Ant Problem????

[Hawk]

In past few weeks there has been posts about ant problems....

Wanted to add that household "Borax" laundry additive and sugar mixed together is a lethal combination for ants. Even sprinkle borax around the perimeter of house and you won't have ants entering.

Also Plant Mint around the house outside, ants hate mint.

Have not seen a single ant in my house in over a year since doing this.

 

[AshMGon]

Oh my gosh they are such a problem for me!

I have tried everything, though it IS seasonal (so there's some relief)

Our house is immaculate. We always clean under his cage and try to wipe the ant's 'scent trails' from the legs of his cage. All to no avail. Ant traps helped a little but they keep coming.

It confuses us because our house is so darn clean...food is never left on the floor. We wipe away the scent trails and scrub beneath his cage. We cannot understand how the ants manage to find their way up the cage legs.

Our main problem however (and the reason we limit the poison) is that the ants find their way INTO poor Milo's food bowls. It thankfully has not affected how much he eats but oh my goodness! With my OCD it drives me up the wall.

We have bleached and windexed...but I'm afraid of poisoning them with borax because Milo may accidentally ingest one, and that thought scares me.

I'm wondering if anyone has a poisoning alternative? And I love mint but it's so invasive...and the garden would suffer.

 

[RavensGryf]

Thanks Hawk! We can always use more suggestions. I'm still considering using the gel once the weather stays consistently hot and we start seeing them again.

AshMGon, even the cleanest homes can get ants . Depends if you're lucky enough to have their underground nests established around your house or neighborhood.

 

[thekarens]

As stupid as this sounds I wonder if you could put one of the aluminum pie plates under each leg of the cage and fill them with water. Can ants swim or would they drown?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Great suggestions, Hawk, thank you for that.

I'd like to caution anyone about planting "Mint" freely in the garden, however, as most varieties will take over the entire yard in no time at all. :54: My MIL snuck some mint into my garden, planted a small amount in the furthest corner. That was about 5 years ago. To this day I'm yanking out the 'runners' in the opposite corner of my yard.

 

[MikeyTN]

I battle with them yearly in spring and fall.....pesky pests.....

 

[Tony21]

As stupid as this sounds I wonder if you could put one of the aluminum pie plates under each leg of the cage and fill them with water. Can ants swim or would they drown?

Yes ants can swim; I actually watched a few documentaries on ants. They're actually very sophisticated, and are nifty little creatures.

I to have an ant problem in my new place, and in the fall they got quite bad in the fall (I moved here at the end of summer). I have yet to find a way to keep these suckers away, but poison seem work the best. That being said; I don't have issues with them going into my conures cage.

 

[Hawk]

Oh my gosh they are such a problem for me!

I have tried everything, though it IS seasonal (so there's some relief)

Our house is immaculate. We always clean under his cage and try to wipe the ant's 'scent trails' from the legs of his cage. All to no avail. Ant traps helped a little but they keep coming.

It confuses us because our house is so darn clean...food is never left on the floor. We wipe away the scent trails and scrub beneath his cage. We cannot understand how the ants manage to find their way up the cage legs.

Our main problem however (and the reason we limit the poison) is that the ants find their way INTO poor Milo's food bowls. It thankfully has not affected how much he eats but oh my goodness! With my OCD it drives me up the wall.

We have bleached and windexed...but I'm afraid of poisoning them with borax because Milo may accidentally ingest one, and that thought scares me.

I'm wondering if anyone has a poisoning alternative? And I love mint but it's so invasive...and the garden would suffer.

If you place the borax with sugar ( Mixed together, or sugary treat of some sort) on the OUTSIDE of your house, around foundation, you won't see ants at all in your house come following season.

I don't know about anyone else, but my birds are outside with us, and watched carefully, they don't seem to like ants and won't eat one....tried one year and the parrots just turn their backs and ignore the ants.

Mint, peppermint, lemon balm, spearmint (potted) in pots around house or in ground, controlled by a in ground ( foot deep barrier, metal or aluminum) will keep plants from spreading and IS very effective on ants.

 

[Hawk]

Great suggestions, Hawk, thank you for that.

I'd like to caution anyone about planting "Mint" freely in the garden, however, as most varieties will take over the entire yard in no time at all. :54: My MIL snuck some mint into my garden, planted a small amount in the furthest corner. That was about 5 years ago. To this day I'm yanking out the 'runners' in the opposite corner of my yard.

Mint is actually not armful to the birds, though most won't eat much of it.
We have dandelions, which is edible for birds. The greens can be cooked like spinach and very rich in vitamins.

