# Ants as a snack?



## TheCheese909 (Aug 11, 2011)

I haven't been spraying the outside of my house for ants every month like I usually do, I think I only did it in January and have just forgotten every month since. Yesterday/last night one of my cats pointed out to me that I have a slight ant problem in my hallway (thankfully they are black and not red), I went on super cleaning mode last night and was up till 5:30am cleaning up the house (it freaks me out having them inside my home) so that the problem wouldn't spread anywhere else. I haven't yet sprayed outside or sprayed anything inside, I know not to spray anything near the fish or anything like that, no ants as of yet anywhere near them...

(in short)

I was wondering if any squished ones (death by finger lol) would be okay to feed my fish? I know these are not wild Bettas in anyway, but I would think in the wild they indeed would eat an ant or two. I haven't chemically treated any of them (yet) so I figured it would be safe to give them like, one each and it would be okay. 
Thoughts?


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## LebronTheBetta (Apr 23, 2012)

I wouldn't risk it if I were you. And for the Ant Control, keep in mind that Ants leave a Scent Trail for other Ants if they found a Crumb or something.


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## TheCheese909 (Aug 11, 2011)

Yes I know the scent trail, hence the major house cleaning. Thankfully it looks like they just got here they were not going in any specific direction and were rather scattered- I only found about 20(ish) of them.

I haven't fed anyone any still, I was planning on giving everyone their weekly Daphnia and had just wondered about it. I wouldn't mind actually having an ant farm for my fish aside from the fact that I *hate* ants.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Ants are a great fish/Betta food as long as they are free of pesticides.....

Also, if you have any potted plants in the house-check them out for ants-often this is one of the places they will build nest.
You can use a diluted vinegar or bleach in a spray bottle to spray areas to kill their scent trail....


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I heard some ants contain some kind of acid ... 
I usually leave a pot of water outside my house and feed any stray unfortunate bugs that have landed in there to my fish


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## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

I wouldn't. Insects caught from the wild often carry parasites. You have no idea what they have walked through or ingested. These are the same reasons people will tell you to avoid feeding wild caught insects to your reptiles. Despite it being a natural food source, we want our captive animals to be parasite free for their overall health and longevity. Again, that is not the only reason. The insects can have pesticides on them or have ingested food with pesticides on it. Even if you don't use chemicals, the insects could have traveled from a neighbor who does.


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## Enkil (Jan 15, 2012)

Oldfishlady said:


> Ants are a great fish/Betta food as long as they are free of pesticides.....
> 
> Also, if you have any potted plants in the house-check them out for ants-often this is one of the places they will build nest.
> You can use a diluted vinegar or bleach in a spray bottle to spray areas to kill their scent trail....


+1


I know that my Freydis has had at least one ant that had the misfortune of investigating their tank. We have sugar ants no matter how clean we keep things. They even get into the dog food. I watched Freydis eat one. No ill effects.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

+1 OFL
I sometimes feed mine ant eggs which often has live ants in them (rather large red ant - fire ant (?)). My bettas often eat them.... but the eggs are better food - soft easy to digest and high in protein.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Starting to feel bad that I eat wild gathered berries and mushrooms. Lol. Don't eat it it's been outside!
Our fish are already full of parasites (farmed fish actually have more than wild fish..) So I'm pretty sure they can handle it. I collect mosquito larvae from our rain barrel.
I think the question is whether or not ants themselves are toxic, which has been answered by people that have experienced this.
Indjo, where on earth do you find ant eggs? D: especially from fire ants.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Shadyr (Mar 27, 2012)

Not quite ants but....

Ghost likes gnats.


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## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

I would rather be safe than sorry. If any of my animals appear to have parasites, then I treat them. Reptile folks constantly say not to feed wild insects for the reasons already mentioned. I don't see the situation being any different for fish. So I will just agree to disagree.


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## TheCheese909 (Aug 11, 2011)

I actually think I might have killed them all before getting the chance to try. I've only once given my fish live food and it was back when I only had Psych, so early last year and it was a tiny little centipede or a millipede that somehow had the misfortune of finding its way to the top of Psych's bowl.. a little nudge and it fell in lol. 

