Will ants affect the Guinea Pigs.

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ninz

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I never thought about it much but now that I am thinking about it, I feel so sick. I really want to keep piggies but if the ants cause a problem then it's a big no no.

Basically, I had moved into my new home in 2003 and in 2005 we started to get problems like little tiny ants. Not the ones who find in England! The usual black ants we can deal with but these ones are sooo annoying.

I have a feeling that my next door neighbour was the one who bought these into England. They are somalian and had gone back to their country. One day the lady rang at our door and then said, would you like some sugar from my country?

I thought this was a really weird question and said no thank you (Sainsburys is a 10 min walk from us!) From then on I remember seeing little tiny red/brownish ants. Now it has become so much that we cannot leave food out, we keep all our food in containers. They walk all over the place, in ourbedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, the carpet.

I don't know what to do :( My other neighbours have it too.

I am worried that if I get guinea pigs, they might be attracted by the hay? Or food that has been left over for a while.

I feel like crying :0 I hate these ants and I'm a huge wuss, I just won't kill them. I think I am going to go to the council but after Christmas time. See what they will do.

Yesterday I found 100's of them in my cupboard under my very neatly piled clothes! I screamed! There was also 3 huge ants (perhaps royal members?) My mum hoovered the lot and then went through each of my clothes trying to get rid of all the ants she could find.

Just feel horrible. I need to get a good pic of one. I don't know what it is but my mum said you only find these in hot countries.
 
:)) Yeh I am about 98% sure!

They look just like ants but much smaller and reddy-browny colour. They have the same body shape as ants, same no, of legs, same attennas at the front.
 
ninz said:
:)) Yeh I am about 98% sure!

They look just like ants but much smaller and reddy-browny colour. They have the same body shape as ants, same no, of legs, same attennas at the front.
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to be honest, if they were from somalia, they wouldnt be able to survive our winter temperatures so its unlikely. Call the council. Get the neighbours with the same problem to call too.
 
Thing is I don't think they went to Somalia, they are somalian but they came from Dubai. Again it's a hot country, but I'm just not sure. You do not get sugar ants in this country! You get these ants in hotter regions so I don't understand why they will not die here. It ruins everything, you can't keep anything in the house!

I'll just see what the council says. I don't have much hope in them as they are annoying, but if they get annoying I will threaten to realise the ants everywhere and cause chaos. I'm just so fed up of them :0
 
Your comments about the neighbours bringing them from another country are ridiculous.
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Thank you for being so kind :(

Did the ants in your flat get into all your foods, in cereal boxes etc? Were the also 2mm? I have just never heard about these ants being here.
 
Could be the pharoah ants...? Also it mentions it being originally from the tropics so I guess my suspicions aren't exactly ridiculous :)
 
Yes they did. Did you read the link I sent? It explains about the red ants and how to get rid.

I said that as I found your comments racist.
 
NO NO! I am not racist at all! I have friends who are somalians, I am a muslim just like my neighbour! I am not racist and I think it is very unfair of you to judge me like that. The reason I said Somalian is because to give everyone an idea of the places they could go on holiday!

They bought back sugar from dubai and around that area, these ants are SUGAR CRAZY, they could have easily been in the sack they bought. They bought huge huge sacks into their garage and I just think ever since then, we have had those problems.
 
They sound like red ants as the other type would more likely to be found in the summer. It says Pharaoh ants originate from the tropics. Nowhere near Somali or Dubai.
 
Well you never explained that part to me! They may be from the sugar. I thought it was illegal to bring food from other countries nowadays anyway. Well I think you should get pest control in. Best to find out what they are and get rid of them.
 
if they are getting to food there is no doubt they will get to the pigs food and there food needs to be left out,
The best thing to do is get hold of the council who should get a pest control guy out, they may spray your house or something but if they do it's best they do before you get any pigs that would be effected by the chemicals, If you can get some of the other neighbours to complain about the ants it would help get the councils attention and send a solution quicker.
 
I think I will do that, I will speak to my other neighbours about it and see what we will do.

I am thinking that they may have to do the whole house and the other 4-5 houses.

