Ants !!!!

[jr47]

I HAVE WENT TO WAR. Came home yesterday to a few thousand ants way to close to my T's. Seems they liked the cookies I left out.
I guess its a good thing they found the cookies before my spiders. At least now I know they are or should say were there. They wont last long. I am trying to think of a easy way to ant proof my shelves. So far not to many sure fire easy methods have come to me short of building motes around all the shelves. And I know not even that would work with all. They would just make little bridges. :wall:

 

[wedge07]

Use traps at the base of each shelf maybe??

 

[calum]

smear vasaline around any areas where the ants can get to the tank.. messy, but it works..

 

[jr47]

I may have to resort to that. I went outside today to check things out and they are every where. I have never seen so many ants in my life. The entire yard is full of them. It's kind of freaky.
We lived here last fall and I never noticed them, Now all the sudden its like an invasion. We put out the tabs that are suppose to kill the whole nest but after seeing how many there are I am not sure.
I really dont want vasaline all over all my cages but may have to.

 

[MrRogers]

I have ants EVERYWHERE downstairs where I am staying, (and in this part of Australia they are active year-round). Best thing to do is use those fake-food traps and give a good cleaning everywhere to wipe away the pharamones they leave behind. The ants raiding our kitchen go into little trails... so bad that if you kill an insect on the floor, the corpse is gone in less then 6 hours.

Hope that helps.

Oh, and on a side note the ants here are all about the team work. They carry grains of cereal up the walls in teams of about 20-30 of them... I kinda respect them for that...:clap:

 

[jr47]

Thats the scarey part. They could take down a small T and have it torn to shreds in no time. I have baited them away from the spiders and its the stuff they take back to the nest and its suppose to kill them all. Also swept and cleaned all around the T's so there is nothing to atract them away from the bait.
I guess short of spraying the yard and house which I dont like to do. I just have to hope the bait does the trick. And hope they dont find the spiders while I am away.

 

[MrRogers]

As long as the area is wiped clean they shouldn't go into the area again, or if they do they won't return if there is another source of food elsewhere.

Do you know what kind of ants they are?

 

[jr47]

All I know is they are very little red ants with black abdomens. Maybe 1/8 th inch.

 

[Jesse607]

Sounds like you may have "Acrobat" ants (Crematogaster spp.). They can be nasty little buggers. "Over-the-counter" sugar based, liquid or gel baits usually work well for temporary control of these ants. Despite what the label may say, colony elimination is unlikely unless you have a professional inspect and treat the structure with a restricted use insecticide.

 

[ann_ominous]

I'm in Oz as well and know too much about ants at this point. If it is possible can you put each shelf leg in a moat? This has worked for me when I wanted to keep ants off shelves. Galvanised shelving works best, obviously, as you don't have to worry about wood rod. Put the legs into jars of water and away you go. As long as the shelf isn't leaning into the wall you should be right. I actually had to do this with my baby's basinette when we lived in the tropics.

~Dannye

 

[jr47]

Its a book case and no way I can do that.

They are still going for the bait though they are dwindling in numbers and finding dead all over so I hope the worste of the threat is over. And I had doubts about the claim that the whole nest will be wiped out. I know ants in big colonies are hard to irradicate.
But after looking in there tonight there are less than half in there compared to yesterday and some are dead and some moving ever so slowly so could get lucky.
Cleaned in here real good again today and wiped down walls with cleaner just to make sure there is nothing to attract them. Am also rethinking my choice of shelving.

 

[ann_ominous]

Well good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[wedge07]

You could by an ant eater.

 

[jr47]

Can it be litter trained?

 

[blazetown]

You could also try that double sided tape around your shelf.

 

[jr47]

I did think about that but I have 2 cats and I figure in no time it would be covered in hair and useless.

 

[a1_collection]

Have you tried using boric acid? I laid down a good thick barrier and kept ants away from my colonies ever since. Works great.

 

[jr47]

Again I have cats and not sure if that would be good for them.
Not seeing any more around the bait I set out and I am sure they didnt wipe out 12 baits in a few days so I think I may be done with them. I have never had a problem with them all these years but I have always been very carefull not to leave anything out to attract them.
So I guess lesson learned on that. I got lucky this time and cought it before they found my T's. Will be watching what I leave laying out from now on.
I am not sure about leaving the ant traps out. Would that attract others?

 

[Smitty78]

I lived in California for quite a few years and had to deal with Ants on a regular basis. BORIC ACID is your best bet. It will not harm your cats, as they wont like the taste and will leave it alone. The double sided tape method will work short term. It was my experience that the ants would attempt to walk over it and get stuck. Well after 15-20 of them get stuck the rest of them had a self made land bridge to use. Trust me, use Boric acid. It is safe to humans, animals, etc. They ants will take that back to the queen which will effectively kill her thus eliminating the colony.

 

[jr47]

I may give it a try but not sure I can get enough to do it. Here you have to get it from the drugest and tell them why you want it and if I remember correctly you are only allowed to buy one container.
I think it has something to do with drugs. I can just see the cops knocking at my door to see what I am doing with all that boric acid. ;P