Ants.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ants.

Mithra6: Jan 24, 2006; Elvis is dead, Sinatra is dead, and me I feel also not so good.

We just moved into a new apartment, which is great except for ants. Lots of ants.

The landlady says they are sugar ants, but I don't know for sure if they are. The exterminator has been out at least twice and will come back periodically. They both say it's a work in progress.

In the meantime holy gently caress. At first they were around the kitchen. We laid out ant traps, but also cleaned with diluted bleach and then sprayed with some mint oil which we heard ants hate. At least it doesn't smell like bleach. They were mostly located around a window. We are pretty clean with no food laying out or dishes in the sink.

However, we have cats. The ants have thus far left their food alone, but now they've found it. Last night we came home to cat puke on the floor near one of the doors and a nice little trail of ants. We cleaned all of that up and sprayed the whole area with bleach. I read that if you lay salt where they come in, they avoid it, so I did that.

This morning their food was covered again. More cleaning. The kitchen seems to be largely antless at the moment. Now I can't see an obvious entryway. I hear borax is good, but I also hear it's poisonous to pets.

So now I'm playing whack-an-ant. Any ideers?

# ¿ Aug 19, 2015 17:34

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 18:24

Mithra6: Jan 24, 2006; Elvis is dead, Sinatra is dead, and me I feel also not so good.

freemason9 posted:

Kill them. Kill them all.

Trying! We kill the little scouts when we see them.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2015 19:05

Mithra6: Jan 24, 2006; Elvis is dead, Sinatra is dead, and me I feel also not so good.

Authentic You posted:

Try diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle it wherever ants are coming in (window sills, etc) and on the floor around the cat food dish or wherever ants are concentrating. It's harmless powdery sand to humans and pets and lethal barricades of glass shards to ants.

I thought of that. We'll probably pick some up.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2015 00:12

Mithra6: Jan 24, 2006; Elvis is dead, Sinatra is dead, and me I feel also not so good.

Professor of Cats posted:

Move the cats food and then make sure the food is raised off of the ground. A minor step but it helps.

Also be extremely vigilant about anything...I mean ANYTHING on the floor. Keep it spotless.

Yep it's on a low table - has been for a few days.

My girlfriend may have found a source. It's on the opposite wall, but it was partially covered up by stuff.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2015 00:13

Mithra6: Jan 24, 2006; Elvis is dead, Sinatra is dead, and me I feel also not so good.

evenworse username posted:

My fix for the cat food situation was to put their dish inside an aluminum pie plate with a couple inches of water in it. Jerkwads couldn't/didn't swim over to it, and the cats did not care.

Other than that you just gotta keep everything in the kitchen super clean and make sure everything even food-ish is sealed up.

That's a cool idea!

# ¿ Aug 20, 2015 00:13

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 18:24

Mithra6: Jan 24, 2006; Elvis is dead, Sinatra is dead, and me I feel also not so good.

skipdogg posted:

The diatomaceous earth is a good idea. I bought a new development house about 5 years ago that backs up to a greenbelt. I've spent the last 5 years waging an unwinnable war against ants, but I have won many battles.

Long story short that poo poo the exterminator is using, isn't really going to do jack. He's using the cheapest poo poo on the market, and heavily diluting it. You have to convince them to use the expensive good poo poo on the truck. Some of the stuff you can buy at the store is pretty ehh. Useful in a pinch, but wears off quickly.

I fired my exterminator once I learned how to do my own pest control. I get the heavy duty poo poo not available at Wal-Mart or Home Depot. I use Talstar Xtra with Verge, which contains Bifenthrin and Zeta-Cypermethrin outside the house. I broadcast the lawn twice a year and spot treat mounds with it. Inside I treat with Bayer Maxforce baits when needed, but I haven't had any issues in the house since I started using Talstar outside. Ortho Home Defense Max spray is available at most big box stores and contains Bifenthrin and Zeta-Cypermethrin is about the only option I would recommend from a place you can easily buy something. I'm not a fan of the cheaper Spectracide branded products.

Since you're in an apartment though I would look at an ant bait. These are pretty well reviewed. If you don't want to spend your own money you should talk to the exterminator guy and see if he'll bait around your apartment. If he's just spraying mystery liquid out of his silver can, not going to be much help. He should have something comparable to the two suggestions below on his truck.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/advion-ant-bait-gel-p-932.html
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/maxforce-fc-ant-bait-stations-p-38.html

These are good ideas. This will probably happen.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2015 00:14

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ants.