How to deal with ants?!

[bonitabird59]

Hi yall, i took a hiatus from foruming n stuff for a few weeks bcause Jello my gcc decided to break my mac book (bit right through the screen, whole thing turned off).

Everyone in california right now is experiencing a ton of ants coming inside looking for water. Im an extremely clean person, kinda have to be when u have birds, so they arent going after food. ive heard from neighbors that theyre looking for water, so theres really not much we can do but wait it out. since i have birds in the areas the ants are coming in, how the hell do i deter them?! every morning i wake up and discover little trails all over the living room leading to nowhere. ive used peppermint oil as a natural method of deterrent but its not working well anymore. white vinegar is all i use to clean around the birds and that isnt helping much either. please help!! i hate these little buggies so much im like genuinely considering moving somewhere else!

 

[bonitabird59]

i also use ant traps under my bird cages but those dont help much either

 

[SailBoat]

We commonly have a professional come and spray a perimeter around the exterior of our home. Starting on the foundation and working out 6' (2 meters). The first time required two applications, but since then its only requires a single application. We let them know we have a Parrot and the application is first thing in the morning with a water base product. Although not required, we have Julio out traveling around town for the morning.

Since you are cleaning daily and using all the recommended cleaning tools, stopping them at the perimeter is the next point of defense. NOTE: Assure that you have cleaned well around your home removing bushes and plantings that make connect will the home. Target any debris that had built-up (any thing that con retain moisture). If you have a craw space or basement, they require the same detailed cleaning as well.

 

[bonitabird59]

We commonly have a professional come and spray a perimeter around the exterior of our home. Starting on the foundation and working out 6' (2 meters). The first time required two applications, but since then its only requires a single application. We let them know we have a Parrot and the application is first thing in the morning with a water base product. Although not required, we have Julio out traveling around town for the morning.

Since you are cleaning daily and using all the recommended cleaning tools, stopping them at the perimeter is the next point of defense. NOTE: Assure that you have cleaned well around your home removing bushes and plantings that make connect will the home. Target any debris that had built-up (any thing that con retain moisture). If you have a craw space or basement, they require the same detailed cleaning as well.

i live in a guest unit/studio appt and my landlords told me theyve sprayed multiple times and put diatomaceous earth down.... but im doubtful today im going to remove all furniture from the walls and deep clean scrub with vinegar so hopefully that helps but lord!!!! i am at my wit's end!!! thank u so much for the advice

 

[LaManuka]

I live in Brisbane where the ants are completely and utterly relentless, and living in an older house I'm pretty sure the underneath is so awash with ant nests I'd have to go fully thermonuclear to get rid of them. I have tried every "old husband's" remedy out there, standing the cage legs in containers of water (they learned to swim), double sided sticky tape on the cage legs (they climbed over the bridge made by the bodies of their dead colleagues!), my beloved husband suggested a moat full of burning petrol but that's really not practical either.

In terms of killing them once they're inside the house, what works for me is spray for bird mites and lice, like this stuff. I've never actually used it on my birds but if I spray it on the ants it kills 'em stone dead

The other thing that has worked for me is spraying canola oil on the cage legs, the little blighters literally cannot get a grip and slide straight off.

I hope maybe one of these will work for you!

 

[bonitabird59]

okay so theyre literally coming in through the walls. like chewed through my base boards. i contacted the 'lords again but its really driving me crazy- i found them IN my conures cage this time going for his water bowl. I freaked out and sanitized the whole thing. Ack!!

 

[Cottonoid]

I get little sugar seeking ants every spring and fall but thankfully not like that! And big carpenter ant scouts in early summer that are usually easily convinced there's no good food spruce here. I don't care for any of them being inside my house so I have a lot of sympathy for what you're dealing with! Good luck

 

[Littleredbeak]

I've used vinegar for anywhere I'd find ants as the vinegar wipes clean their scent trails

 

[SailBoat]

okay so theyre literally coming in through the walls. like chewed through my base boards. i contacted the 'lords again but its really driving me crazy- i found them IN my conures cage this time going for his water bowl. I freaked out and sanitized the whole thing. Ack!!

Understand the nightmare of it all. But, those tiny sugar ants do not activity crew wood as they commonly come though the small separations that commonly exist between the structural framing and the trim wood.

Vinegar does a great job of removing the scent trail that ants commonly use, but when they are in search for water, those ants are setting new trails and the goal is to stop that group before then get on the foundation and then into the home. Until the swarm finds a water source or it rains, the pressure remains and increasing the size of the 'kill zone' out to 6' (2 meters) is a must, externally.

 

[junior98]

We have a product here that worked for me but I felt bad about using it because it wiped out the ant colony for good. one use... terra baits. they drink this stuff an then they make trails how to find it. clean first, then use this around the cage.. put some away from cage in a line. and you may get what i did. the ants would come by, ignore climbing and going inside the cage to find food, and would just focus on the terra baits. its a clear sugar liquid and it works. once they eat this, it starts acting on them quickly, but not befor they take it back to the nest and feed the queen with it. it will destroy the ants. so know what you are doing if you decide this route.

After I killed the ants, I almost started raising ants... but decided ant collecting wasn't my thing after all... I just felt bad how quickly and thoroughly the carpenters vanished never to return again.. (then i got mice but that was another story for another day)...

 

[junior98]

TERRO® Liquid Ant Baits

TERRO® Liquid Ant Bait kills the ants you see and the thousands you don't, right at the source!

www.terro.com