Help! Ants in my incubator!

peachridgechicks

Chirping
Mar 21, 2023
17
57
59
My incubator is full with 5 days left til hatch. This morning it seems that small black ants have taken residence in a nearby plant and then into the water of the incubator. I can see several on the walls.

Do I open it and clean it all out or will I ruin the hatch??
 
My incubator is full with 5 days left til hatch. This morning it seems that small black ants have taken residence in a nearby plant and then into the water of the incubator. I can see several on the walls.

Do I open it and clean it all out or will I ruin the hatch??
Sorry I don’t know anything about incubators, but definitely move the plant or incubator away from each other if you can.
 
Personally, I would want to clean the incubator. You can carefully take the eggs out and place them in a bowl, shoebox, or anything else that will prevent them from rolling around too much. You can line your "nest" with paper towels or rags to minimize the chance of them breaking. The eggs should be good to sit out for a while without heat, but if you want, you can steam up a bathroom and put them in there while you clean the incubator.
 
Personally, I would want to clean the incubator. You can carefully take the eggs out and place them in a bowl, shoebox, or anything else that will prevent them from rolling around too much. You can line your "nest" with paper towels or rags to minimize the chance of them breaking. The eggs should be good to sit out for a while without heat, but if you want, you can steam up a bathroom and put them in there while you clean the incubator.
Thank you, I think I will do that. I thought they were just in the area with water but the more I look it seems like they're setting up shop in the dry area 😓
 
My incubator is full with 5 days left til hatch. This morning it seems that small black ants have taken residence in a nearby plant and then into the water of the incubator. I can see several on the walls.

Do I open it and clean it all out or will I ruin the hatch??
With 5 days left it’s no problem to take the eggs out for a bit and get the ants out. You could do it now or when you put the eggs into lockdown. I’d think you definitely don’t want them in there to bite the chicks.

I’ve had good luck with spinosaid spray for ants. It’s organic approved and safe for mammals birds etc so you could spray around the incubator to keep them coming back. Just keep in mind it will also kill bees so don’t spray it on any flowers that bees would come too😃

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bonide-C...VpB59Ch2l6wzJEAQYBSABEgIsqPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
With 5 days left it’s no problem to take the eggs out for a bit and get the ants out. You could do it now or when you put the eggs into lockdown. I’d think you definitely don’t want them in there to bite the chicks.

I’ve had good luck with spinosaid spray for ants. It’s organic approved and safe for mammals birds etc so you could spray around the incubator to keep them coming back. Just keep in mind it will also kill bees so don’t spray it on any flowers that bees would come too😃

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bonide-C...VpB59Ch2l6wzJEAQYBSABEgIsqPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Thank you! I'll have to look for that at the store today. I ended up moving the incubator to a different spot, even after cleaning it and removing the plant the ants still seem to be trying to get in. Hopefully that plus some ant spray makes the difference 🤞
 

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