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Can ants hurt an adult RES? I noticed we have a lot by the pond now and when she comes out to see us and beg, they crawl on her. I noticed they go into her shell and one got in her eye and she brushed it off.

Can they bite her?

I would first find out what kind of ants you have. Fire ants can bite and if they are getting into the turtle's shell, they may be biting her, which can probably lead to disease. Try to find something that you can put near the pond that would get rid of ants.

One solution I can think of from when I was in school (many many years ago) is to build a moat around the pond and fill it with water. Ants can't swim!

I live in the south were red ants (fire ants) are everywhere. We have a trick that works quite well and doesn't hurt the environment. Heavily sprinkle instant grits on the ant hill. The ants eat the grits and when they drink water the grits expand and the ants die! It really does work!

That just made me think of that line from My Cousin Vinny... "No self-respecting Southerner uses instant grits" lmao

I agree! That's why we put them on the ants!

I"d get rid of them, even if they don't bite, they sound annoying (grits is an interesting idea).