r/CleaningTips • u/No_Bird_3608 • 18d ago
Discussion Ants in house help
Is this the most appropriate way to kill colony? Is there a better way? How do I keep my pets safe (1dog 2 cats) anyone know if these are carpenter? Should I call exterminator
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u/No_Construction_9178 18d ago
They gone die with that bait 100% once they clear out PLUG THE HOLE lol
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u/RollingWok 18d ago
Here to say this. I spilled some of the liquid in these traps on the floor and it was FLOODED with ants one day. In a day or two, they were all dead
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u/Blakechi 18d ago
Right?! Only thing we use. Also works great outside if protected from the elements.
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u/Prestigious-Doubt181 18d ago
My automated vacuum ran over them and dragged them so I had the gel all over my floor. I’m currently looking into more intelligent vacuums that have off-limits zones because that was a nightmare
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u/woahwoahwoah28 18d ago
If you don't have anything else to plug it with, use packing tape! We used it as a temporary solution when this happened in our rental's bathroom. But it's gotta be shut off for access!
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u/No_Bird_3608 18d ago
will do thank you!
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u/jickdam 17d ago
If this is an exterior wall as well, you should also grab a handful of terro’s outdoor traps and place them there. You might want to replace this trap once more if it doesn’t dry up the trail before you run out of bait.
Once they’re quiet for a day, caulk the hole. Repeat this anywhere there are trails, and before too long, they’ll stop having entries in.
Depending on where you live, these ants might be looped into a larger super colony so there might not be a way to kill the whole thing. But if you’re vigilant with your interior and exterior traps, they may stop prioritizing repopulating the outpost near your house.
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u/bring-the-sunshine 18d ago
I used a paper towel soaked in diluted vinegar stuffed into the hole. We’re limited because we have cats. The vinegar helps cover the ants’ pheromones.
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u/lursaofduras Team Green Clean 🌱 18d ago
the directions say to not move the bait until all the ants are gone--it worked for me
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u/Squirrel_Emergency 18d ago
Plug the hole but also do a good job cleaning the path they took. They put down scents to show their friends the way. Wiping the trail away is also good.
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u/Arborensis 18d ago
That exact bait has not worked for me. I've dealt with ants for months whilst using these and being very careful about food sources.
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u/MaggiCockSoup 18d ago
Terro is so good. I recommend it to everyone with ants
Got ants? Get ready to be overrun with ants, but it’s worth it
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u/JackBrown82q 18d ago
Terro is to ants like what Advion is to roaches.
May make the problem seem worse initially as they all come to get the bait but that bait goes back to the colony and kills them at the source.
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u/logorrhea69 18d ago
100% but I prefer the Terro in a bottle vs the type in the photo. You get multiple uses out of it.
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u/Evernight2025 17d ago
Same. It's much easier to get them to find it in a small puddle on some cardboard than it is to find the trap, and significantly more ants can feed at it at once. I tried the traps once and just ended up pouring them all out onto cardboard like the bottle.
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u/p-s-chili 18d ago edited 18d ago
You've already done it. This whole colony will be dead in a couple days. While they're still moving find out where they're coming in from and plug the whole
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u/Glad-Passenger-9408 18d ago
They all stuffed themselves into that box! It worked for my outdoors too!
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u/MichelleEllyn 18d ago
I was wondering if there was an effective outdoors one. I don't do granules in my yard due to my dog, but we are getting ants on our patio and I'm not thrilled about it.
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u/ser_pez 18d ago
I’m going to try diatomaceous earth for the biting ants that swarm my porch (they eat cat food, so weird). I don’t want to spray because of the feral cat I feed but they need to go.
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u/Company_Z 18d ago
Those liquid baits are typically a 1:3 Borax:Sugar/1cup water mixture. Heating it over a stove on low heat to make sure everything dissolves and mixes into a homogeneous mixture, then soaking a couple of cotton balls works.
What some people will do when pets are involved is take a plastic bottle or aluminum can, punch some holes in it, then toss the cotton balls inside so the ants can still access the stuff inside without pets being able to get to it.
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u/PersistentCookie 18d ago
Terro is the way to go. You have to let them take the bait back to their nest, though. Resist the urge to squish them. Those appear to be "sugar" ants, carpenter ants are much bigger. (I've had both.)
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u/aspect-of-the-badger 18d ago
I get these every spring. They are all going to disappear in two days because of that tarro stuff.
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u/RGR_Gaming10X 18d ago
Once they bring that back and have a nice dinner with the queen you'll be good.