Thanks for your help, if ants go away, welcome piggies and if not then I'll just have to hope of moving out and getting them one day
 
Do not worry as the ants will go away eventually. Try to clean up any crumbs and not leave drinks out over night. As a child I would leave a drink by my bed and wake up to see ants floating around in it. So horrible. Good luck with it.
 
We will try to do our best. My budgies have luckily not been affected by them, they don't get into their seeds and veggies they are given. The veggies are taken away after an hour or so. Just glad that they are ok.

If these ants do not go, they may get into the hay? I don't want the piggies munching on ants or getting bitten by them etc.

Thanks for your help and the link.
 
Yes they would get into the hay as they like to get into everything. The ants also bite so it would be risky. Once this is sorted out you can get your guinea pigs. Phone the pest control tomorrow and get things sorted. Stress how bad it is so they come sooner.
 
Piggyfan, thank you for your advice. However I think you should apologise. Your comments caused quite a bit of upset, and it seemed you jumped to conclusions about ninz being racist.
 
I think you should mind your own business. The first messages she posted did sound like they were racist. It was only when she explained that I realised she did not mean it that way. She has since spoken to me so why are you interfering?
 
He is my boyfriend, so any business I have affects him. I think he is just worried and I do think it was unfair too as I was only just stating the facts.
 
I explained why I thought that and carried on talking to you about the ants so why do you feel the need to bring it up and run to your boyfriend? This is so childish. I am not going to say sorry and you can both gang up on me. If you read the first post it does sound racist.
 
piggyfan said:
I think you should mind your own business. The first messages she posted did sound like they were racist. It was only when she explained that I realised she did not mean it that way. She has since spoken to me so why are you interfering?
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I am not here to argue, and I apologise for not introducing myself first. However, all I am asking for is an apology. You said that you realised she did not mean it that way, so can you not apologise?

I think anyone who has seen ninz's history of posts would realise that she did not mean any offence.
 
Just another thing, I am sorry, I don't want to upset you etc.

JUst that on this forum I have noticed that sometimes things can get nasty and I think we, as in me, everyone should refrain from saying things that can be hurtful. I at the mooment have depression and any tiny thing anyone says can be hurtful, it makes me teary and I know I should be stronger but it hurts.

I remember being on the budgie forum and it was just so lovely, I never had to think about posting anything, no one would be mean. Only recently had it gotten funny people most of the old members have left and now I have too. They were arguing about silly things and it all started from a silly comment.

I am not saying your mean just that jumping to conclusions is where we all need to be careful. I don't think there was anything racist in anything I said and felt there was no reason to explain either even though I did.
 
I also realised she did not mean any offence which is why I explained myself to her and also researched into her problem.
 
It's all sorted, what's important is the piggies!!

I cannot wait to give advice to people about their first pigs when I become more experty!

These ants must go!
 
I did not mean to upset you. I merely felt offended by your post until I realised what you meant. I explained that to you so I see no need to carry this on and involve your boyfriend. I am not on here to cause trouble and genuinely want to help people and try my best to.
 
I didn't run to my boyfriend lol He reads all my posts about guinea pigs as he would like them too :))

I am not ganging up on you, I've left it, what he says is something I cannot control.
 
piggyfan said:
I did not mean to upset you. I merely felt offended by your post until I realised what you meant. I explained that to you so I see no need to carry this on and involve your boyfriend. I am not on here to cause trouble and genuinely want to help people and try my best to.
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Thank you for your help, just that if you felt I was racist, just say it sounds racist rather than saying it in a mean way. It's over now and thank you for your help... I will definately try and sort this out and might post what happens.
 
Getting back to the original query, it sounds more like book lice or Psocids, you need to Google them for a picture but they do like warm humid conditions & are totally harmless, in fact most houses have them if people look closely enough rolleyes

http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/live/pestbooklice.cfm

Clear any mess up that's lying about & have a good clean, they like dust & cereal packets left open etc. I use clips to seal all my cereals, sugar etc, or use large sandwich bags tied at the top. I also keep flour in the fridge as it prevents flour weevils or book lice getting into it.

Hope that helps :)
 
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