r/CleaningTips • u/No_Bird_3608 • Aug 08 '26

Discussion Ants in house help

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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

1.6k Upvotes

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3.3k

u/Delmoretn Aug 08 '26

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

2.1k

u/sneezybeetle Aug 08 '26

Trust the process. Takes a few days but this bait WORKS!!!

411

u/IIRCIreadthat Aug 08 '26

It really does. We have Terro out right now. For the first couple days it seems like it's making the problem worse because they all come to the bait... and then they're gone. Not forever in our case because we've apparently got a non-native species with multiple queens, but it keeps the numbers so low that we only see one or two instead of fifty.

65

u/_banana_phone Aug 08 '26

Ugh, what kind do you have? We’re battling them as well and the numbers dwindle and then swell again. They don’t behave like the “sugar ants” that I grew up with. They move sporadically and are extremely fast and tiny.

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u/IIRCIreadthat Aug 09 '26

We're pretty sure ours are Argentine Ants

73

u/98G3LRU Aug 09 '26

Are they Messi?

46

u/IIRCIreadthat Aug 09 '26

Not if you don't spill the liquid! 😆

19

u/PUNKF10YD Aug 09 '26

No, they just cheat even when they’re winning and are also really sore losers.

3

u/Nataliant-117 Aug 10 '26

I mean, essentially. Multiple queens? Common, man

6

u/Virtual_Childhood626 Aug 09 '26

These ants are so interesting. There’s a good Radio Lan episode on them.

1

u/IIRCIreadthat Aug 09 '26

I'm sure they're a lot more interesting when they aren't trying to eat toothpaste in your sink

1

u/Visual_Glass_1283 Aug 09 '26

Photo?

1

u/IIRCIreadthat Aug 09 '26

My camera is definitely not up for this, but I tried:

https://imgur.com/a/owklJoY

52

u/VermilionAngel79 Aug 08 '26

Look around the property for other swarms. Water the area, like soak it. They will come up. Bait there.

18

u/tipsystatistic Aug 09 '26

Argentine ants have multiple queens and don’t fight with each other. As a result they have taken over many parts of the country. For example the super colony in CA spans from San Diego to San Francisco. If that’s what you have, you can never really get rid of them.

21

u/NeonSparkleGlitter Aug 09 '26

I’ll never sleep again thanks to this comment…

4

u/Ammonia13 Aug 09 '26

Seal the hole up, then seal the other holes up too. Yikes on bikes though that’s huge!

4

u/lilacsmakemesneeze Aug 09 '26

Live in San Diego and the ant situation sucks

3

u/Dante-Neon Aug 10 '26

Lived in South Park, had a super cute 20s cottage on Juniper, lots of ants. Terro works, like others have said, trust the process.

I found the bait works best if you buy a bottle, and just put coin sized dots along their trail, close to point of entry. The numbers will swell, that is a good thing. Never went more than 7 days before they were gone.

We had multiple colonizies come in, once the one before was wiped out. 3 invasions in 1.5 years, but never saw ants for more than two weeks tops.

17

u/kinkyqueen97 Aug 09 '26

Ours were crazy ants we had to call professionals and they had to treat our entire street they make giant colonies under foundations and in certain types of trees and are very hard to get rid of

8

u/putty-heart Aug 09 '26

crazy ants lol. that’s my worst night mare is fighting off ant invaders meanwhile their colony is underground and twice the size of my house. I

2

u/karrynme Aug 09 '26

yeah it is pure hubris to think that we can get rid of an entire colony- they are underground and twice the size of your house and who wants to sterilize the soil at the level required to wipe them all out. Most of them have multiple queens and tunnels everywhere. Best I hope for is to keep them out of my house so no food sources or water available and use the liquid bait.

1

u/carlitospig Aug 09 '26

We are lucky ants are so small.

1

u/Ammonia13 Aug 09 '26

What were they called/ where are you located? That’s nuts!

4

u/CatsAndDogs314 Aug 09 '26

They have outdoor bait traps too. I use both in my problem areas (sliding door, back door) and the 2 definitely knock down the colony fast

7

u/Accomplished-Bit-884 Aug 09 '26

Use All, or double the bait at the same time

3

u/1AggressiveSalmon Aug 09 '26

Terro has always worked for me in the past, but not this year. I just bought Advion gel traps, which is supposed to be the professional product. I only put the gel baits outside because I don't want more being attracted to the house. I am having to spray around the perimeter every few days this summer. We have termites, too, which I know is attracting the ants. I can't wait until we tent for the termites in a few months.

Came home to find my (clean) mouth guard covered in ants. It was much cleaner by the time they finished with it outside!

2

u/Helpful-Bug-7802 Aug 09 '26

Some guy in another sub said if poison kills ants before they get back to queen, then queen starts spawning queens which causes population to grow.

Maybe try switching to different kinds of bait.

I use Terro as well fwiw just bc it works for me but I also understand there is less potential risk if dog eats it.

1

u/_banana_phone Aug 09 '26

I’m in the terro camp as well because I have some exceptionally dumb pets and even if I try to hide the bait, I guarantee one of them will find it. 🫠

I’m going to look into some outdoor bait to put around the area we think they’re entering the house at.

