Talon Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 (edited) I have every year about this time had a Black Ant problem. Not the real large ones, the medium size ones. Mostly they are here in my house looking for food. Well having 6 birds, 2 cats, 2 dogs and 3 kids, there is lots to choose from. It's like a restaurant!! Usually it lasts a few months, I put down several ant cups under each cage and anywhere else I may find them. After a couple of months, I have no problem until next year. A friend suggested putting ant powder around the perimeter of my house, but my house sits up on a raised foundation and has a deck on the entire back of the house and a raised porch on the front. Both have lattice work preventing me from crawling under to put powder and the rest of the house is landscaped with shrubbery and gardens all around close to the house. Well, this year, is the worst for ants, I have been dealing with them since May. It is so bad, I can no longer feed the birds veggies or fruit or any leftovers we had from the night before in there cages. If I do, within 2 hours there will be ants all over the food and crawling around the cages and cage bottoms. Probably around , 10, 20 or so ants. I change the paper daily as soon as I get home from work, the cages are moved and vacumed behind and under, weekly or more if needed. I have had to give them mostly seed and pellet mix. Not the food I buy from the Bird of Paradise store cause the ants will come running. The dishes I have on their tree stands has the same food, and the ants go there also. I like to give them a snack of veggies, bread or fruit with their food when I put them in their cages to go to work, but I cant. I have been instead giving them, uncooked pasta, nuts, etc. as the ants stay away from that. Any suggestions? I can't have an exterminator come and I doubt that will solve the problem. It has been this way for the last 5 years, but this year it's the worst. Maybe the mild winter we had contributed? Thanks all for any help you can give me. Edited June 30, 2012 by Talon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 (edited) This is one of the best ways to kill ants without using pesticdes. It can be used indoors or outdoors. In the past, I've made versions of this stuff for my hummingbird feeders until I found the Ant Moat. My stands are still covered with the double sided tape. The problem with this method is that when you do it at first, it takes a bit of time to accomplish but since this is an emergency situation I'm posting it. At the least, you can do is spend the time to read this link. It's a killer. Your mind will expand and your visions in life will be deeper. http://www.wikihow.com/Kill-Ants-Without-Pesticides Edited June 30, 2012 by Dave007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momo Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 once i saw many ants eating and climbing around momo cage and they hunt momo's fruit so i put very hot red pepper powder around momo cage and they never come anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 i've heard cinnamon and/or cayenne pepper works as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kave70 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Would vinegar work? I know I use it to clean/sanitize everything and even bought the higher acidic content jug to spray my weeds. I had to get it at the flower nursery, but we have free range chickens and ducks so I wanted pesticide free. It might be worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedelboy Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Peppers are one of the best at stopping ants put a whole pepper with a slight nick in it next to where the ants come out and the smell puts them off! Also it does not harm any Parrots as they eat them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 All the rain is making for an insane ant population this year. My solution is Boric acid. But please be warned that it takes about 1-2 weeks for the colony to eat enough & to kill the queen. Also, they really like it, which is why it's so successful. But, you will have a noticeable upsurge in the infestation for a short while. There's a commercially prepared mixture call Terro. But the DIY is to use 1 part either Boric acid or Borax detergent mixed into 5 parts of something sweet or some greasy cooked meat. I don't like the idea of the meat going bad for that long or driving the dogs crazy in the meantime. But it is an option. I'd use Karo syrup but you can use honey, real fruit juice or molasses for instance. Get Styrofoam cups or plastic containers w/covers. Punch holes 1/2" or so from bottom. Put a teaspoon'ish in the cup then cover. Whatever you use, do not put it near food. The ants are going to swarm it & anything else will become collateral damage. This isn't a repellant. All you want is to put it someplace where they can get to it & take it back to the colony. Since ants are drawn to water, I like to put it in the bathroom, somewhere my critters can't reach. The ants seem to have no problem finding it in the cabinet under the sink or behind the washer. And I have less problems watching them while I'm waiting for it to work. I've also used it outside & in the crawlspace. But it attracts ants that may not have come, otherwise. It still does a fine job, but the initial swarm is kinda grim. So I usually limit it to inside the house. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I've had ants attack. I've done borax and sugar around my house. It makes me crazy, to see an ant in my birdroom. ( ask my kids) LOL I don't tolerate ants. We always have a war. I win. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Nancy, do you put the borax outside? I cant get to the underneath part of my house......should I put it around the edges? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I haven't had any ant problems for years now, we have an exterminator service that does the outside of the house, I don't allow them inside the house anymore since I have birds but whatever they are doing is working for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 We have professional exterminators spray only the outside perimeter of our house on a quarterly basis. We have had some ants come in just this weekend. I have a little bit of camacide left and have been having a hard time finding more. It is something about the flower they use to make it, maybe marygolds, being hard to find. It is all natural, safe for birds. In the meantime, I went to the site Dave recommended and many of you are using similar solutions. I have gone so far as to put our pet dishes on little wire pedestals and putting them in a "moat" with a little dish soap in the pan to keep the ants from getting in the dog or cat food. I saw one ant inside last night in the living room and was wondering about raising the bird cage up on stilts with a pan of soapy water under each leg. Now that will really add some class to my living room decorating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Oh wow! Love the idea of soap bubbles in dishes. I may try that, but I wonder if my dogs would drink it. What kind of flowers keeps the ants away? Did you say marigold? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Try the Borax and sugar around the whole house. NO Exterminator! Just more chemicals! Not good for your birds. NOWAY ants are coming in my home, attempting to eat my birds food. Kids know how crazy I get when ants attack! LOL Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 My dogs don't bother the soapy water but I don't make it easy for them to get to it either. I looked up the Camacide base and it is (Pyrethrum refers to several Old World plants of the genus Chrysanthemum). Originally our breeder recommended it and I checked with both our vets. I got a quart of it four years ago and it is still more than half full. Even though it is considered safe for birds, I wouldn't spray it while they are in the room, nor ever use it inside the cage. Generally, if we have a few ants, I can see where they came in under the sink, or under the back door to the deck and I just spray the entry points and it seems to be enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Ants don't like marigolds so perhaps planting some marigolds around the house or even bringing some plants in the house might help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikachu Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 I haven't had any ant problems for years now, we have an exterminator service that does the outside of the house, I don't allow them inside the house anymore since I have birds but whatever they are doing is working for us. So, Judy, I want to be clear - you have an exterminator spray the outside of your house and it doesn't affect the birds? We usually do this every year, except this one because now we have birds. I've been afraid to have them come out. It smells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 Update! Well, I am on day 3. I bought some liquid bait containers from Home Depot. Tried 4 of them. They contain sugar and water and some chemical. They are enclosed, spill proof, and havea stopper like a sponge on top. I put all 4 under the birds cages, then went outside and sprinkled ant powder all around the perimeter of the house as much as I could, and sprayed ant spray on the outside of the windowsills. We keep the windows closed and use the AC mostly. I dared after one day to give them their regular food, left me toast and fruit for snacks when I went to work, came home many hours later.....and NO ANTS! So it seems to have worked! Thank you all for the greyt suggestions. I did try the peppers, but it only worked for the night. riki would not go in her cage because of the pepper smell......go figure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 (edited) So, Judy, I want to be clear - you have an exterminator spray the outside of your house and it doesn't affect the birds? We usually do this every year, except this one because now we have birds. I've been afraid to have them come out. It smells. We have been using this exterminating service for longer than I have had birds and no smell and the birds are fine, as I said I won't allow them to treat the inside of the house because of the birds. We have wood siding on our house and we were afraid not to treat the outside for fear of a termite invasion. Edited July 4, 2012 by judygram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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