Help me get rid of my ant problem without killing off my birds.

[Ladyhawk]

I just went to make a peanut butter sandwich, only to find that the ants got into my peanut butter even after I'd screwed on the jar. The ant problem is awful, but I can't set off bug bombs or leave poison where curious beaks might find and ingest it. And I've yet to find a poison the ants will actually eat. There are usually other, more interesting, things to get into.

Once, a queen ant set up housekeeping inside the girders on Gabby's cage. If that's happened again, I don't know how I'm going to clean them out. The last time it happened, my body was healthy. I just dragged the huge cage outside, took it apart and washed it.

I can't do that now.

It's those little black ants--sugar ants, my family called them. Whatever they are, they're getting into everything. A jar of peanut butter is a large percentage of my income. :(

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Boric acid in the crevaces should be safe for the birds

and effective for the ants. You put in against moulding and in cabinets along the edge.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. Boric acid is what I have heard about also.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Ok frind the trail

Clean it up with amonia

After that put on the trace overnight some clorox... and then clean it up... believe or not we have a bad problem when the rains start. My mom told me of this one this year and it helped.

There is also a liquid poison that they sell at some garden centers, that is like sweet to the ants who take it to the colony and problem solved, but it takes anywhre from a week to ten days... and I wish I reembered the name

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Get a pet aardvark.

Works every time. Otherwise, have you tried those little Terro ant traps? They work pretty well with carpenter ants -- not sure about sugar ants. Eww -- ants in the peanut butter...

[mike_c]

9. Terro traps won't work against sugar ants....

Grant's Ant Stakes are the only thing I've seen that does a good job of controlling them, short of calling someone licensed to spray some really nasty stuff.

[Ladyhawk]

10. Can I get a tamandua instead. They're cuter.

These little black ants smell terrible when smushed...probably some kind of formic acid thing. If you accidentally get one in your mouth, you won't forget it.

[peekaloo]

4. here:

http://www.thymewise.net/kw/daysbetween/001136.html

[elshiva]

5. This is GodessofGuiness's pet anteater!

His name is Ben Franklin and HE IS HUNGRY! Sic 'em Ben!

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

7. Simple soap kills ants and disrupts their trails

I don't know what drew them up to the third floor where we live, but two summers ago black ants both large and small tried to set up home in my kitchen. They got into the cupboards before I discovered them.

I researched online and settled on Murphy's Oil Soap, available at just about any grocery or hardware store. I washed out the cupboards, then sprayed their trails and access points several times a day with a 50/50 soap and water solution I put in a spray bottle. If I saw an ant I sprayed it directly - the surfactants in the soap suffocated them immediately. Probably any soap will work but I figured the sharp smell of Murphy's would disrupt their trails.

I got them out of my cupboards in just a few days and out of the house entirely within a week. They didn't come back last summer. Good luck!

[mike_c]

8. bad news....

Argentine ants-- sugar ants-- can out breed just about any relatively non-toxic control you throw at them, including boric acid. They can form "supercolonies" with multiple queens, and branch off new colonies frequently into places like houseplant pots. Most "bait stations" are completely ineffective. Save your money. The only easily purchased remedy I've found that really does work is Grant's Ant Stakes. The active ingredient is arsenic, but it is enclosed in a metal disk with a single tiny hole in the center. I use them indoors and out, and my cats at least have no interest in them-- the bait is not attractive to vertebrates. Indoors I lay them in the middle of ant foraging trails, under the sink, and in plant pots that have been invaded. Grant's really works, and it's one of the VERY few things that does.

[Ladyhawk]

11. It sounds like you know exactly what you're talking about.

These little ants can set up almost anywhere! They're particularly attracted to the soft foods I feed my birds and the birds' water of all things!

Where can I purchase Grant's Ant Stakes?

My plan is to make the birds stay in their cages and eat only dry food for awhile. Poor birds. I have to get rid of the ants.

LH

[mike_c]

12. I get them at the local hardware store....

You can probably find them online, too. Argentine ants are SERIOUS pests-- my house was invaded about three months ago, and they went from a few ants here and there to nearly solid black trails along the baseboards within a couple of weeks. I've got them pretty much under control now.

[Ladyhawk]

15. Thank you very much for the information. I'm sure it will help. :D n/t

[jdj]

13. have you tried diatomaceous earth, or "diatom dust"?

you'd have to put it where the birds can't get to it, like between the counters, on (closed) windowsills, etc, but it is supposed to be a deterrent as well as a poison, and they say ants won't walk through it.

