Can Leopard Geckos eat Ants?

Ants are the most common insects on the planet, they are found almost everywhere. Most geckos do not eat ants because they are venomous and harmful to leopard geckos. Live ants can bite your geckos and they suffer serious injury.

Some species of leopard geckos eat ants like myrmecophagous geckos also known as rock geckos found in the horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Why should you not feed Ants to your leopard geckos?

As we know ants are venomous and harmful so offering any type of ant to your leopard geckos causes some dangerous issues. There are some reasons you do not feed ants to your Leopard Geckos as follows-

  • They make them sick
  • They carry foul-tasting formic acid
  • Less nutritional value for geckos
  • Causes some serious injuries and even kills them.

As we know ants are not good for geckos so if you see ants in leopard geckos surrounding them then remove them immediately.

What To Do If Your Leopard Gecko Has Eaten An Ant?

Ants are poisonous to the geckos' health. If your leopard geckos ate an ant then follow the steps given below-

  • First, move your leopard geckos to a safe place like an ant-free container or another vivarium
  • Then check the vivarium properly and clean the vivarium. Check the area for more ants.
  • If you saw ants there, catch them to show the vet. This is because it helps with the treatment of your leopard geckos properly.
  • Observe your geckos for symptoms given below -
  • If you see any above symptoms then take your leopard geckos to the vet as soon as possible.

How to keep Ants away from the vivarium without harming your Leopard Geckos?

Ants infestation can be deadly for geckos in vivariums. In this solution, I will explain to you some methods to eliminate ants from vivarium, which will be effective and pet friendly. Methods are given below -

Affix Double-Sided Tape- Apply Double Sided Tape around the outside and bottom or top of the vivarium around several rounds. This method helps to stick ants in one place and ants can't try to move ahead. 

Note- Don't use tape near heat elements.

Put Petroleum Jelly Products- By putting petroleum jelly like Vaseline on the outside and top of the vivarium make the surface slippery and stops ants from getting in.

Apply Cinnamon or Peppermint Oil- Use Cinnamon on Carpet. This green solution helps to repel ants from the vivarium. This oil is best for those areas where ants sit for a couple of hours.

Wash vivarium using Vinegar- Wash floor and windows using Vinegar for scent trails that they leave. This method helps to make the surroundings clean.

Create Pepper Boundary- Create a black or cayenne pepper boundary because ants hate these two types of peppers.

If you don't have any choice then use traps or ant poison.

NOTE - Ant poison is very harmful to your Leopard Geckos' health.

How to clean a vivarium infested with ants?

Some steps you should follow carefully while cleaning the vivarium are as follows -

  • The best way is to first remove everything like plants, substrate, etc from the vivarium and clean it properly. After cleaning, place them again in the vivarium.
  • Wash and disinfect the vivarium inside and outside with the help of vivarium cleaner and disinfectant. You can easily buy this product on Amazon.
  • After that, wash any food, water dishes, toys, etc that are present in the vivarium and clean them with soapy water and toothpaste. This will help to remove any traces of the ant scent.
  • After that wait and let them dry completely and then place them again into the vivarium.
  • Take care of the plants that were inside the vivarium.
  • Remove all the soil present in the vivarium so that the ant can't hide in the roots.
  • Wash leaves and step properly with clean water and be aware that there are no ants hiding in the folds of the plants.
  • At last, before moving all things back into place in the vivarium, be aware to clean the surrounding with the help of vinegar to get rid of ant scent trails.