ants got into my crab cage!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 1:12 pm

I have a 10 gallon crabitat that was attacked by ants last night. I woke up this morning and my crab that was molting may not survive. He had ants on him, so I washed him as gently as possible, but I am worried. what should i do? He is moving slowly and trying to continue his molt, but I am not sure how this will affect him.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 1:19 pm

I would put him in a warm, dark place and see what happens. Your other crabs also probably need good baths and some quiet, dark recuperation. Maybe someone who has experienced this could give you some more information.

Since the ants have gotten in already, there is a good chance they may come back. I don't know what you can do to keep them out. Just look around at your setup and what you have available and try to think of something.

Be careful if you spray for ants. Put cover over the tank or better, just remove it from the room. The bug poison can harm your crabs too.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:03 pm

Have you checked to ensure that there is not food in the substrate? If you dug up the molter already (or was it on the surface?) then you may want to ISO the molter and do a deep clean on your tank.

Are you sure that this crab is molting; has he already molted?

I've moved this to the Crab Care forum. You will get more responses there.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:29 pm

I'd like to know this too. Being the lazy slob that I am sometimes, I every once in a wihle, get an ant raiding party in my room.

I was hoping the ants would not be able to climb up the glass of the crabitat, but after reading this, I am really worried! There isn't really any room in this house that hasn't been hit by ants. Heck I've even seen some in the bathroom! I was wondering if I should move my crabitat to a room with a less chance of and infestation.

Don't think our house is a total wreck though, my mom freaks out every 10 seconds, and we're constantly cleaning, though the ants always find something to go after...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 2:00 am

well, I lost my beloved Fic (short for Fantastic). I am positive he was molting since his exoskeleton was still halfway attached to him and he had already gotten his small claw out, but not the large one. He tried so hard and I put him into a clean bowl with some calcium sand and I spritzed him once with treated water and crossed my fingers all day, but he just couldn't do it after the ant attack. I must have had something in the substrate although I do use a food dish and for fresh food, I use a special "bucket" that each crab gets his turn to eat the goodies in. That way I can be sure they eat enough and I can see that they are doing all right. I have a divider between the two sides of the tank for when one is molting.
I would definitely recommend finding some solution for ant problems to you because it cost my crab his life. Currently, my guys that are left are floating in their 10 gallon crabitat that has been thoroughly washed and placed in my bathtub with just enough water so the ants can't get it. There are no ants in the bathroom anyways, but I have decided that I would rather be ridiculously safe until I am sure the problem is gone. I have put out the ant traps in the room where the infestation is and currently the ant population is nearly gone. I did not want to spray for ants due to the crabs and a bird that I have also. The traps take a couple of days to work, but they don't put out any toxins in the air. Thanks for the help anyways.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 2:02 am

after reviewing my message, I see that it seems like I meant thhat the crabs were floating, but I meant that their crabitat is floating in the water and in all reality it is sitting on the bottom of the bathtub with about one inch of water around the outside of it. Just thought I would clarify that.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:34 am

Any other suggestions about this? I just sighted another scout ant at the bottom of the drawer that has my crabitat on it....

BAB · Post by **BAB** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:43 pm

I don't know if these suggestions will work but I just thought of them a bit ago.

1. You said that you put the crabitat in the tub with a bit of water to keep the ants out. Why not get a large tote/plastic bin lid and put water in that, set the crabitat down in that and put it all back where it was... but add water to the lid? Does that make sense? I know that should work for Shadow's setup on top of a dresser... hopefully the dresser is large enough.

2. Double sided sticky tape... I don't think that ants like to walk across sticky stuff or they may just get stuck to it... maybe? You can always test this theory on some ants running around in the house. Surround one with tape to see what it does. It might work and it might not. I don't know if it would be sticky enough.

If it does work, just line the bottom of the crabitat with tape sticky side out and make it a large section... like an inch high all the way around.

Also, (I don't have time right now) do a search for Natural Ant Repellent and see if there's an herb that ants don't like. Put the sticky tape on your crabitat but stick the herb to the tape all the way around. Of course, check to make sure that your crabbies won't be bothered by it.

Hope those help!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 1:09 pm

One of the most effective ant killers i have ever found is Terro. It's basically corn syrup and borax. You place it on the ground where you see the ants. They all arrive and have an "ant party" then they go away and die.

Be careful with Terro though, if you've got pets or little kids around that might pick it up and eat it.

I've never used another ant killer since I found Terro

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 1:46 pm

Terro is all I will use too. I have ants every spring and this always takes care of them, although you might see more ants the first few days, but thats a good thing, everyone is getting some of the borax. You used to have to pour the stuff on little cardboard pieces which I thought was a little dangerous, but now they have contained ant traps that are wonderful!!!! Thats what I place around my crabitat.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:23 pm

I have two cats and a healthy case of paranoia so I make little traps of my own. I find that I use much less than the ready made traps and they are messy. I take the cardboard and tape a paper cup with little "doors" cut out of the lip. I tape the cup upside down to the piece of cardboard. That way there is less mess, the ants can still get in and out and I don't have to worry about my cats (or crabs for that matter, like they could get out and down there!)

M

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 5:32 pm

Michelle23 wrote:One of the most effective ant killers i have ever found is Terro. It's basically corn syrup and borax. You place it on the ground where you see the ants. They all arrive and have an "ant party" then they go away and die.

Be careful with Terro though, if you've got pets or little kids around that might pick it up and eat it.

I've never used another ant killer since I found Terro

I've heard of an alternative very similar, with just sugar water and boric acid (used to kill cockroaches)... Never actually tried it as I don't exactly have boric acid lying around the house lol.