Trying to get rid of ants with rubbing alcohol

EmeraldIsle

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Mar 26, 2011
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I read it's not good for them to breath rubbing alcohol, and I don't know how that would help kill ants anyway. I always make some poison with sugar, water, and borax. I put some water in a small bowl. Then add a lot of sugar and a small amount of borax. Then heat in the microwave and stir it so it all dissolves. Put the bowl someplace where the ants will find it. The borax physically expands in the ant's body and destroys it. You can buy borax in the laundry section of the market. The ants carry the borax back to the hive and kill the queen. In a few days, the ants are all gone. Alternatively you cold put the poison in an open bottle instead of a bowl.
 
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Sweetie2

Sweetie2

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Sep 23, 2010
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Lodi, NJ
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Umbrella Cockatoo
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Can you put borax near parrots safely? There are a lot of ants near his cage
 

Crackers

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Apr 11, 2011
65
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California
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"Crackers" Hahns Macaw
I have seen some websites that say do not under any circumstances use it around your birds and other websites say its ok.

If I was in your shoes, I would just vacuum up the ants and treat the outside of my house with borax. I am just leary of any products, especially a powder substance that could easily be inhaled by my bird. Just my two cents. :)

Here is some other information I found:

4.1.2.2. Birds– Limited information is available on the acute and chronic effects of borax and other boron-containing salts in avian species. In standard test species, acute single and acute dietary exposure studies have been conducted on borax and boric acid (Fink et al. 1982a, Reinart
and Fletcher 1977, U.S. EPA 1993b); results are summarized in Appendix 2. Based on the LD50
of >2510 mg borax/kg (equivalent to >284 mg B/kg) in bobwhite quail, exposure to a single oral
dose of borax is considered to be practically non-toxic to avian species (Fink et al. 1982a). A similar low level of toxicity was also observed following 5-day dietary exposures of bobwhite
quail to borax, with an LC50 value >5000 ppm dietary borax (>567 ppm B) (Reinhart and
Fletcher 1977). In these two studies, no clinical signs of toxicity were observed. Similarly, 5-
day dietary exposures of bobwhite quail and mallard ducks to boric acid yielded LC50 values
>5000 ppm boric acid (equivalent to 874 ppm B), indicating that boric acid is also practically
non-toxic to avian species (U.S. EPA 1993b). Since LD50 and LC50 values obtained in these
studies were greater than the highest dose tested, it is difficult to draw conclusions regarding the
toxicity of borax relative to boric acid. However, based on the limited results available, birds appear to exhibit similar sensitivity to borax and boric acid in acute exposures.

http://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/pe...2406_borax.pdf
 

MikeyTN

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Feb 1, 2011
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Antioch, TN
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"Willie"&"Lola"B&G Macaw,
"Dixie"LSC2, and "Nico" Scarlet Macaw.
Borax is not safe to be inhaled even by you! Think of the tiny lung on a parrot!!! But in a liquid form, I would still be careful to use around birds.

EmeraldIsle, I'm gonna try that method outside of my house as I find them coming into my house this year. They go through my kitchen and my laundry room. I have kitty food bowl in the laundry room and they all go into the food bowl and I had to dump out all the food within. My kitty food is all natural stuffs that's expensive, I can't be dumping them all the time....
 

suebee

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Jan 13, 2011
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we used this ant killer stuff a few yrs back that relly did the trick, think it was by a company called nippon, you put a drop onto food and when the ants took it back to the nest, it kills of the queen etc but outside of the house, and where other animals cannot get at food

if the ants are by the parrots cage, i'd be worried that the ant may have eaten any poison put out for it

strong double sided tape around base it the cage :) as long as your bird does not wonder about there. i use it by my back door just under ledge so we can't stand on it
 
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Sweetie2

Sweetie2

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Sep 23, 2010
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Lodi, NJ
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Umbrella Cockatoo
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Thank you all, I really appreciate the help!!!
I'm going to try that recipe, far away from my parrot.
 
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Sweetie2

Sweetie2

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Sep 23, 2010
33
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Lodi, NJ
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo
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I don't know what I was thinking!!!

I guess I have ants in my brain ;)
 

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