I've thought about putting a bucket of water outside to see if i could get some mosquito larva to show up but knowing me I would forget I put it there and then have a million mosquitoes at my back door lol.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Olympia said:


> Starting to feel bad that I eat wild gathered berries and mushrooms. Lol. Don't eat it it's been outside!
> Our fish are already full of parasites (farmed fish actually have more than wild fish..) So I'm pretty sure they can handle it. I collect mosquito larvae from our rain barrel.
> I think the question is whether or not ants themselves are toxic, which has been answered by people that have experienced this.
> Indjo, where on earth do you find ant eggs? D: especially from fire ants.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


In my country ant eggs .... actually it's a mixture or many different larva (ants, bees, etc) .... are sold as bird food (people also often use it for fishing). Every time I get some for my birds, I leave some for my bettas.

I sometimes gather my own (small black ants - but not those tiny sugar ants) that nests under a wood or rocks..... but it's a hassle - I have to smoke/burn the adults away.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

LionCalie said:


> I would rather be safe than sorry. If any of my animals appear to have parasites, then I treat them. Reptile folks constantly say not to feed wild insects for the reasons already mentioned. I don't see the situation being any different for fish. So I will just agree to disagree.


What do fish eat in the wild? In many of those countries there are still parasites. I feed my bettas pellets, frozen bloodworms, and live mosquito larvae. There is no harm at all, I haven't had a problem with feeding my bettas any sort of live food. Also OFL feeds almost all her fish insects she finds.


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## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

What do geckos eat in the wild? Yet you won't find anyone recommending you go and catch your own crickets or other insects.

I guess it is a personal preference.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

That it is... The only difference with prepared commercial foods is that they're cooked, but tons of dog foods have been killing dogs lately due to not being cooked enough.
Like I said our fish are already carrying lots of illnesses and nasties, they have immune systems. The day I see a fish become sick from insects I'll take that back. I mean I wouldn't gather from a puddle in the GTA but I live near a healthy ecosystem that I consider safe.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Anything caught in nature often carry diseases specially those living in water, like worms, daphnia etc. But I believe ants are pretty "clean". They are cleaner than any fly species. The eggs/larva should be parasite free - otherwise they would die. To be safe, only feed freshly gathered ant eggs, though they can eat adult ants. 

I breed and raise my bettas in rather old and dirty water, feed live food to the young. They become stronger and have better natural repellents (?) against parasites compared to those bred and raised in clean water - compared to the ones I bought. Thus far ant/ant eggs has never given me problems (both fresh and .... dead or3 day old eggs). If I repeatedly rinse newly caught worms, daphnia and mosq. larva, I wouldn't have any problems either.

It's personal reference and judgement. You know the environment from which personally caught/gathered insects came from. So you can judge if it's safe for you little friends or not. Bought live foods is more of a gamble because we don't know their origin.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I live near a swamp, which is one of the most fragile ecosystems.. It's full of frogs, leaches and crayfish, which are all indicators of a healthy environment since they are so sensitive.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Crowntailed (Apr 19, 2012)

I live up north in the middle of the woods. And i feed my fish/reptiles wild bugs, Grass hoppers i like the best because i know they were born there and because we dont spray pesticides. So theres nothing realy wrong feeding bugs as long as you know what the bugs have been eating and how they live. Now i dont feed my pets any bugs from my house because who knows what there eating/drinking in my house. If you live in a city then you should never feed bugs but where i live i know its safe.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Olympia said:


> I live near a swamp, which is one of the most fragile ecosystems.. It's full of frogs, leaches and crayfish, *which are all indicators of a healthy environment since they are so sensitive.*
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Not necessarily. What ever creatures that thrives there managed to develop immune systems that can overcome what ever parasites (natural selection). Fish caught from nature will survive if they can get through their stress but domestically bred fish may get sick if they're kept in the same tank. This indicates that the wild specimen has better immune systems compared to domesticated fish, not because it's from a healthy environment, though .


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

indjo said:


> Not necessarily. What ever creatures that thrives there managed to develop immune systems that can overcome what ever parasites (natural selection). Fish caught from nature will survive if they can get through their stress but domestically bred fish may get sick if they're kept in the same tank. This indicates that the wild specimen has better immune systems compared to domesticated fish, not because it's from a healthy environment, though .


Sorry, wasn't clear on that. I meant healthy as in free of human pollutants like pesticides, which is what I'd worry about. The animals I listed are the first to go when there are pesticides or other toxic human pollution in the environment. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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