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Ants

Spearmint

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Around this time here is when ants start to find their ways in through doors and cracks to my house, if I drop food they'll be there within 10 minutes. Spearmint throws food out his cage and i've been trying my best to clean it when it drops but i'm not always home to do that. I've sprayed vinegar outside and put baby powder at the doors.
If ants got up into his cage, they wouldn't bite him or cause issues straight away would they? I've got a pest company coming soon to deal with any nests near the house but I need to figure out how to do it with Spearmint and my Hermitcrabs.
 

zERo/

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I’ve heard of people greasing the legs of there birds cage stand with coconut oil or Vaseline so the ants can’t climb them, I’ve never had ants before though :cautious:
As for the problem itself, maybe someone else can chime in?
 

Shezbug

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I use diatomaceous earth outside where I can see them coming in to the house and if I find a nest I pour it over that too. You can put your cage legs in some cups and then put the cups into some containers and fill the containers with water to stop the ants from getting to the legs.

Can't say if they will bite as not all ants do but we certainly have many that are happy to nip at anything- it will depend on what ants you have. We get about four or five different sorts in our yard alone.
 

Spearmint

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I’ve heard of people greasing the legs of there birds cage stand with coconut oil or Vaseline so the ants can’t climb them, I’ve never had ants before though :cautious:
As for the problem itself, maybe someone else can chime in?
I'll probably do this, ive got loads of coconut oil.
 

Spearmint

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I use diatomaceous earth outside where I can see them coming in to the house and if I find a nest I pour it over that too. You can put your cage legs in some cups and then put the cups into some containers and fill the containers with water to stop the ants from getting to the legs.

Can't say if they will bite as not all ants do but we certainly have many that are happy to nip at anything- it will depend on what ants you have. We get about four or five different sorts in our yard alone.
Thanks!
 

Shezbug

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If you know where the ant nests are you can pour boiling water on/in them (add some boarax to the water for extra measures)- I used this technique many years ago when I discovered our whole yard was full of nests of biting and stinky ants. The ants were bothering my dogs and ferrets so they had to go and I have never been keen on chemical killers so I wanted a safer alternative.

There are many recipes with borax as a main ingredient for killing ants- I cant recall what we mixed it with for the wandering ants but I think it was either honey or sugar syrup- they eat it and take it back to the nest and die off.
 

April

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I've been dealing with this for literally over a decade now in this apt. You'll want to get Liquid Terro ant baits if you can they are absolutely life savers. It's in a stand alone container that they crawl into and back into their nest and it poisons the whole nest. I also sprinkle Cinnamon around the cracks to deter them from leaving that area and put Cinnamon all around the legs of the cage.
 

April

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Oh! I also had lots of luck putting washcloths all around the cage but especially the two corners were the food bowl is. That way especially on carpet it won't get in the threads and be hard to get out and I can easily pick up the scraps and get rid of them. I also vacuum religiously twice daily if not more and I take up the papers at night and remove all food from the bowl and scrub it out so no traces of food smells remain
 

Shezbug

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What do ants hate the most?


Here are some of the best ways to kill and repel ants naturally using ingredients found in the home or at a local store.
  1. Diatomaceous earth (silicon dioxide) ...
  2. Glass cleaner and liquid detergent. ...
  3. Ground black or red pepper. ...
  4. Peppermint. ...
  5. Tea tree oil. ...
  6. Lemon eucalyptus oil. ...
  7. Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) ...
  8. White vinegar.

Pretty sure 6 and 7 are actually the same thing lol I am surprised that lemon eucalypt oil is rated so low- it is the only thing scientifically proven to work as well as DEET for mozzies as far as I am aware.

Apparently the cinnamon works by suffocating them when they breathe it in, I would think it would be a good choice for outside in particular as it also has antifungal properties for the garden!
 

BluJay

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All the above and this to smite them. Ants hate borax powder. It's what's in the Taro liquid along with sugar. It's pretty much as benign as diatomaceous earth. You can use a mix of DME and borax powder where you see them coming in. The DME creates actual holes in their exoskeletons causing them to die. Whereas borax poisons them as the go cleaning themselves off and passing it to other members in the group to collectively die. You can also add oil of peppermint to the mix by drawing a line on the floor that dries out with a qtip. This gets rid of all but the most persistent ant or two in my region. Down with the Queen (of ants)!

