# Lots of ants found in cork bark



## rob_arthur (Mar 14, 2008)

hi, yesterday i bought a piece of cork bark from a reptile shop to go into my new viv.

i took the bark out of the bag and placed it on top of the viv. i came back to it later to find lots of ants crawling out of the bark.

there are hundreds. i have submerged the piece of bark in a big bucket of hot water all day and there are still more coming out.

are there any other ways to try and iradicate the ants from the bark without damaging the bark itself?

also has anyone else found ants or other insects in there cork bark. seems a bit wierd. surely they should be cleaned before selling?

rob


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

ants live in wood...

if the wood hasnt been CUREd then its stil fair game..

what type of wood is it..

the ONLY way to get rid is a 10% bleach solution and boiling water..

personally id chuck it.. i wouldnt want to risk it..

i use java wood.. which is totally cleaned and blasted smooth


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## penfold (Sep 9, 2007)

sometimes there are ant eggs in the bark when you put it in a nice warm viv they hatch the answer is bake it in the oven:2thumb:


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## crow (May 27, 2007)

Stick it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a couple of days. Better than setting fire to the oven! (and it works, will kill all the bugs).


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

crow said:


> Stick it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a couple of days. Better than setting fire to the oven! (and it works, will kill all the bugs).


Yup freeze it.


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## rakpeterson (Oct 10, 2007)

personally i bake mine and i think you'd be hard pushed to set anything on fire.....just keep on low temps and keep an eye out..........but freezing would also probably work. I know people will use bleach and water but i dont like to.


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## hooked_on_dragons (Mar 17, 2008)

I baked all my pieces of bark and driftwood etc prior to putting it in the vivs. Just use low temps & it will be fine! :2thumb:


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## al stotton (Jul 27, 2008)

penfold said:


> sometimes there are ant eggs in the bark when you put it in a nice warm viv they hatch the answer is bake it in the oven:2thumb:


Happened Only Once to me with cork bark!

Morning time....One viv,Two tribolonotus gracilis! 
= Bliss.
Evening time....One viv,Two tribolonotus gracilis + dozens of little Ants! 
= Nightmare!


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## penfold (Sep 9, 2007)

if you could put any snake in a viv with a peice of bark which was non pituophis sp wat would it be:whistling2:


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## al stotton (Jul 27, 2008)

penfold said:


> if you could put any snake in a viv with a peice of bark which was non pituophis sp wat would it be:whistling2:


Hmm........Rhetorically question:lol2:


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

crow said:


> Stick it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a couple of days. Better than setting fire to the oven! (and it works, will kill all the bugs).


That gets my vote. : victory:
It is safer than using chemicals to clean it.
But if the shop is selling wood with ants in it is it not likely to have mites kicking around as well :whistling2:
Freezing it is also good for mites but I'd leave it at least a week.


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

what if its too big to freeze or bake??

was it only me imagining it was a HUGE bit of wood

:blush:


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## DeanThorpe (Apr 9, 2006)

i think its a seriously bad idea to introduce any wood/bark to a viv without at the very least giving it a good bang around on a hard surface and a rinse...this would have caused the ant infestation to be apparent.

hot water wont kill ants, boiling will though, as will freezing [dont know about eggs though]


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## rob_arthur (Mar 14, 2008)

thanks for all the replies didnt expect this many. its a biggish bit of bark. taller than your normal bucket for washing the car say.

so it has been in the water for over a day now. i can see anymore floating about in the water. i like the ideas of baking it and freezing it. i think i will wrap it up and chuck it in the big freezers at work we use for the composite materials.

and go from there.

once its been in the freezer for about a week what do i do next?

just let it thaw out and then i can use it in my viv.

i have my viv set up now apart from this piece of cork bark.


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## Johelian (Nov 25, 2006)

Can I just ask - what colour are the ants? We had a massive problem with pharoah ants coming in a bag of mulch. Theyre an orange/red colour with black abdomen, and are slightly smaller than UK black ants. If you have these they will not be affected by hot water or whatever, purely because the reproduce so quickly (every 10th ant or so is a queen, as opposed to one in several thousand for UK native ants...thats a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea). If you suspect you have these ants get them exterminated professionally immediately, or they will spread through your house and even to any adjoining neighbours.


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## rob_arthur (Mar 14, 2008)

thanks for that intersting piece info. yes they did have a black abdomen and red head. none have escaped the bark apart from the ones which are now dead. and plus the bark is now in the freezer at work at about minus 15 degrees so hopefully wont survive that. im going to leave the bark for about a week and then check it out again.


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