Lots of ants found in cork bark

[rob_arthur]

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

[sparkle]

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

[penfold]

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

[crow]

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).

[Lucifus]

Originally Posted by crow

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.

[rakpeterson]

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.

[hooked_on_dragons]

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!

[al stotton]

Originally Posted by penfold

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

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!

[penfold]

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

[al stotton]

Originally Posted by penfold

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

Hmm........Rhetorically question