Ants - best prevention?
 

Ok, so I've come to terms with the fact that I'm just going to have to get used to living with ants - but the quantity of them in the house this past week is just taking the mickey.

We've been here 4 weeks and had the house sprayed prior to moving in - I knew when we had this done that their effect on ants was really minimal but I wasn't expecting to have to fight so many of them so soon - I thought maybe we'd be safe for 3 months!

Anyhoo, this past week they've managed to find their way into our bedrooms and living room which is annoying as hell as it's difficult to spot them on the carpets and as there's only a few of them it's impossible to determine where exactly they're coming from - we still get the armies in the kitchen/dining room.

Short of spending every waking hour hoovering, disinfecting the surfaces and going through can after can of bug killer - I thought maybe it might be effective for my husband to go around the house and windows when after he mows the lawn, say every couple of weeks...? I wondered what's the best product out there to use - I'm sure there's a few of you who have probably tried them all!!!

I'm also not a big fan of covering my house in talc - I know it works but it's ugly as hell and my little boy just thinks it's fun to play with and walk all over the house = more bloody work for me.

Anyhoo... hope you can help. :thumbsup:

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

find out where they are coming in/out of the house....there won't be too many spots. Then stick a load of ant sand down.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

You can get little cans that they walk into with a sticky stuff inside. They carry it back home and poison the nest. It takes a while but it works and tends to discourage them from going through the house as they think they've found a ready food source. Ask at Bunnings or somewhere.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

one of these
they are the most resisliant little baskets ;)

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Well I havent had ants as yet, but god do we get loads of earwigs,:ohmy: Ive covered all the air vents etc all over the house, we have only been here 10 weeks and I expected some creepy crawlies but not earwigs, havent a clue where they are coming from but i aint happy with them :frown: mind you Id rather them then huntsman :eek:

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Hi I have heard that chalk is good to prevent them coming in and also bay leaves they dont like the smell

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

what ants or earwigs :confused:

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

does it also work on husbands :p:rofl:

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Heres what I do.

Clean up every scrap of food on all surfaces and clean them. Then put a dolop of dog food in the middle of the floor (not carpeted). Wait about 24 hours and you will be infested with ants all in nice easy to follow lines from the food to the way they are gaining entrance to the house.

Now get a bottle of liquid ant-rid, about a meter from the food drop a few drips of ant-rid directly in the ants path. Do this for all the trails. Now clean up the dolop of food.

Don't disrupt the ants, let them feast on the poison. They take it back to the nest and kill the nest. They will come back in a month or mores time when the eggs hatch. repeat the process.

Works for me.:)

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

ants

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

I just made sure there was no food for them. I still have a trail of them traipsing up the drain in my bathroom but luckily they are heading out the front door into the neighbours apartment :thumbsup:

I just leave them to it.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Best prevention? Ant condoms. Without a doubt. :)

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Manufactured by Amoebas, of course.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

My OH bought some spray stuff, I believe you mix it with water and spray it on - is very effective AND pet/child friendly.

I'll ask him what it was and let you know

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

I use baby powder. They just walk up to it, turn around and go back to the window where they came in. Over and over again.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

One way of getting rid of ants is to track them back to their nests, which just takes a bit of observation, then use a powder or preparation to kill them at this source.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Quick question - do ants bite?

Was sitting outside last night were we have ants and have two huge bites on my leg. The area is now very hard, hot and itchy, does that sound like ants or a regular mozzie?

Have tried anti-histamine, aloe gel, clicker pen etc but still the same.

Thanks

M

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Bull ants bite not nice they look bigger than the general ant

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

The tiny Fire ants (2-6mm long) bite:

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/images/Bio...-48hrs-250.jpg

Bull ants (up to 15mm long) also bite.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Damn things won't stop still enough for me to measure, I've asked nicely but they just carry on regardless, how rude.

;)

M

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

We stopped fussing about the ants a long time ago, every time it's due to rain they move to higher ground i.e our house. They come & go as they please now.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

I don't mind the odd ant. I have an issue with the armies that are coming in at the moment - and they do bloody bite, myself and my son - they don't touch my husband.

Was kept awake by some critter scratching around in our loft last night, settled down above our heads - lo and behold woke this morning to an army of ants coming into our bedroom through the tiny hole that wires the security system. So they're coming in from the loft. Great. It was like something out of a horror film, the whole bloody wall and ceiling was crawling. I really am starting to despair with them - told my husband we're doing everything we can to get rid of them this weekend and he told me not to be too hopeful at which point I just burst into tears (lack of sleep methinks).

I hate ants. I really, really hate them.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

I'm thinking of planning an ant drinking game. Get some mates around, lots of beer, everytime somebody squishes one everybody else must drink a finger of beer. :rofl:

Loads of entertainment!

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

You'd be paraletic within 20 minutes at our house... :(

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

I got up yesterday to ants all over my kitchen worktops :eek:
Used Combat ant-rid liquid. It did get worse when they were drinking the liquid thousands of them but they are all gone now. Well for at least month I hope.
x

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

That happened to me in Sydney once, I emptied a container of fly spray into them and the hole, and an insect bomb in the loft, and the were all dead within no time. And it never happened again.

Re: Ants - best prevention?
 

Yep, I've got a few things on my list to get at bunnings tomorrow:

Loft bomb (that is if the rental agents don't send out someone to deal with the mouse/rat/possum/scratchy critter up there - if they do I'll get them to bomb the loft while they're there)
Nest baits for future visitors
Ant sand, for around the outside of the house

Hopefully that should sort them out for a couple of months... if I'm lucky.