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Old 05-29-2022, 04:54 AM   #11
Shina
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Join Date: May 2022
Location: Kota Kinabalu,Malaysia
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Default Re: Ants infested cage with hamster babies

Unfortunately, the weak baby did not survive and passed, should I get rid of the corpse or let mama handle it? I think it is really dead because it's body was so stiff...

Last edited by Shina; 05-29-2022 at 05:09 AM.
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Old 05-29-2022, 05:39 AM   #12
Ria P
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Default Re: Ants infested cage with hamster babies

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shina View Post
Unfortunately, the weak baby did not survive and passed, should I get rid of the corpse or let mama handle it? I think it is really dead because it's body was so stiff...
I'm sorry to hear this and don't know the correct answer but i would remove the dead baby. Leaving it could attract more insects and add to the current problem.
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Old 05-29-2022, 09:06 AM   #13
souffle
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Default Re: Ants infested cage with hamster babies

You need to stop the ants accessing the room / house. you should be able to track them to the entry point and put down ant powder or block up holes. Move the whole cage to a safe room. The ants will even come to get hamster food and can be attracted to the urine even so stopping them coming in is the key to stopping them getting to the hamsters. They will have a nest somewhere and will be collecting food to take back there. You could put out a bait trap and see if they go there and then follow them going back to the nest.
A dead pup needs removed. Use a spoon and rub it in the bedding then scoop up the pup. Mum could get ill if she disposes of a pup that has been dead for a while.
If there are other signs of illness you need to see a vet.
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Old 05-29-2022, 04:18 PM   #14
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Ants infested cage with hamster babies

Are red ant habits the same as normal ant habits? Asking as you mentioned them coming from a nest. I had a problem with this (normal ants) in a rented house. They were living in the wall cavity. Eventually found the way they came in was a tiny crack in the wall next to a window ledge. They can get out through the tiniest crack. Every evening they would come out and there’d be this long line of masses of them traipsing into the kitchen and they got into everything! Especially sweet things. Under jam jar lids etc.

Anyway we used nippon. You had to put it on a coin - a few drops - next to their exit into the house (the wall crack). It tastes sweet to them - they eat it and take it back to the nest and it basically poisons all the hatchlings and the ants. They were all gone very quickly with that. However it depends what time of year it is - if it gets to the hatchlings hatching you get flying ants and Queen flying ants and they will all come out - too late for the nippon to work - it only works before the flying ones hatch. The wings drop off eventually and they become normal ants.

People think they come in from outside but sometimes they nest in wall cavities and come through wall cracks. Sealing there crack doesn’t work - they just find another one (or break down the filler!).

So if you can find where they are appearing from in the evening - then you can put something like nippon down (assume it’s works in red ants). But if you say you have the flying ones too then there isn’t anything you can do but Hoover them up, open the windows and let them fly out. Or spray the room regularly (which isn’t good for humans or hamsters).

If you move the hamster cage and set a sweet trap near where the ants are coming from they may not go for the hamster cage (like a dish of honey or something). That might work for the ground ones - the flying ones will be anywhere.
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Old 05-29-2022, 09:07 PM   #15
Shina
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Join Date: May 2022
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Default Re: Ants infested cage with hamster babies

So far, there has been no ants seen around the cage for now, so I moved it to an unused sofa, since my mother still wants to use her piano stool/bench, I've put powered ant killers near windows and doors as well as going around spraying wood vinegar near the crevices, outside, and near the windows. They've stopped attacking for now... My clues led to a crevice near the floor baseboard, they have grown smarter to not take the powder though? They put weevils as guinea pigs, I've found them lying next to the powder.
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