ants in the bathroom!

[wilkiecoco]

we have ants in our bathroom, and an exterminator coming today to get rid of them - I HATE BUGS! they are going to be injecting a poison, once they find the queen, inside the wall where the nest it. They reassured me that my pets would be okay, and I specifically asked about Kiwi. They said he would be perfectly safe, but I still am concerned.

Has anyone had experience with this treatment? Would moving Kiwi downstairs be far enough away, or is should I completely remove him from the house? Thanks.

[linda040899]

I, personally, think that moving Kiwi as far away from the area being treated should be OK, but there's an easy way to get rid of ants without an exterminator.

Mix up a solution of 1 cup of very hot water, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of boric acid. Let the sugar and boric acid dissolve in the water. Then take cotton balls and soak them in the solution. Take a plastic container from margarine and puncture holds (good sized ones but none in the lid). Fill the plastic container with the cotton balls, put the lid on and place this where the ants trail. The solution is sweet so the ants will take it back to the nest and everyone will enjoy a fatal meal! This is what I do in my main aviary.

[LovelySydney]

Linda, thats a great idea! We seem to have a bit of an ant issue (& some other bug issues) that is driving me INSANE! I HATE bugs in my house. Last night I saw some in our living room & although I know some bugs are normal I couldn't help but be grossed out. Im going to use your suggestion!!

[Chickobee]

Linda;

Thanks for this great advice. We have recurring problems with ants on our deck and near our hummingbird feeders. I am going to try this!

Right now I have swarms, or clouds as my husband calls them, of hummingbirds. We've never had so many that our nine feeders would have as many as eight birds feeding at once on a feeder. It's amazing!

Last year I went through 50 lbs of sugar and I'm wondering now what it will be this year. It's lots of work keeping all of the feeders cleaned and full, but also lots of fun.

Last week I was noticing a lot of the little hens were in egg laying condition. When they all start bringing their babies to the feeders is when things really get crowded and that won't happen for a few weeks yet.

Thanks again for the tip about the ants.

[Mummieeva]

If it is the gel poison like they have done here Kiwi will be fine. But moving a bit away as a precaution is a good idea. We use the gel with having pets and small kids.


Steph

[FuzzyAga]

I use Tanglefoot, (Google it!) to keep ants from climbing up to my hummingbird feeder. You can smear it on deck post legs, etc. and it acts as a sticky barrier. Works great. Once smeared on, it's good for quite a while. I haven't had to re-smear for over five-years.

[wilkiecoco]

thanks for the suggestions - do i need to keep Kiwi away from the area where i place the boric acid - are there fumes from the mix?

[linda040899]

There are no fumes involved with this mixture whatsoever. When I have an ant invasion in my main aviary, I place several of these outside of the cages, away from the reach of busy little beaks, and the only live creatures that don't fare well are the ants!

The cotton balls are housed inside the butter tub and the holes are so that the ants have access to the covered container. I've never lost a bird and I've never had one get sick.

[wilkiecoco]

thanks linda - i am going to try this method before resorting to an exterminator. (called to cancel) Now - one stupid question - where do you buy boric acid? Hardware stores? thanks. :)

[Pips mom]

I think it is normal for ants to come in on those first warm spring days. I wouldn't overreact to it because it usually doesn't last. We get them too, the little tiny ones. Drop one crumb on the floor in the living room and they are on it! but like I said....it only happens on those first warm days. It's nice out now and supposed to be 70 here and I haven't seen any now in the house at all. My mom used to mix sugar and baking soda and sprinkle it around the foundation of the house.....I think that worked pretty good too.