Effects of RAID?

Keith Richard

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I had a little visit from several ants this morning in the kitchen. I saw them off with RAID for ants. This is the stuff that kills upon contact. Here's the question, there is a slight aroma from the raid which has travelled somewhat through the house. Is this aroma any danger at all to the tarantulas?
 

Hedorah99

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I had a little visit from several ants this morning in the kitchen. I saw them off with RAID for ants. This is the stuff that kills upon contact. Here's the question, there is a slight aroma from the raid which has travelled somewhat through the house. Is this aroma any danger at all to the tarantulas?
A lot of times they put perfume in the sprays so your house does not just smell like permetherin. However I do not know if the actual toxin travels very far. I would not think it does, but cannot be sure. Sorry I could not be more help. :( Let us know how everyone is.
 

Mushroom Spore

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That's not an "aroma"--that's the mist of pure insecticide put into the air by using the Raid.

I'd strongly suggest opening some windows and moving your Ts as far away from where you used the Raid as you possibly can. I distinctly remember more than a few accounts of people losing their collections because someone sprayed insecticide in the house.
 

Keith Richard

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Thanks for the quick replys. I was very careful to make sure that the spray was used as close as possible to the ants as opposed to just spraying a mist everywhere. Windows are open so there is air circulating through the house. There were sprays available that took care of ants, roaches and spiders...naturally I steered clear of such sprays. This one is ant specific supposedly.
 

Code Monkey

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No, it is just fragrance. Pyrethroids don't volatilise particularly well and break down fairly rapidly. I wouldn't use it in the same room as your Ts or feeders, but used judiciously it won't be harmful.

OTOH, it's pretty much useless for controlling ants. When you use a fast acting spray insecticide, what you're doing is killing off the most expendable workers in the colony. You need to actually either find a way to exclude the ants (figure out how they're getting in and block it), bait them with a borax/sugar solution (e.g. Terro is highly recommended), or get ahold of a fipronil or chlorfenapyr containing spray that has long residual activity and toxicant transfer effects in the colony (but I wouldn't do this at a house with tarantulas).
 

Rizzolo

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nasty ants!

i agree that it is best to assume that the odor is the bad stuff. whether it is or not is not important. i have plenty of experience with ants. i don't wait for them to show up any more, i keep boric acid powder all around my T enclosure, and around my roach colonies. it takes care of them and is relatively non toxic - and no odor. may not be practical depending on where you keep your Ts, but is by far one of the best ant solutions. Another person had a problem with ants and used Sevin powder with good luck. My preference is to always stay away from insecticides.

good luck. i hate ants!!!
 

kurisute_hasu

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I dont know about the aroma harming your Ts...
But yes, just killing off the drones isn't going to solve your problem. I was in the same situation. Ants in my kitchen. Next time you see some and have some spare time fallow them and wait until they return to where ever they set up camp. Then spray like crazy.

For me it was in my spice cabinet. I quickly took every thing out and raided the whole area. saw a few stragglers for a couple of days but they quickly died out when I started keeping cleaner care of my cabinets and counter tops.
 

Nerri1029

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No, it is just fragrance. Pyrethroids don't volatilise particularly well and break down fairly rapidly. I wouldn't use it in the same room as your Ts or feeders, but used judiciously it won't be harmful.

OTOH, it's pretty much useless for controlling ants. When you use a fast acting spray insecticide, what you're doing is killing off the most expendable workers in the colony. You need to actually either find a way to exclude the ants (figure out how they're getting in and block it), bait them with a borax/sugar solution (e.g. Terro is highly recommended), or get ahold of a fipronil or chlorfenapyr containing spray that has long residual activity and toxicant transfer effects in the colony (but I wouldn't do this at a house with tarantulas).
DOH..
should have scolled down a bit before searching for an MSDS on this..
I'd have to agree that the smell is likely the isoparaffinic hydrocarbons that are present at 60% and up.
the active ingredients are present in less than 0.5%

but as prudence would dictate avoid using too much near the T's and WASH your hands.

http://www.instaoffice.com/msds/DRA94400.pdf
 

Stylopidae

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I'm sure taking care of this would be a dream job for a 12 year old who happened to own a magnifying glass ;)

Of course, I'd reccomend Code Monkey's advice over my own :)
 

Keith Richard

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Update

No signs of any ants today. I'm aware that I only addressed an effect as opposed to the cause.....this'll take a little more time. The odour faded quite quickly, and I certainly haven't noticed any ill effects in my collection...they're still still mobile, showing no signs of stress. There is some cracked grouting between some some of the tiles in the kitchen and I suspect that's where the little blighters are coming in. From a very close range, I'm going to squirt some Raid into and around the cracks in an attempt to see them off completely.
 

