Safe way to get rid of ants?

[claymore]

What is a safe way to get rid of ants?

I live in a 1st floor apt. and I have these tiny little blackish ants invading my place.

They are after my cats food.

I have many different animals: Frogs,snakes,crabs,and now spiders.
So I don't want to use any pest sprays.
What is a safe method to dispose of them and detur them?

I've tried viniger and Cayenne Pepper and neither one of them work in the long term.


Thanks...
Clay

 

[Kirk]

Boric acid powder works great and is safe around pets.

 

[beetleman]

TERRO! this stuff is awesome,its a clear liquid that comes in little traps,it's bait for the ants they swarm all over it eat it go back to their nest and then die,it works believe me i'm in fla the ant capital of the world,and i don't have a single ant in my HUGE bug collection,it doesn't smell either,you can get it lowes,home depote,drugstores etc, it's in a orange/white box. hope this helps ya.

 

[codykrr]

yeah...ive used the terro stuff. but not in traps...it was just a bottle of the liquid...it worked ok. but my best success was with either a hot glue gun...(they ere coming in from a window a small crack in the sheet rock...i killed it and wha lah. or bleach and honey worked wonders...not surehow safe it is but i know it worked for me....i mixed it 3 parts honey to 1 part bleach.

 

[Kirk]

TERRO! this stuff is awesome,its a clear liquid that comes in little traps,it's bait for the ants they swarm all over it eat it go back to their nest and then die,it works believe me i'm in fla the ant capital of the world,and i don't have a single ant in my HUGE bug collection,it doesn't smell either,you can get it lowes,home depote,drugstores etc, it's in a orange/white box. hope this helps ya.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely give that a try too.

 

[Hamburglar]

TERRO! this stuff is awesome,its a clear liquid that comes in little traps,it's bait for the ants they swarm all over it eat it go back to their nest and then die,it works believe me i'm in fla the ant capital of the world,and i don't have a single ant in my HUGE bug collection,it doesn't smell either,you can get it lowes,home depote,drugstores etc, it's in a orange/white box. hope this helps ya.

I have used Terro with great success in the past. However, this year I am seeing a lot of ants and Terro isn't doing the job. I have reapplied it several times in the same spot and I am still seeing ants.

 

[codykrr]

are you using just the liquid stuff too?....it only worked or a month for me....thats when i startedfilling cracks and using bleachy honey.....

 

[Hamburglar]

Yep, I am using the liquid. It really hasn't worked at all for me. It has slowed them down a bit I guess, but it hasn't removed them in any one area.

In the past I could put it somewhere and the ants would be gone until I saw them in the next spot.

 

[Noexcuse4you]

I second boric acid. Just go to walmart and get a box of Borax. I sprinkled it around the baseboards of my apartment and haven't seen an ant since.

 

[kupo969]

I second boric acid. Just go to walmart and get a box of Borax. I sprinkled it around the baseboards of my apartment and haven't seen an ant since.

Where in Walmart can you find it? Pharmacy? Gardening?

 

[Kirk]

Where in Walmart can you find it? Pharmacy? Gardening?

Gardening, or wherever they sell insecticides.

 

[pouchedrat]

I was wondering about this as well since we had a recent ant invasion in my millipede tanks. I saw a scout or two at 1am one night, then that afternoon the entire colony decided to move itself into one of my millipede tanks, eggs, grubs, and all! I moved them all into the woods, and fished out the two AGB's in there successfully. The next day, the rest of the colony moved into ANOTHER millipede tank, with a molting ghana red banded! I freaked out, moved her VERY gently into a small tupperware container, and moved the male in with the AGB boys and once again dumped the ants far off into the woods.

It seems weird, because there really was no food in the tanks whatsoever. Nothing but dead oak leaves, aspen chips, hardwood mulch, etc.

An update, I covered my tanks with saran wrap until I deal with the ants (who've since disappeared, but I know the second I let my guard down they'll reappear), but the male ghana red banded passed away. Strangely, he wasn't the one who was molting, either. That one's completely fine and finished up without a hassle.

 

[BrianWI]

I used to have ants in my old place. Used to follow the trail of them back to source outside, wipe them out there.

 

[mattharry]

I have faced severe problem with ants, they use to damage some of my plants in the yard. I tried all the possible measures and finally got rid of those heavenly ants from my yard. I used borax to get rid of ants, and gradually I succeeded...

 

[HankyPankyRoe]

Rite Aid carries Boric Acid in the First Aid section.

 

[sparular]

Boric acid (Borax) is usually in with laundry detergent. It was used most extensively for washing clothes in past decades. I still use it along with liquid detergent on my gym clothes.
Keith

 

[mattharry]

Another version of using food to repel ants is to sprinkle some Cream of Wheat around. The ants carry the granules back to their nest and feed on them. When the Cream of Wheat interacts with the internal body fluid of the ants, they explode. and hence Problem solved.