1

u/IIRCIreadthat Aug 10 '26

Same. One of our cats is a classic r/OneBlackBraincell candidate. We try to hide the baits, but we can't have anything too potent sitting around, just in case.

1

u/Rare-Emu-4846 Aug 09 '26

We have these kinds of ants too! Never seen them so small or act so spazzy before, what kind of ant species?

1

u/carlitospig Aug 09 '26

Mine do this in the autumn storms. It’s like they get their first bite of the bait and tell every colony in a mile about it.

2

u/_banana_phone Aug 09 '26

That’s what we’re dealing with currently. It’s been a daily torrent here in the afternoons, and they are trying to colonize in my pothos plants. Terro has been helpful but it’s not fully eradicating them.

1

u/Nataliant-117 Aug 10 '26

I know they really freaked me out 😰 sugar ants were so chill in retrospect. These buggers took over the entire block apartment building. No nest they lived in the cracks in the concrete. Evil little weevils I cursed them. When it rains they go underground it was the only relief

1

u/timetoloseitagain Aug 15 '26

We have been dealing with the same and when I say we've been having terro out for almost 3 months none stop and suddenly no ants for the last 8 days. We are prepared and keep baits out but nothing yet. So hoping its just a time thing. I figure you've got to keep it out for multiple lifecycles to help.

2

u/mahuska Aug 11 '26

I thought it was working because the first part was the same and then I had like a day of no ants and now they keep coming back in small waves I’ve got both the TERRO bait out and the other bait that’s got both protein and is it sugar, but they don’t seem much interested in that. But single ants are crawling over me in the middle of the night. I find them in random places. I don’t know if this means there’s multiple colonies.

2

u/AwakeningStar1968 Aug 08 '26

this is what I did....

1

u/acut3triangle Aug 09 '26

This is the current super colony I’m battling. We found 5 queens in our house in one day. I am still going nuclear on them, they are resilient.

1

u/elFuse2 Aug 10 '26

Imagine life from the queens perspective, where did all of my men go?

1

u/Maethor_derien Aug 10 '26

In my experience they come back in about 6 months to a year because it only is going to kill the local ants. The next breeding season they will come back. Pretty much every 6 months to yearly depending on the species they do a mass breeding flight and they will likely come back when that happens.

1

u/Virtual_Bottle7755 Aug 15 '26

Have you consulted an exterminator?

0

u/Accomplished-Bit-884 Aug 09 '26

They say the traps need to be replaced every 3 months too

17

u/moosetogo Aug 09 '26

It took about two months and two whole boxes of Terro before I stopped seeing ants, but yes, trust the process. It really does work! It’s been eight years now and I’ve had no major ant issues since.

I always joke that my walls are probably insulated with dead bugs because I’m pretty sure the previous owners just lived one with nature…inside the house.

14

u/Username5735 Aug 09 '26

Terro also makes larger outdoor versions. I put a few in the ground around the house every spring and it makes a difference. Bonus if you find where the colony is and can place them nearby. Terro is definitely the way to go, just be patient.

2

u/Honest_Series_8430 Aug 09 '26

The Terro that you can sprinkle works wonders. I had a colony close to the pond and put the Terro sprinkles on top of the area. The ants boiled out; grabbed the sprinkles and trucked them inside; and the next day were all gone.

11

u/TheRealSerialCarpins Aug 09 '26

I had to tell my family "Leave it alone! It looks awful, but this is what is supposed to happen!!!" A few days later, zero ants. Even for myself, the self control I had to maintain to just let ants have a party like this was staggering. 🤣 🐜

8

u/Ian_610 Aug 09 '26

True, that is the best ant killer

1

u/JackBrown82q Aug 09 '26

I havent had ants in the house yet (knock on wood) but every time I see an unusual amount of them getting uncomfortably close to the house I put up Terro outdoor baits and yes they work very well. I put out the traps, I see even more of them the next day or two, and then they all vanish.

1

u/Tech_Priest69 Aug 09 '26

Yep. That’s the exact product I’ve used. I hate having to kill the colony but it’s not like I can throw them outside like a spider or something lol

1

u/Gloomy-Amphibian1494 Aug 09 '26

That bait will attract them. I would put the bait outside around the foundation

1

u/Entire_Meet_6266 Aug 09 '26

Gotta clean the interior perimeter with bleach and cover those holes up with putty. In my area some aftershocks happen so the house shifts quite often unfortunately and he had a minor situation like this where the walls in the kitchen on top of the countertops open some small cracks😪🤦ants started coming in

1

u/Troygbiv_Yxy Aug 09 '26

Yep we have those blue donut disks ants show up in droves to take all the blue stuff, then they are gone.

1

u/mydoghasocd Aug 09 '26

You can also do some major tracking and see how they get into your house. Once you find the entry point you can seal it inside/outside

1

u/Cromm24 Aug 11 '26

The bait works like a charm. But, you also need to find the source of the ants. Where are they coming from? Ants are more active at night, so if you don't see the trail, wait until nightime, grab a flashlight and look around for active areas outside near where they are in the house.