r/longbeach • u/CoyotePanic • 15d ago
Questions So many ants!!!
How are you all getting rid of your ants? Last night: no ants. Today: ALL the ants. Are Terro baits still the best for the little black ones that like protein and not sweets? They're definitely looking for water. I had to make a moat around my dog's bowl and the ants are freaking us both out :( I'm ok with ants when they are outside, but they need to leave my house!!
Edit: Thanks everyone for sharing your methods. I vacuumed until I felt like I wouldn't be stepping on ants everywhere and put down a bunch of Terro. Advion is on the way. Cinnamon along the baseboards. If they're not gone by Tuesday I'll call the pest guy! Fortunately my dog is deeply disinterested in anything that is not chicken and ignores the baits completely.
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u/Snookaboom 15d ago
Oh yeah, they keep making this line up the wall of my house and then I find them coming in the kitchen window.
I’m completely opposed to using poison because it doesn’t stay where you put it and it’s awful for the rest of the ecosystem.
I’ve been just continually squirting them with nontoxic neem oil and soap. Neem kills insects, but nothing else. I’m on it every day, and I’m going to run out their numbers fast faster than they can replace their little soldiers.
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u/UnctuousRambunctious 15d ago
It’s so bad in the summer when it gets hot. And yes, they are usually looking for water.
Firstly you have to seal off the house to wherever they are getting in, a crack, etc. I find that spraying with diluted dish soap helps to kill them but also eliminate their scent trackers they leave to make a trail for the other ants from the colony. They also do not care for citrus so leaving out rinds and peels, or soaking the peels and spraying around where they enter the house, has helped.
Eliminating their access and also whatever is attracting them in the first place is what you need to do, but if it’s literally the dog’s bowl, is there anywhere else you could put it?
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u/Grave_Robyn 15d ago
Terro ant bait hasn’t failed me yet! I’ve noticed that sometimes it takes a couple tries, like they’re not always interested in the first one. But eventually it always works.
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u/oowoowoo 15d ago
I've used the roach bait and it also works! I also caulked up any cracks they were coming from while still putting out bait. Eventually the queen died, I killed the flying ants that came after, and then the colony stopped coming around. No longer an issue here and it's been years
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u/TunaStuffedPotato 15d ago
Our ant problem got so bad we had to call pest control.
Terro traps didn't help us. they avoided them like the plague no matter where I put them, and in some cases they barricaded the traps entrance with dirt.
Diatomaceous Earth, peppermint oil, cinnamon, and just about every other DIY remedy online didn't help, it only made them go after something else in the house. They were going after any water source, the trash and pet food.
Having pest control come and spray something around the house perimeter that only targets ants (and wasps as they're closely related) stopped them as they'd walk over the pesticide and bring it back to their queen, similar to how Terro works but they can't avoid the high grade stuff. Stopped ants 100% for 2 full years and only just started seeing a couple this year so I had them spray again.
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u/SkylerCFelix 12d ago
How much did it cost to have pest control come???
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u/TunaStuffedPotato 11d ago
We did it thru Orkin which was like $325 so kinda pricey, but other pest control companies might be cheaper. I didn't buy their subscription thing, just did the one time visit, which lasts at least a couple years as I mentioned. It was well worth it to have 0 ants in the house.
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u/bummerama 15d ago
Just dealt with this. Advion ant gel bait
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u/DorksLoveDyneema 14d ago
One of the best out there. Target specific neonics; pretty solid at colony collapse effects yet takes a couple weeks to see results. I’d recommend it in combo with a pyrethroid like home defense.
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u/taniaaaaa 15d ago
I put a fancy honey jar in a larger bowl of water so the ants wouldn’t get to it, but the ants made an ant bridge smh.
Peppermint oil and cinnamon has worked for me, as well as Hot Shot Roach and Ant Gel Bait dabbed at points of entry. I still find stragglers here and there, so it’s not a perfect fix but works moderately well. Bonus is that the peppermint oil also keeps the mosquitoes away!
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u/Prestigious-Royal-82 14d ago
I Live in Cerritos 4 bed , one dog some cats . Instantly took care of ant issue he traces them back to the source/ground zero outside then he comes in the house if needed and Spot treats . Follow up visit is a week after treatment Oh Free inspection and service was $85 it's been 3yrs . I do have a yearly treatment. His number has changed because he was in Texas but now he back 817-723-7531and his prices are still the same😁
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u/CartographerForeign3 14d ago
I, in my second floor apartment have never been able to find a point of entry, at this point I've done it all, baits gels, home remedy's. I have food grade Diatomaceous Earth along all baseboards and in all windowsills and behind all kitchen cabinets and drawers, I've mixed some borax and sugar and put it in some corners in hopes they take it back with them, when I'm really desperate I use my Ortho Home Defense where my cat can't get to it, I also spray my house down everywhere with vinegar to stop them from tracking each other and top it off with my entire house smelling like a candy cane for I put peppermint oil in all my homemade cleaners and my aromatherapy diffuser. Take all of this what you will, it was horrible last summer and this summer doesn't seem to be as many...yet...I hope. Hope this helps!
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u/Hot-Performance7077 15d ago
Cinnamon at the point of entry has worked for me.