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Ant problem

RobbiesCornField

RobbiesCornField

Bring it on.
Last week during feeding, my lovely Snopal girl decided she didn't want to eat her mouse, and instead left it sitting by her water dish. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that she had done that because she has NEVER missed a meal. Living in Florida, anything that isn't almost immediately eaten starts turning into either maggot or ant food. Given the title of this thread, you can guess what happened. When I was peeking into the snake room the next morning, there was a line of ants leading straight to her tub. I panicked and yanked the drawer open. There were ants literally covering the mouse, and Lizzie was as far away as she could get from the nasty insects. Completely forgetting and not caring that she's one of my bitier snakes, I grabbed her without a second thought, and dragged the tub outside to be emptied. I cleaned and sanitized the tub, and brought it back inside, where there was still a trail of ants leading from the wall to her drawer. In a moment of curiosity, I grabbed an aerosol can that was sitting on the desk, and sprayed some of the ants with it. They died instantly, so I sprayed the rest of the line.

The miracle substance in the can was Provent-A-Mite. Eager to see if it would have the same effect in the rest of the house, and for how long, I set about spraying my doors and windows, even along the walls in the kitchen, and anywhere else an ant might be able to get into. I haven't seen an ant in the house in one week.

Thanks for listening!
 
Wow, it's really good that you got there in time! I'd hate to think of what could happen to her if you had gotten there later. And it's great that the Provent-A-Mite worked. That's something I'll put on my list just in case. I do have an exterminator come out to the house every 3 months, but I don't let him anywhere near the reptiles and dog food bowls for obvious reasons.
 
AshleyShadows said:
Wow, it's really good that you got there in time! I'd hate to think of what could happen to her if you had gotten there later. And it's great that the Provent-A-Mite worked. That's something I'll put on my list just in case. I do have an exterminator come out to the house every 3 months, but I don't let him anywhere near the reptiles and dog food bowls for obvious reasons.
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I definitely wouldn't recommend putting this stuff anywhere near a dog food bowl, just in case he decides to lick some up. Just be very careful when spraying, and you won't have to worry about your pets getting sick.
 
Oh definitely, I just meant specifically with the snakes. And I'll definitely be careful, the 27 animals I'm lucky enough to share my home with are my top priority :)
 
I consider the $26/month I pay for Florida Pest money well spent. I rarely have ants in the house (knock on wood!!!) and if I do, I can call and they are taken care of immediately. Yeah, I know you can buy the stuff they use (for a barrier) on-line and do it yourself for pennies, but would I? Really?? Plus they treat for termites once a year. And if I have any problem areas outside, I just ask the guy and he nukes it.

Glad that stuff is working for you, Robbie! When I get them in the house, they go straight for Dillbird's bed. Ick.
 
I was tormented with them for a long time. The wife finially called the bug guy. But Windex kills them too. I went to the dollar store and found some knock off brand of windex and it didn't kill them.

You figure it out..but it works for counter tops and such. Which is my point of this post.
 
Nanci said:
I consider the $26/month I pay for Florida Pest money well spent. I rarely have ants in the house (knock on wood!!!) and if I do, I can call and they are taken care of immediately. Yeah, I know you can buy the stuff they use (for a barrier) on-line and do it yourself for pennies, but would I? Really?? Plus they treat for termites once a year. And if I have any problem areas outside, I just ask the guy and he nukes it.

Glad that stuff is working for you, Robbie! When I get them in the house, they go straight for Dillbird's bed. Ick.
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Thanks for the info, Nanci! I'll have to look into something like that, because this isn't the first time I've had ants in a viv... the first time was with Ted the House Snake. Glad I caught those in time!
 
Lennycorn said:
I was tormented with them for a long time. The wife finially called the bug guy. But Windex kills them too. I went to the dollar store and found some knock off brand of windex and it didn't kill them.

You figure it out..but it works for counter tops and such. Which is my point of this post.
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I'll have to keep that in mind! I know Dawn Dishsoap kills them, too, but it doesn't keep them out of the house for any longer than it takes to dry. The P-A-M, however, seems to be doing a dang good job of keeping 'em out!
 
Good idea, Robbie! I can tell you that the Nix solution DOES NOT work on spiders. Much screaming and running can be had though if you try it (the people, not the spiders)!
 
jenneses said:
Good idea, Robbie! I can tell you that the Nix solution DOES NOT work on spiders. Much screaming and running can be had though if you try it (the people, not the spiders)!
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Hairspray for spiders!!!!!! As it dries, it makes it so they can't move, and you can then squish them at your leisure.
 
Jeff Linkchorst said:
I use provent-a-mite on spiders too. :smash: nasty things they are.
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Agreed. I have yet to try P-A-M on spiders, but that's because my wonderful kitty is an incredible spider hunter! He's such a good furball and eats every last leg.

l_ca453edd1dc74bdfa298746f963811e9.jpg
 
I am not a cat-fan, but I do love their ability to get spiders. I need some P-A-M now. Does it really work? I am not getting close enough to squish them, I just need them dead (I'll vacuum up the remains).
 
Nanci said:
I consider the $26/month I pay for Florida Pest money well spent.
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$26/month???? Holy cow! What a sweet price! Heck, I could fly them up to IN for what I pay my people for monthly pest control.

jenneses said:
Good idea, Robbie! I can tell you that the Nix solution DOES NOT work on spiders. Much screaming and running can be had though if you try it (the people, not the spiders)!
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Damn, Chris is really slacking, isn't he?? :laugh:
 
Yuck! I hate ants! Luckily you took care of it time. I hate the way they smell when you squish 'em with your finger. That smell p*sses me off!!!
 
yellowbellyhippy said:
Yuck! I hate ants! Luckily you took care of it time. I hate the way they smell when you squish 'em with your finger. That smell p*sses me off!!!
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Did you know that not all ants smell the same when you squish them? There are two species of ant here that are very similar morphologically--the local fire ant here (Solenopsis xyloni) and some other tiny ant that I can't remember anymore. The easiest way to tell the difference is to squish them between your fingers, and one smells like blue cheese and the other doesn't. Sorry, this is a terrible story since I can't remember any of the details, but I think it's interesting that you can sometimes distinguish species by their squish smell.
 
desertanimal said:
Did you know that not all ants smell the same when you squish them? There are two species of ant here that are very similar morphologically--the local fire ant here (Solenopsis xyloni) and some other tiny ant that I can't remember anymore. The easiest way to tell the difference is to squish them between your fingers, and one smells like blue cheese and the other doesn't. Sorry, this is a terrible story since I can't remember any of the details, but I think it's interesting that you can sometimes distinguish species by their squish smell.
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LOL, what a smarty pants you are ;-) jk~ I dunno, Im used to one kind of ant. The sugar ant. It's black and smells like maple syrup mixed with jock straps. GROSS!
 
jenneses said:
I am not a cat-fan, but I do love their ability to get spiders. I need some P-A-M now. Does it really work? I am not getting close enough to squish them, I just need them dead (I'll vacuum up the remains).
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It's been working so far for the ants! I still haven't seen any spiders to tell if it works on them, yet. LOL

desertanimal said:
Did you know that not all ants smell the same when you squish them? There are two species of ant here that are very similar morphologically--the local fire ant here (Solenopsis xyloni) and some other tiny ant that I can't remember anymore. The easiest way to tell the difference is to squish them between your fingers, and one smells like blue cheese and the other doesn't. Sorry, this is a terrible story since I can't remember any of the details, but I think it's interesting that you can sometimes distinguish species by their squish smell.
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That's oddly interesting! Now I'm going to have to squish ants and smell them. LOL
 
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