it over the short wall of this outworld.

Or if they can go a few days without the outworld you could plug the hole and leave the lid off to dry it out.

 

 

I just work hard to not let goo stuff get on the flooring. I flip apple bits out every couple days before they start to mold, and always cut them so they have skin to rest on. And based on advice to help avoid introducing mites, i toss feeder insects into boiling water for about 4 seconds. It has the added benefit that it firms up their goo a bit and has kept fresh  stains from showing up sense i started that.

 

In a mini hearth if you had another outworld attached to a side port, you could always plug one up while you clean it and dry it out.

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, April 8 2023 - 7:41 AM.