*caution don't use pool filter DME if you have that around, that when mixed with air is a serious hazard to all animals and humans*
 
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Shezbug

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I was of the belief that all diatomaceous earth is a hazard for any and all breathing beings if it is or gets to be airborne. I did not think there was a difference in using any of the different grades of it- they are all a hazard for the eyes and respiratory systems of us all I believe.
 

BluJay

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I was of the belief that all diatomaceous earth is a hazard for any and all breathing beings if it is or gets to be airborne. I did not think there was a difference in using any of the different grades of it- they are all a hazard for the eyes and respiratory systems of us all I believe.
You are correct. All DME is bad airborn. It might just be from.the act of pouring it in and necessary PPE that I'm recalling it. Different amounts per area of concentration when applied and exposure levels is my brain popped up with that info. Will research before giving stark warnings.
 
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Shezbug

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You are correct. All DME is bad airborn. However from my understanding pool grade DME is more likely to 'stick' in our lungs compared to household or farm DME. Will try to find a source. It might just be from.the act of pouring it in and necessary PPE that I'm recalling it.
Don't stress yourself with finding a source- I just thought all of them were dangerous including the food grade stuff. I guess there are likely to be different sizes of particles as well as different grades of purity etc.

I keep a small tub of it to use on the food plants I grow as I am not keen on any type of chemical and even less keen on chemicals on my food- if I am going to grow it at home it will have used veggie water and worm compost for fertilizers along with crushed egg shells and tea leaves and for pest control I use the diatomaceous earth and pick off the bugs the earth does not kill.
 

BluJay

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Don't stress yourself with finding a source- I just thought all of them were dangerous including the food grade stuff. I guess there are likely to be different sizes of particles as well as different grades of purity etc.

I keep a small tub of it to use on the food plants I grow as I am not keen on any type of chemical and even less keen on chemicals on my food- if I am going to grow it at home it will have used veggie water and worm compost for fertilizers along with crushed egg shells and tea leaves and for pest control I use the diatomaceous earth and pick off the bugs the earth does not kill.
I love that approach. Keeping DME, soapwater, and an army of locally friendly ladybugs with their supersoldier praying mantises is my key. I haven't tried tea leaves? Oh...caffine. Yeah I see that. What's good for the earth is great for us!
 

BluJay

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***Disclaimer*** I would definitionally start with the my methods. At my old home I was at war with carpenter ants. They appeared during the COVID lock down so it was up to me not to use anything that would harm my parrots. If anyone is not familiar with them they are super sized ants; about as long as a thumb nail. I tried traps made especially for them; which they just ate the poison like candy. I had tarro boric acid (the paper with sweet liquid) set up like land mines around the kitchen. There was defense line set up all around the kitchen of DTE. There was nothing for them to eat also the kitchen was clean but I would wake up to 15-20 of them crawling around the walls, on the stove, clustering on the floor. Plus they were fast movers. It got to the point where I really couldn't use the kitchen; I couldn't have anyone enter the house. I was stuck with a nightmare. There was even a DMZ zone between the kitchen and living room with a line of DTE 1/4" thick, and they would just walk right through it. Luckily they never made it to the parrot room but I am scarred for life. If they were normal ants I wouldn't have a problem; the methods used (even just the traps) would work. However these were super ants. I had a happy nest for 10 years before they showed up. If it rained; guess what more ants. Hot outside; more ants. No reason; more ants. I discovered that my garbage disposal was leaking; making the perfect wet wood for them to chew through. They also had an ant express from the maple trees outside to the roof of my building. After 10 years of making a home I moved; the new owner was aware of the issue but could use heavy pesticides. I was really sad to leave my nest after spending so much time just getting it nice. I honestly think I have trauma from the experience. So in reply to your message I went to military action mode. Hopefully you just have the small common ants; I wouldn't wish super ants on anyone. However the new flat that I moved into was awesome. Every window and sliding door faced a wooden area with a stream. It was magical. However it never felt like home again. ** I did have a small outbreak of ants in my green cheeks nesting area; daily cleanings, mint around the cage, and giving her cinnamon sticks to shred took care of the issue; they were getting in through the window by her home ** Sometimes less is more; other times you get super ants.

Jay
 
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AussieBird

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There's been great suggestion so far but wanted to add AIL (Avian Insect Liquidator) to the list. I believe it works for ants and would be perfectly safe to spray around Spearmint.
 
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