20 replies to this topic

[BugFinder]

Does anyone else keep a gecko or other reptile in a vivarium with a large ant colony?  I was thinking if I get a huge population of pavement ants going, or argentine ants, it might be cool to keep a small repitile with them that will enjoy eating some of them.

 

I'm curious if anyone else has done that.

[AntsDakota]

Does anyone else keep a gecko or other reptile in a vivarium with a large ant colony?  I was thinking if I get a huge population of pavement ants going, or argentine ants, it might be cool to keep a small repitile with them that will enjoy eating some of them.
 
I'm curious if anyone else has done that.

You'd probably have to get a more mellow species. It may not survive with a large colony of Tetramorium or Linepithima, or otherwise be forced into hiding in the far side of the tank.

[ANTdrew]

Sounds like a bad idea to me. My Tetramorium would take down a gecko quicker than Trump’s stimulus checks arriving.

[BugFinder]

Thanks for the feedback.  Is there a reptile you think would be better suited for that?  Of course I can always just catch a few dozen ants and put them in a seperate tank with the reptile.

[AntsDakota]

Ants will attack anything, including large reptiles. If the reptile was large and tough enough, it could survive, yet the ants constantly attacking it would probably make it's life miserable........

[BugFinder]

Good point.  I got the idea from watching an AC video where he put toads in one of his formicariums.  I guess we can chalk that up to more mis-information put out by the air conditioner guy lol.   Thanks for the info guys.   I didn't realize the ants would attack a reptile that was so much larger than them.

[AntsDakota]

If they'll attack a human, they'll probably attack a reptile, too. I guess an ant's philosophy is, "Attack anything without colony pheromones, no matter how small or large, mellow or deadly."

[BugFinder]

It make sense.

[BugFinder]

Here is a vivarium with a gecko, a frog, a crab all manner of snails, slugs, bettles, spiders, millipedes, termites, and more than 3 different varieties of ants.

 

this is probablhy the most epic privately owned Vivarium in the world.  I would have added a couple more frogs, I would have added a Beta to the pond, an african dwarf frog in the pond, and some kuhli loaches, but even though he neglected the poind, 

 

What do you guys think of this??  

[BugFinder]

this is another one he buiilt that has salemanders and scorpions in it, as well as a butt load of ant species.   

[BugFinder]

Wouldn't it be fun to build a vivarium where a gecko can live maybe a frog, a crab, a couple small fish, several species of ants, and some psylicibin mushrooms!!   

[Canadant]

Go for it.

[Barristan]

[VenomousBeast]

If you want a reptile that'll help with population control, you can use blind snakes or little brown skinks. Their scales are so smooth and flat that the ants can't get a grip on them

[ponerinecat]

It works, you just need a fairly aggressive herp and a fairly docile ant. Like lasius or brachymyrmex or something.

[NickAnter]

Yeah, I would advise something like Lasius, or Myrmentoma. Both of which are pretty docile. Though, you really dant need to control the population of Myrmentoma. They have pretty small colonies most of the time.

[AntsDakota]

Lasius can be aggressive when they want to be. Mature colonies will swarm earthworms by the hundreds. Not that they could take down a reptile or anything though.................

[BugFinder]

If you want a reptile that'll help with population control, you can use blind snakes or little brown skinks. Their scales are so smooth and flat that the ants can't get a grip on them

 

great suggestion!  Thanks.

[VenomousBeast]

I've only seen a blind snake once in person and that was in this pot of Dragon fruit I was growing. There was this tetramorium colony and I wanted to watch their progress so I could know when they were flying. Well, this blind snake kept their population down enough that they didn't even produce alates! Like, they still had enough workers to stay alive and function but this snake was wise enough not to eat all of it and to only eat a certain amount. I found it occasionally on the surface for a few seconds with ants swarming the heck out of it, but just kept doing what it was doing and the ants did nothing to it. I was Amazing! We named the snake the Conqueror of the Dragons! (which we named the colony the dragons because they lived in my Dragonfruit pot)

[steam_funk]

The only ants that wouldn't harass smaller animals would be difficult to actually see. And larger reptiles would just destroy the nest.