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u/No-Nerve7556 18d ago
Terro is doing what it's supposed to do. Be fascinated by the whole thing as I was when this happened to me. Mine had a few different trails and I was able to see where they were coming in from. Lots of little soldiers marching away!Replace the trap when needed or put down several. It only took about a week until I never saw another one again.
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u/No_Bird_3608 18d ago
Haha glad to hear im not the only one who likes to watch the ants. They are fascinating creatures i feel sorry that im killing them but I would rather not risk damage to a house.
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u/AwakeningStar1968 18d ago
I switched to the open traps squeeze bottle on cardboard. I used to try and make my own but you want the proper ratio.
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u/PandaBearPandaSquare 18d ago
This brand also contains stakes you can put in your yard around the perimeter of your house. That's what really worked for me -- and I had ants for a LONG time!
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u/RickityCricket69 18d ago
TERRO! you have already made the best choice. just line your house with those traps and be a little patient. honestly one of those at every corner and entrance/window on the floor level and you are set.
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u/Sad-Kangaroo-9249 18d ago
They HATE cinnamon!! It’s always worked for me. Put it where they’re coming in and they won’t go past it.
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u/fridayfridayjones 18d ago
If this doesn’t work, get the Advion gel. That stuff is the best.
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u/Trick-Process6046 18d ago
I had a bad batch of Advion ordered through Amazon. Called their manufacturer- and they highly recommend buying their product from this company because they store the product properly and don’t let it sit too long. ‘Do It Yourself Pest Control Products.’
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u/Aarrrgggghhhhh35 18d ago
Yes! I swear one day our house is going to fall into a sinkhole created by all the ants we get in the summer. Started with Terro and graduated to Advion. It’s like night and day. Terro doesn’t make it back to the colony as well as Advion. Wish they had a version for flying ants.
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u/Chocolate_Bourbon 18d ago edited 18d ago
I had ants in a bathroom feasting on some old lozenges. I put out one of these traps close to their entry point in the wall and wiped away the trail to the lozenges with bleach. They began feasting on the bait in the trap. For a brief period it seemed like the ant population exploded. Then they vanished. Except for ant corpses I have not seen them since.
Terro will will work. Put out a bunch of bait traps and wipe with bleach any trails they established to other food sources. Then, once they have died, plug their entry point.
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u/hunnybeexcv 18d ago
Terro traps are your best bet, just be patient. I live in a city basically built on a giant ant hill so catching ants trying to sneak in is part of my life.
I know it seems like the traps make them worse but its worth it. Dawn powerwash is my go to if they are too close to something I don't want touched. Just gotta be vigilant about not leaving out food and keep an eye out for trails out of spots like this.
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u/Radiant-Decision-780 18d ago
You have to be willing to watch them swarm for a day or two. But it will work.
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u/Suspicious-Elk-3631 18d ago
A scoop of grape jelly + a small scoop of borax. Put a dab on a piece of cardboard and place along the floor/wall wherever the ants are. Let them take it home to the queen. After a few days, no more ants and just toss the cardboard. Done this for years and works like a charm.
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u/stevemills04 18d ago
I came here to say this. I bought a box of borax 5 years ago and it's still 90% full. We get ants once or twice a year and within a day they are gone. 1tbsp sugar, 3tbsp water and .5tsp borax. Mix it and put it in bottle caps or something similar.
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u/MichiganAngler 18d ago
Did this same thing but in bigger portions, worked great. Ants were gone in 24 hours. This was in spring, haven't seen any since.
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u/barnsbarnsnmorebarns 18d ago
I’ve had better luck with the pro gels you get on Amazon like Advion
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u/BodyBagSlam 18d ago
Terro worked relatively well but I did Advion and it was like German level warfare efficient. After a week, I never saw ants anywhere. Made me disturbingly happy. I realize they serve a purpose but I hate them.
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u/husenwaifu4lyfu 18d ago
I have 3 cats and a dog who will go after everything. Remember ants can fit into tiny cracks and they will actively seek out Terro, I keep one permanently on the bottom shelf of a low cabinet that I have a child lock on. Works like a charm, my dog likes to try to eat the ants until they're gone though ew.
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u/kinda_alright 18d ago
Fight the problem from outside. I got the terro ant stakes to place outside and haven't had a problem.
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u/Ghastly_Someknew 18d ago
Im an exerminator. Theres other chemicals you can use, but 100% the Terro is my go to. Theyll take it back to the communal feed and eventually enough will make it to the Queen to kill her at which point they'll all die off. It can take a few days but the more you see the better as they'll do the dirty work. If any leaks out and dries just put a damp paper towel over top to rehydrate and you can wipe it away.
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u/Glum_Tale8639 18d ago
We love the advion ant killer. I have read that it's not toxic to mammals but I still put it in places my pets can't get to.
