Dealing with ants

Hey All.
I'm dealing with ants for a couple of months now. I had the outside of my house sprayed but really need to do the inside because they aren't gone. I actually think there are more of them now than there was before.

Does anyone have any experience using Ortho bug spray in the gallon? I contacted Ortho and they said to take birds out of the room that's being sprayed and that their product has little to no odor. I really need to spray but not into the air. I need to do the kitchen around the bottom of cabinets and living room carpet (this is the room the 4 parrots are in). How far out of the room would be okay? Would being in the next room okay? I have a very small house. The room that the parrots are in is a very large room with cathedral ceiling. I wouldn't leave them in the same room of course but my options are very limited and can not remove them from the home.
Thank you!!

Get them as far away from the room as possible, that would minimize the possibility of them inhaling it.

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The last thing you want to do with ants, is to poison them! This will only increase the number of ants you were dealing with! The queen knows when ants are not returning to the hive, and she will increase production and start splitting the nest up into multiple colonies! What you need is bait!
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I have had fantastic results with both this product, and the supplier! This will also work with what is commonly called sugar ants.

Thank you Parrotlover2001 and Flboy!!

Flboy I tried making bait out of sugar, borax and water and renewed each every 2 days for 2 months. It seems the problem is getting worse instead of better. I've been in my house for 25 years now and have only had the ant problems since we had the real bad floods. I honestly think they moved into my wall somewhere because I had an exterminator come out and spray the outside of the house...

I'll try the bait but honestly, I'm desperate. They find their way into the chop dishes even thought I put olive oil on the legs of the parrot cages because of this. I think it's gotten much worse since I had the exterminator out about a week and a half ago.

also, I've put down diatomaceous earth everywhere...

djdancer said:

Thank you Parrotlover2001 and Flboy!!

Flboy I tried making bait out of sugar, borax and water and renewed each every 2 days for 2 months. It seems the problem is getting worse instead of better. I've been in my house for 25 years now and have only had the ant problems since we had the real bad floods. I honestly think they moved into my wall somewhere because I had an exterminator come out and spray the outside of the house...

I'll try the bait but honestly, I'm desperate. They find their way into the chop dishes even thought I put olive oil on the legs of the parrot cages because of this. I think it's gotten much worse since I had the exterminator out about a week and a half ago.

also, I've put down diatomaceous earth everywhere...

Click to expand...

Combination of both possibly?

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Combination of both what??

djdancer said:

Combination of both what??

Click to expand...

Spray and bait.

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Be very careful with the diatomaceous earth! Be sure to use only agricultural grade, not swimming pool stuff! You don't need lung cancer 30 years down the road!
I have never had good results with homemade bates, that product that I sent the link for has worked fantastic for me

I love diatomaceous earth (food grade)!! I use it inside and out but not around the birds because I don't want them inhaling it. I live near farmland so it's very easy to come by. I'm going to buy the bait that you suggested right now. I'm also going to continually spray the outside of my house and around. The exterminator will also be coming back because I did not get what I paid for.
Thank you!!

djdancer said:

I love diatomaceous earth (food grade)!! I use it inside and out but not around the birds because I don't want them inhaling it. I live near farmland so it's very easy to come by. I'm going to buy the bait that you suggested right now. I'm also going to continually spray the outside of my house and around. The exterminator will also be coming back because I did not get what I paid for.
Thank you!!

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Thank you for understanding the difference! I am still sick over what happened with my daughter and husband! Horribly major flea infestation at the same time puppies were born, I told them to get food grade de, even sent links of what they needed! Well not understanding the danger, they bought the swimming pool quality because of the price difference--and spread it by hand!! Outcome? Who knows? But not the way to go!

The DE where I live is only $10 for a good sized bag and goes a long way. The bait that you suggested is pretty expensive. I thought I'd get a tube of the gel and some of the granules but I see it's only sold in tubes of 4 for $30...

I'm going to chat with them in the morning and see if I can get 1 tube of gel and a small thing of granules.

Which did you use, or both?

Question isn't aimed at me, but you could always use more options right? In case one doesn't work.

Have you tried terro?

Terro is less expensive, and I think it works great. I've used it for years and it never seems to disappoint.
I use Terro liquid ant bait, I bought it at the dollar store, but it is sold elsewhere. I order it online nowadays.

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djdancer said:

The DE where I live is only $10 for a good sized bag and goes a long way. The bait that you suggested is pretty expensive. I thought I'd get a tube of the gel and some of the granules but I see it's only sold in tubes of 4 for $30...

I'm going to chat with them in the morning and see if I can get 1 tube of gel and a small thing of granules.

Which did you use, or both?

Click to expand...

The bait is what works for me, the granulars weren't much better than Amdro.

Clean constantly. Every little last crumb. Then vacuum again. Feed only in cages or enclosed areas where scattering can't happen much. Spread DE (food grade), good you've got that.

I also use, sparingly, a little boric acid, brushed into crevices and corners, with birds removed from room.

I use a vacuum flour powder that i make from essential oils and baking soda. Kills and drives all bugs, fleas, spiders, and ants away.
Tea tree, peppermint, lemon, and orange. side effects are everyone will ask you to make them some bc your house will smell amazing haha.

DerTier where do you buy your essential oils from and are they safe for use around birds? I do love that Idea.

I don't know why we have ants so bad but we've been here for 25 years and never had a problem until the big flood I think in 2009. I believe there is a nest in the wall but have no way to get in there because the wall is made of brick and my kitchen cabinets take up the rest of the wall space.

I need something that they are going to take back to the next with them and kill the rest of them in the nest. If anyone has any ideas on this, please let me know.

My husband sprayed the outside of the house and ground with a well known ant spray that comes in gallon jugs with sprayer on it. I did contact the company to see if I could use it in the house with my birds in the next room. They assured me that it's perfectly safe. I can't remember the name of the stuff right now but will come back and update this post later. So anyway, that is only killing what comes in while the product is wet and not what's still in the wall. It did not kill all of the ants so I called the exterminator and he came and sprayed around the house and ground and we still have ants.

I clean in and around my bird cages all day long and the floor around them is clean as well. I have a huge fear of rodents so don't want to attract any by leaving pellets or pellet dust, nut crumbs or dust around. Thank you all for all of your help.

I did buy the stuff from the Dollar Store and so far it has not gotten rid of them.

Something else to consider is demon powder! It is what is called a wettable powder!
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