Hedorah99

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No signs of any ants today. I'm aware that I only addressed an effect as opposed to the cause.....this'll take a little more time. The odour faded quite quickly, and I certainly haven't noticed any ill effects in my collection...they're still still mobile, showing no signs of stress. There is some cracked grouting between some some of the tiles in the kitchen and I suspect that's where the little blighters are coming in. From a very close range, I'm going to squirt some Raid into and around the cracks in an attempt to see them off completely.
Glad to hear the pets are OK :D
 

common spider

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Me and my wife have been 100% organic with all pest control.My wife gardens with NO BUG KILLERS and I do not use anything for the lawn.

I HATE ALL BUG KILLERS AND PEST CONTROL COMPANYS!!!!!!!

Thats just us.
 
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Keith Richard

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Me and my wife have been 100% organic with all pest control.My wife gardens with NO BUG KILLERS and I do not use anything for the lawn.

I HATE ALL BUG KILLERS AND PEST CONTROL COMPANYS!!!!!!!

Thats just us.
Very commendable. So what would you suggest I do in my circumstances? From my perspective, an ant invasion is not acceptable. Granted, ants tend to storm in and storm out again....it's just not a very nice experience.
 

Rizzolo

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sticky traps work?

i tried sticky traps and they were completely useless against the argentine ants the we have in my neighborhood. i am not willing to sacrifice my Ts to the ants. there would be no way for me to keep Ts without getting serious with the ants. i eat organic food, and i use organic chemistry to poison ants!

actually, the boric acid is the least dangerous and most effective solution i have ever found. and you can put a barrier around the Ts that they can't get through, while you are waiting for it to eventually get back to the nest and kill the queens.

each species of ant requires different measures. the argentine ants we have are nesting outside, so no amount of housecleaning has any affect. they are also a supercolony and have more than one queen per nest, so they are very tough to get rid of. all we can hope for is detente!
 

Code Monkey

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i tried sticky traps and they were completely useless against the argentine ants the we have in my neighborhood.
You might as well chant and sacrifice chickens as use sticky traps with ants. It's just like the RAID, it does virtually nothing towards controlling them. The only time products like this work is if you happen to catch the "advance patrol" and kill them, but once the foragers have found something in your home they want and made it back to the colony, it's a choice of stop them from getting in or kill the colony.
 

Code Monkey

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Use a natural insect trap.The sticky kind.

They work.
No they don't. I have a masters degree in urban entomology, my thesis subject was on a pesticide's efficacy in controlling pest ants. Sticky traps aren't good for anything but monitoring the intensity of an infestation. There isn't one pest insect that they will actually control with any degree of efficacy.
 

common spider

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I am just trying to find a natural way to get rid of them.I am no expert but I thought that might be a good try.
 

Selenops

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If you want a butt-kickin ant killer/ant deterrent...

USE BAKING SODA! ;P

They'll never return if you place a good line of this where they are invading. They'll never return.
 

Code Monkey

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I am just trying to find a natural way to get rid of them.I am no expert but I thought that might be a good try.
There is very little real about the notion of the word, "natural" for anything regarding insect control. If your goal is a treatment that works with low mammalian toxicity, no residuals, and little chance of hitting innocent bystanders, a boric acid and sugar solution is by far the best choice. You can either buy some of the prefab concoctions, of which Terro is well reputed choice, or you can make your own by mixing up about a 20% w/v sugar solution with 2% w/v boric acid and either put it out in shallow bowls where the ants are aggregated or in cotton ball stoppered tubes/bottles on their sides.

Most of the so-called natural products do no better than placebo. Ants are by far one of the most difficult pests to control when there actually is an infestation problem.

On the other hand, there are some organic pesticides derived from soil fungi that will do the trick nicely if your goal is to remain "all natural". Of course, they're nastier than just about any synthetic and I would sooner spray DDT around the house than these, but that's what believing that "natural" cures are inherently better gets you.
 
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