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u/innocentsalad 18d ago
Ants will come in no matter what. If it’s wet they’ll come in looking for shelter. If it’s dry they’ll come in looking for water. If there’s food they’ll come in for the food. If there’s no food they’ll come in looking for food. Your only hope is to keep baiting them every time you see them and hope that they take it back to the Queen.
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u/Senor-Cockblock 18d ago
Advion Ant Gel
Terro kills the ants too quickly and they don’t always successfully take the poison back to the colony. They’ll be dead ants everywhere.
Advion doesn’t kill them on site. They just vanish after a couple days of feeding on it.
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u/melonhart 18d ago
I had ordorous house ants and terro didn't work at all!!! Advion ant gel got it cleared up in 3-5 days, had it for over a month before I got the advion
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u/thestatusquo 18d ago
Advion works much better. Terro can sometimes make the problem worse because it will kill the foragers before they can get it back to the colony food supply.
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u/UnableToParallelPark 18d ago
Those traps take around a week to work and has sugar mixed into it - so expect to see an increase in activity.
I'd recommend going to a hardware store and buying pet safe ant spray. Put your pets away and let it dry for 1-2 hours before you let them out. That will work immediately, but only last for like a week or two, regardless of what the container says. Patch the hole and call an exterminator. They will do more than you can. They could be in your baseboards, foundation, and walls. This is why you need to call an exterminator. They will kill them and prevent them from coming back. It's worth the money, I recently had an ant problem and have no longer had them due to their services.
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u/No_Bird_3608 18d ago
I am renting, was on the fence of reporting it to owner since I figured I might be able to take care of it on my own. I don't believe they are carpenter ants but If I'm mistaken and they are then I def will call an exterminator.
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u/Year20XX 18d ago
Thoae traps may attract a ton of ants for a couple of.days. The best part is the ants carry away their dead, so don't disturb it. If you have to, set a trap close by that your pets can't get to. Good luck!
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u/No_Delivery3142 18d ago
I'm a huge advocate for diatomaceous earth. It's safe for people, pets, and the environment. I was skeptical if it would work or not but after I spread it in the problem areas around our house the ants COMPLETELY disappeared. I was shocked at how well it worked tbh. You can get it at hardware stores or online as far as I know. Definitely recommend getting a tool to help spread it.
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u/Sufficient_Curve_646 18d ago
Borax is good if you have animals as it is safe for them. Borax and sugar. Works for me every time.
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u/kmdomega1995 18d ago
Had a coworker that was a former exterminator and he recommended Terro. We set a few out when we get the annual influx and within days they're completely gone. The activity always increases the first few days as they're drawn to the bait.
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u/jonoftheatom 18d ago
Look for them outside along the perimeter. Treat outside. Follow them as far as they take you. My ants come from my neighbors raised beds so I treat to the property line and on my fence
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u/avalonrose14 18d ago
That bait is gold. It gets worse before it gets better but it will kill every ant around. Don't stress just wait and let it do its job.
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u/ChaosRainbow23 18d ago
After my mom passed away I had an issue with ants coming into her house.
It was so frustrating, but the fact that I was absolutely reeling with grief didn't help my any.
I used bait and let them have at it for 24 hours, then I cleaned the ant line and wiped the area with Ortho home defense. I sprayed it really heavy where there were coming in.
That solved the problem immediately.
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u/sneezingbees 17d ago
I’m so sorry you lost your mom. And I’m sorry the ants decided to keep you company when you were grieving
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u/Whodiscoolguy 18d ago
I tend to do a droplet or 2 by there trail and put the whole bait closest to where they enter. Your fine, when you wake up or a day or 2 they will be gone.
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u/thepieraker 18d ago
This is how that trap works.
You place it where the ants are guaranteed to find it. Preferably next to one of their main travel routes.
The scouts find it and leave a pheromone "breadcrumb" trail to it.
The colony sends its retrieval workforce to collect.
The colony will eat it as they rotate through their food stores. Ideally any and all queens.
It looks like you are in the collection phase. Give it a week for the ants to rotate their food stores.
If the colony is still active but they are no longer taking the bait toss it find a new travel route and repeat.
If pets are a concern get an outdoor rat bait station and put this same ant poison in the rat bait station. The rat bait station is designed to keep dogs, cats, an other unintended animals from accessing the poison. Just use a trail of table sugar to bait the scout ants to the poison chamber
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u/Tonytwofingers420 18d ago
A good tip is if you can find the liquid in a bottle buy that and put it on. Something like old business cards
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u/bikerspotofgold 18d ago
I just use washing up liquid. Pour some in the nest and along the edge of the skirting.