 

[thekarens]

Great suggestions, Hawk, thank you for that.

I'd like to caution anyone about planting "Mint" freely in the garden, however, as most varieties will take over the entire yard in no time at all. :54: My MIL snuck some mint into my garden, planted a small amount in the furthest corner. That was about 5 years ago. To this day I'm yanking out the 'runners' in the opposite corner of my yard.

Mint is actually not armful to the birds, though most won't eat much of it.
We have dandelions, which is edible for birds. The greens can be cooked like spinach and very rich in vitamins.

I don't think Wendy was cautioning about the danger of birds ingesting the mint. She was cautioning that if you plant it it will take over your yard.

 

[Surfincr]

As stupid as this sounds I wonder if you could put one of the aluminum pie plates under each leg of the cage and fill them with water. Can ants swim or would they drown?

Yes ants can swim; I actually watched a few documentaries on ants. They're actually very sophisticated, and are nifty little creatures.

I to have an ant problem in my new place, and in the fall they got quite bad in the fall (I moved here at the end of summer). I have yet to find a way to keep these suckers away, but poison seem work the best. That being said; I don't have issues with them going into my conures cage.

interesting fact, they technically dont swim they are actually able to walk on the water due to the surface tension of the water itself (caught it on a documentary as well), same thing with spiders etc. adding one drop of dish soap to the water gets rid of the surface tension so the ants can no longer stay above water.

i've tried it and found it works well

 

[thekarens]

As stupid as this sounds I wonder if you could put one of the aluminum pie plates under each leg of the cage and fill them with water. Can ants swim or would they drown?

Yes ants can swim; I actually watched a few documentaries on ants. They're actually very sophisticated, and are nifty little creatures.

I to have an ant problem in my new place, and in the fall they got quite bad in the fall (I moved here at the end of summer). I have yet to find a way to keep these suckers away, but poison seem work the best. That being said; I don't have issues with them going into my conures cage.

interesting fact, they technically dont swim they are actually able to walk on the water due to the surface tension of the water itself (caught it on a documentary as well), same thing with spiders etc. adding one drop of dish soap to the water gets rid of the surface tension so the ants can no longer stay above water.

i've tried it and found it works well

Interesting! You can tell I don't have any problems.... Every other bug, but no ants.

 

[Tony21]

As stupid as this sounds I wonder if you could put one of the aluminum pie plates under each leg of the cage and fill them with water. Can ants swim or would they drown?

Yes ants can swim; I actually watched a few documentaries on ants. They're actually very sophisticated, and are nifty little creatures.

I to have an ant problem in my new place, and in the fall they got quite bad in the fall (I moved here at the end of summer). I have yet to find a way to keep these suckers away, but poison seem work the best. That being said; I don't have issues with them going into my conures cage.

interesting fact, they technically dont swim they are actually able to walk on the water due to the surface tension of the water itself (caught it on a documentary as well), same thing with spiders etc. adding one drop of dish soap to the water gets rid of the surface tension so the ants can no longer stay above water.

i've tried it and found it works well

Yes this what I meant, Wrote that in a hurry sorry for the confusion!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Great suggestions, Hawk, thank you for that.

I'd like to caution anyone about planting "Mint" freely in the garden, however, as most varieties will take over the entire yard in no time at all. :54: My MIL snuck some mint into my garden, planted a small amount in the furthest corner. That was about 5 years ago. To this day I'm yanking out the 'runners' in the opposite corner of my yard.

Mint is actually not armful to the birds, though most won't eat much of it.
We have dandelions, which is edible for birds. The greens can be cooked like spinach and very rich in vitamins.

I don't think Wendy was cautioning about the danger of birds ingesting the mint. She was cautioning that if you plant it it will take over your yard.

Ditto, Karen!

 

[Hawk]

Great suggestions, Hawk, thank you for that.

I'd like to caution anyone about planting "Mint" freely in the garden, however, as most varieties will take over the entire yard in no time at all. :54: My MIL snuck some mint into my garden, planted a small amount in the furthest corner. That was about 5 years ago. To this day I'm yanking out the 'runners' in the opposite corner of my yard.

Mint is actually not armful to the birds, though most won't eat much of it.
We have dandelions, which is edible for birds. The greens can be cooked like spinach and very rich in vitamins.

I don't think Wendy was cautioning about the danger of birds ingesting the mint. She was cautioning that if you plant it it will take over your yard.

Oh I know....LOL...Thought I'd throw it in... there are many flowering plants that that we grow that are edible for birds....so we basically arrange our garden to include apple blossoms, chives, coriander, lilacs, milk thistle, and a few others....