ANTS!!!!!!!

[BMustee]

The past week it's been raining a lot here in my end of FL and we always tend to get bugs in the house right after a storm, but some sugatr ants (the little black ones) have decided that they are going to stay and are getting in to my bird cages. Not so much in Elmo's cage, but they are getting worse and worse every day in the finch cages. I made sure the carpet was perfectly clean, I did an extra cage cleaning this week, and put down some of those "Combat" traps but nothing it working. Does anyone have a few tips and tricks I could try? Also, does the Vasaline on the cage legs really work for ants or just the bigger stuff like mice?

[sandra902]

eee-yikes!

i know the recent Bird Talk had a whole big spread on pest control this month.

[lovemyGreys]

Berna we get tons of ants in the summer, i have always used talcum powder ( baby talc,smells lovely )

 

Follow the trail of ants to determine where they are entering the home. Locate the hole, making sure that you've found them all.

Apply Diatomaceous earth, which is available at most convenience stores as baby powder, to the holes or cracks which the ants are using to enter the home. Most baby powders no longer contain Diatomaceous earth). The ants on either side will not cross the line of baby powder. Ants that come in contact with the powder will die almost immediately.

Check to see that the ants are no longer using the hole. If they are, apply more baby powder and check the trail to be sure you found the right hole in step two.If the ants are no longer using the hole and they start to scramble around, you've broken the chain of ants leading from the colony into your home.

Kill the remaining ants by sprinkling the baby powder on them. After they're dead, sweep away the ants and excess powder. :laugh:

[BMustee]

I was trying to find where they were coming from and it seemed like it was from 2 or 3 places. Will the powder hurt the birds if I put it around the legs of the cage?

[judygram]

Baby powder, who would have guessed, thanks so much Tracy, learn something new every day.

[lovemyGreys]

:ohmy: Im not sure if it is toxic to them Berna, im trying to search the net now ! found this

 

Sprinkle powdered cinnamon on ant trails. Several types of ants will not cross a barrier of cinnamon powder, powdered charcoal, bone meal, talcum powder, or chalk.

 

Baking soda and powdered sugar mixed in equal parts and spread around infested area is a non-toxic pest killer.

[danmcq]

Now that is a use for baby Powder I don't think many people know.

 

Thanks Tracy, I guess I can retire my Flame Thrower now. ;-)

[lovemyGreys]

:laugh: Thanks Dan we can always rely on you to put a smile on our faces

[judygram]

Yeah he is good for something beside pissing me off from time to time:laugh: :woohoo:

[lovemyGreys]

{Feel-good-0002006E}

[BMustee]

I'll be dumping the entire spice rack on my floors when I get home! A little cinnamon here, powdered sugar there, LOL! The flame thrower is probably more affetive than what I was doing...squishing every one I could find with my fingers. It was soooo bad this morning, there were ants all over the water dish!!! Needless to say I got them all down the drain and crushed every one I saw trying to escape.

[lovemyGreys]

{Feel-good-0002006E} hate to tell you this Berna but if your squishing them one by one your gonna be htere forever :woohoo:

[BMustee]

Hahaha, I know!!! I squished so many my finger started to hurt!

[danmcq]

LOL Judy - Thanks!!! :woohoo: I think :blink:

 

Yep Berna, a flame thrower makes quick work it :-) Kinda rough on the house fixtures though.

[BMustee]

{Feel-good-0002006E}

 

Here is Dan...he found some ants in the bathroom.

[dblhelix]

Keeping the ants out is key. Nice ideas on options there. However, a very good way to keep them out of the cages (if they get in the house and are determined to make for the cage) is to note where the cages touch the ground (either the feet or wheel assembly etc). If you put a thin coat of vaseline just above the floor touch points the ants cannot cross this barrier. This is a method I use in the house and outside to prevent ants from getting to humming bird feeders. Works great and lasts a looong time...

[BMustee]

I had read that the Vaseline was supposed to be good from keeping pests out of cages but had never hear first hand anyone say it worked on Ants...I imagine it would work for mice because it would make the leg to slippery. I'll have to put it on my cage legs along with the other tips and tricks to try and stop them from getting close.

[judygram]

Thats a good thing to know now that hummingbird season is just around the corner, I like to put out several feeders for them and the ants always manage to get into them, but I have more trouble with the little sweat bee than anything else.:blink: :laugh:

[siobha9]

danmcq wrote:

a flame thrower makes quick work it :-) Kinda rough on the house fixtures though.

 

Brilliant Dan! Make sure the birds arent in the cages when you turn the flame thrower on it though...

 

{Feel-good-0002006B}