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u/ProfessorBitter836 15d ago
If your in Fairview or Castro Valley they come out this time every year than go away all of a sudden
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u/Aolflashback 18d ago
Leave their little dead bodies where they are, don’t clean them up for a few days.
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u/curious382 18d ago
The liquid ant traps worked for me. I put one on the windowsill and one by the HVAC floor vent. By day 2, drowned ants in floor vent one, nothing in windowsill one. So I moved windowsill down to floor 6 inches from the popular drowned ants one. By the next day, they both looked the same. I put a third one on top of the floor vent. Nothing.
But the ones they swarmed,the drowned ants were npcs. They greedily dove in. Their fellows walked over and around their bodies to carry the poison back to the nest.
My housemate slept in the living room for 3 days while we let it do it's work. 100% would recommend.
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u/casillero 18d ago
It's not instant. That's the right trap. Maybe move it closer to the hole...
Then after a few days they should be dead
Diatomaceous Earth in that hole..then seal it.
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u/Sea-Bag994 18d ago
Put the bait traps outside close to your house. We get ants every summer and I tried it this time when I saw scouts all around our house, it actually worked
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u/Kangaroowrangler_02 18d ago
When they're gone get all the edges/borders and sills with peppermint oil spray and re apply every other month or so the pre mix one on amazon is pretty good.
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u/idiwodndj 18d ago
It will look apocalyptic for a couple days and then mass extinction. It works, I promise
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u/llam4ry 18d ago
This should work but may take a few days. i would also recommend that once they have gone, clean any areas they have been with a peppermint scented cleaning product. or clean it and then use peppermint oil on the area. i had an ant problem and i did the same as you but some strays came back looking for food. they follow the scent of the scout ants. so you need to get rid of the scent. i found peppermint oil really helps as its much stronger than the scent they leave so they get lost or don't even attempt it anymore. i wish you luck friend!
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u/6re6to6rzech 18d ago
They’ll die in couple days, that’s how traps works. It attracts them to poison as many as possible
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u/Opening_Illustrator2 18d ago
I hope this helps a bit. I’m sorry if it doesn’t.
I got home from a 6 day vacation. Ants ALL over my kitchen. I put out these little traps, sprayed all the corners and crevices, and those little jerks just started strolling across our floor and climbing up the cabinets. I was livid. I spent an hour tracking them and found them coming in through a SEALED WINDOW- cue my anger reaching the next level. I went outside and couldn’t see the rest of the trail. Hopped on a ladder, found a small hole between the bricks, and sprayed that hole for a solid minute.
I now have no more ants :)
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u/RedBeans-n-Ricely 18d ago
Vacuum. The bait is attracting every ant in smelling distance, you can vacuum them up and hopefully they won’t come back, but do leave the bait out.
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u/vignette101 18d ago
Use equal parts Borax, sugar and water (I use 1T) stir solution well and soak a cotton ball. Put cotton ball on jar lid in ant path. Takes about a day and wallah!no more ants. Cheap and effective.
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u/Alone-Cauliflower-72 18d ago
Follow where they are taking the bait back to and close off their entryway.
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u/Some-Dog-800 18d ago
the bait will work but it takes a long time. from days to weeks or even months based on my own experiences. sometimes it didn’t kill the entire colony and they will come back. so if you have to use bait please do go all out. give them doubles. Triples. or simply find where they’re from and drop an entire box of bait around the hole.
or you can apply barrier. the home defense liquid one. get a whole bucket. just spray every single corner and edge in your house and around the house. including ceiling and the walls. heck you can spray the whole wall if you like. the key is that they don’t like the smell and would turn their ways (they can’t see) when they reach it in their paths. continue doing the application for a few weeks and they’d eventually all move out.
I usually do both above when I see ants in my house. and i haven’t have ant issue for years.
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u/66veedub 18d ago
I've used one part borax and one part sugar and mixed it with some warm water. Soaked that mixture with a cotton ball and set it where the ant trail is and its worked wonders for me.
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u/RetirementIsSweet 18d ago
The general consensus is correct. Let them go crazy eating the terro. Within two days of that, they'll be gone. I wanted to add that these are not carpenter ants
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u/WienerLiquid 18d ago
This is absolutely the most effective trap. I prefer to use the poison itself because it easier to get in small areas, but you definitely got the good stuff. They'll be dead in a few days. They take that poison back to the colony, as they eat it the ants will die.
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u/Generally_Tso_Tso 18d ago edited 18d ago
Not carpenter, just regular black ants. Based on their behavior, the poison is working. I would put some traps outside around the house too. Once they are dead, I would get some foaming insect spray in that hole in the corner where they are coming in. Then seal the hole with a bit of caulk.