It's diatoms from the bottom of the ocean, so it is somewhat natural.

[FuzzySlippers]

14. Are these the tiny grease ants that look like specks?

I find the ant baits work well against those, but you have to add some sort of grease, like a smear of margarine.

[LeftyMom]

16. My ant spray recipie

First you need some Dr Bronner's peppermint soap. Squirt about a half inch of that into a squirt bottle, fill it up most of the rest of the way with warm water, then add a dozen to two dozen drops of hot pepper sauce. I use habanero tabasco sauce, but any pepper-based sauce should do.

Put the squirt lid on, then agitate the bottle a bit to distribute the soap and hot sauce.

Use the spray setting on the squirt bottle, if you use the mist one you'll get a peppery mist in the air and irritate your eyes.

It's safe around kids, so it shouldn't hurt the birds unless they find a way to lick it or get into the bottle.

[BeFree]

17. No one believes this

But the ants eat it up: Grits

Grits soak up moisture, and when ants eat grits it dries 'em out. Grits are harmless and readily available.

[adwon]

22. True

I learned that in Catholic school from a nun. :)

[comsymp]

23. Yup

Was going to post this suggestion, myself.

[BeFree]

25. Well heck, I was wrong!

Somebody does believe! Two, at least!

I used to keep fire ants out of the house by sprinkling a line of grits around the perimeter of the house. Now that I live away from those red bastards my grit requirements are limited to a few summertime ants easily controlled with a spoonfull of grits here or there.

I am not a grits salesman, nor do I have any financial interests in grits futures, grits stock, or even a cornfield. I just hate those red bastards and didn't want to poison my environment in my haste to eliminate the possibility of them waking me again in the dead of night.

Afterall, I am allergic to poisons, eh?

[BlueHandDuo]

18. I like Loren Nancarrow's ant bait recipe...

...for delivering the borax or boric acid payload.

http://www.10news.com/lorensfieldnotes/171881/detail.html

Using the margarine-tub "trap" he describes ought to help keep the birds out of the sweet stuff.

[hunter]

19. Clear latex-acrylic caulk and a vacuum cleaner.

You can actually train argentine ants to stay out of your house if you are vigilant with your vacuum cleaner. Keep vacuuming up the colony's "fingers" every day and very soon they will stop sticking their arms into your house. (Ant colonies actually have a certain amount of intelligence.)

Clear caulk also helps. Use it to seal up any hole or cracks the ants come in from. It seems that you can never fill up all the holes, or keep them filled, but it does slow the ants down.

A combination of vacuum cleaner training and clear caulk is very effective if the colony of ants outside your house is stable. If not, you will have to retrain the new colonies that move in after insecticides have wiped out an older colony.

Since I don't use insecticides, the ant colony outside my home is very stable. There are lots of ants outside, but they remember they are not allowed inside -- usually for about two years or so before I have to retrain them.

[Behind the Aegis]

20. Here's an option

I have had a problem with moths, so I took a different approach. But when looking for non-toxic, bird-friendly results, I came across this site...Holistic Bird. Check out the "control with reptile" link! Maybe you just need a gecko! :)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

21. Diatomaceous Earth

It's wonderful and non-toxic, too!

http://www.commonsensecare.com/diatomaceous-earth.html

Insect Dust Diatomaceous earth is a mechanical insect killer. Insects cannot become immune to its action. When insects come into contact with diatomaceous earth, the sharp edges lacerate the bugs' waxy exoskeleton and then the powdery DE absorbs their body fluids causing death from dehydration. DE kills insects by drying them up. Insect Dust stops bugs fast. Diatomaceous earth replaces Diazinon and other harsh chemicals. Intended for application with a hand duster, diatomaceous earth is so safe it may be rubbed right into your dog or cat's fur.

Diatomaceous Earth, also known as Silicon Dioxide, is not a poison. DE is EPA labeled as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) in food production, water and the environment.

[LynneSin]

24. Someone suggested about following the trail - which is good. And...

...oddly enough the person who told me that said to put used chewing gum over the place where they are coming in.

Ants no more!!

[AllegroRondo]

26. Peppermint Soap

seriously, if you can find it, it works. Wash all the areas where they are coming into the house with the stuff. And it smells nice, too!

[shesemsmom]

27. I have birds and what I would do is this

I'd take the cages a part a wash them with soap and water and put them back. We were told that you can't use chemicals in the same room with birds. The only thing we use is Grapefruit seed extract, bleach, vinager and simple green. Good luck.