3 replies to this topic

[M_Ants]

If you have a dog or cat and use flea medicine, be extremely careful. I have had mysterious deaths with ants for years now and I think flea medicine likely explains many. I'm sure most of you know better but I often forgot to wash my hands before doing ant stuff. I now use gloves and it seems to be working. Just wanted to post this as a reminder in case anyone may be making the same mistake. I did an experiment where I pet my dog and then touched the inside of a container and put some workers inside. There was no visible flea medicine on my dog, the container, or my hand. However, they were poisoned and dead within a day. My dog hasn't had flea medicine applied in a while and I had an ant escape and she died just from crawling on the floor. The medicine seems to remain extremely dangerous to ants long after its been put on your pet. Once again I realize I should've known better and been more vigilant to wash my hands and I'm sure most people do. 

[rptraut]

Hello M Ants;

 

Recently I've been writing about similar die-offs in my colonies.  You'll find it here Journal of My Afflicted Colonies - Ant Keeping Journals - Ants & Myrmecology Forum (formiculture.com).  Thanks for your suggestion about the flea killer and its effect on ants.  As a matter of fact, I had a dog that wore a flea and tick collar all summer.  Unfortunately, he died last week, (this has been a bad summer) so in a way I will have a pre flea collar and post flea collar situation that I can monitor.  I was aware that the flea pesticide might affect ants and tried to be vigilant about washing my hands before feeding them or after petting my dog.  But, like all dogs, mine always needed attention and I can't honestly say that I was always able to tend my ants with clean hands.  Also, he was a large collie/shepherd cross and shed fur at all times of the year.  His fur is ever-present in the workshop where I keep my ants, as that was also the room where he lived in the house.  I'm sure that there is also the equivalent of "dog dandruff" floating around in the air.  It may carry pesticide as well.  Thanks for enlightening us about the flea and tick pesticide and its dangers for ants.  I will spread the word.

RPT

[M_Ants]

Hello M Ants;

 

Recently I've been writing about similar die-offs in my colonies.  You'll find it here Journal of My Afflicted Colonies - Ant Keeping Journals - Ants & Myrmecology Forum (formiculture.com).  Thanks for your suggestion about the flea killer and its effect on ants.  As a matter of fact, I had a dog that wore a flea and tick collar all summer.  Unfortunately, he died last week, (this has been a bad summer) so in a way I will have a pre flea collar and post flea collar situation that I can monitor.  I was aware that the flea pesticide might affect ants and tried to be vigilant about washing my hands before feeding them or after petting my dog.  But, like all dogs, mine always needed attention and I can't honestly say that I was always able to tend my ants with clean hands.  Also, he was a large collie/shepherd cross and shed fur at all times of the year.  His fur is ever-present in the workshop where I keep my ants, as that was also the room where he lived in the house.  I'm sure that there is also the equivalent of "dog dandruff" floating around in the air.  It may carry pesticide as well.  Thanks for enlightening us about the flea and tick pesticide and its dangers for ants.  I will spread the word.

RPT

Sorry about your dog. My dog is a border collie and his hair is everywhere as well. He often goes under my bed. I'm interested to see if your situation improves. I've found that gloves are helpful because they keep you from forgetting to not pet your dog while you're doing anything ant related. 

[rptraut]

Hello M Ants;

Thanks for your sympathy.  It'll be interesting to see what happens now that he and the flea and tick collar are gone.  I think I'll have to do some extensive cleaning, probably a lot of vacuuming, to get rid of the hair and not float a lot of dog dandruff into the air.  He was a large dog and his head came about level with the work bench where I do my ant feeding.  He often put his head on the bench to see what I was doing.  I never thought about the dangers of his collar being that close to the ants.

I've posted this information in my Journal.  I hope greater awareness of this problem will help others avoid the death losses we've been experiencing.

RPT