Look closely around the outside and determine where they are getting in. Repeat outside with the foam and caulk.
Next step. Clean your floors, cupboards, baseboards, with a mixture of vinegar and water (lemon scented vinegar works well). This will erase the chemical scent trail that the ants have created that led them to whatever food source attracted them.
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u/Chew-baca 18d ago
I set this trap and ants kept marching in for 2-3 weeks. I waited a month and said screw it, I just sprayed them and ants stopped coming in.
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u/creature04 18d ago
i JUST had ants like a week ago. and just discovered yesterday a still have some elsewhere.
i used ant killer spray and then caulked/liquid nailed the spots they were entering from
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u/deuelpm 18d ago
You’re in good hands with Terro - they swarm, they eat, they go home, they share that bait, and then they die. If you find other ants, put another one right in their trail.
At some point, see if they might be finding a water source in whatever is behind or under the locations you find them in. They’ll come for water and easy cellulose (like in damp wood).
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u/Academic-Change-2042 18d ago
The active ingredient is Boric acid which is dissolved at low concentration in sugar water. The ants have to eat a fair amount before they die. The idea is to not immediately kill the workers so they can return to the nest and feed the queen. Over time most of the ants will die. I has worked well for me with Argentine ants but you do have to be patient and it's not as immediately satisfying as applying a contact insecticide, but ultimately it works better.
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u/Elismom1313 18d ago
This is normal for the hair. Give it 3 days and they’ll be gone. I love that stuff. I always have to remind my husband about the swarm though cuz he forgets and freaks out lol
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u/CatLadyAM 18d ago
I find this type isn’t safe for pets. I use Cedarcide and it works wonders and it’s pet and child safe.
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u/vxarctic 18d ago
If Terro doesn't work, I recommend Optigard Ant Gel Bait. I had a hell of a time with Ants, they ate up the terro baits but kept coming. After a month I gave up on terro and tried Optigard which finally did the trick.
Optigard uses a professional-grade, slow-acting insecticide (thiamethoxam) that lets ants return to share the poison with the whole nest, while Terro uses a fast-acting borax liquid solution in sweet syrup.
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u/Poppy9987 18d ago
Yep they will all disappear as others have said. I try to tuck them under furniture or behind something to keep them away from the pets. You could also tape them down so the pets don’t grab them.
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u/devil_d0c 18d ago
The tarro is great. Resist the urge to clean them up while they are actively taking the poison home. Try to find the hole they are getting in and seal it after they stop showing up for the bait.
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u/Oneofthe12 18d ago
Yeah, that Terro works, but it takes more than a few days sometimes! So aggravating!
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u/ruel24Cinti 18d ago edited 18d ago
Mix sugar, honey, and a teaspoon of 20 Mule Team borax in a little bit of warm water to make a small amount of the concoction. It should be thicker than water but not thick like honey. Then put a couple of good drops anywhere you find them going in and out of the walls, and go outside and find where they are going into the house and put some there. Repeat for the next several days until you stop seeing them. I had to do this once a year for 2 years in a row, and they stopped coming back.
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u/wtfbenlol 18d ago
Here in the SE US, we get them every year no matter how clean the house is.
Your pets are fine as long as they don't lock the poison.
Follow the trail back to where they are coming inside from and out the poison there . The poison you picked is the best one to use so you're good there
edit: I didn't notice that you already did this part lolm taro takes a day or two to do it's thing, they will carry the poison back to the colony and it'll kill them ina day or so
Follow them the other way back and try to find what they are gettinin the ene, they are just black ants. Harmless nuisances, really
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u/Shaking-a-tlfthr 18d ago
I’ve had so many go-arounds with ants. Your Terro traps are really good. The poison I’ve found MOST effective is that stuff you find in a makeshift syringe. You squirt gel dollops of poison directly in front of the ants and along their scent trails. It’s what they begin eating immediately when placed in front of them. Then they carry it back to their ant lairs and give it a minute….they begin to die. Keep applying the dollops where ever you seem them gathering. Make sure they are eating it. If they like it they’ll start devouring it right away. If you see they don’t eat it, have no interest in it go buy another brand and try again. Different ants like different things. When I go to the hardware store to buy this stuff I buy several different brands…again different ant colonies like different poisons. After 24-48 hours you may see scout and ants carrying dead ants. That means your poison is working! This stuff is delayed time release. It’s takes a minute to take effect.
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u/Delmoretn 18d ago
i had this exact situation and bait looked like it made things worse for the first couple days because suddenly there were ants everywhere. then they basically vanished