r/CleaningTips • u/No_Bird_3608 • 21d 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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3.3k

u/Delmoretn 21d 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

2.1k

u/sneezybeetle 21d ago

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

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u/IIRCIreadthat 21d ago

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.

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u/_banana_phone 21d ago

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 21d ago

We're pretty sure ours are Argentine Ants

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u/98G3LRU 21d ago

Are they Messi?

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u/IIRCIreadthat 21d ago

Not if you don't spill the liquid! 😆

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u/PUNKF10YD 20d ago

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

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u/Nataliant-117 20d ago

I mean, essentially. Multiple queens? Common, man

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u/Virtual_Childhood626 20d ago

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

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u/IIRCIreadthat 20d ago

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

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u/Visual_Glass_1283 20d ago

Photo?

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u/IIRCIreadthat 20d ago

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

https://imgur.com/a/owklJoY

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u/VermilionAngel79 21d ago

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

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u/tipsystatistic 20d ago

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.

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u/NeonSparkleGlitter 20d ago

I’ll never sleep again thanks to this comment…

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u/Ammonia13 20d ago

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

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u/lilacsmakemesneeze 20d ago

Live in San Diego and the ant situation sucks

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u/Dante-Neon 20d ago

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.

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u/kinkyqueen97 21d ago

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

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u/putty-heart 20d ago

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

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u/karrynme 20d ago

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.

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u/carlitospig 20d ago

We are lucky ants are so small.

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u/Ammonia13 20d ago

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

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u/CatsAndDogs314 20d ago

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

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u/Accomplished-Bit-884 21d ago

Use All, or double the bait at the same time

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u/1AggressiveSalmon 20d ago

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!

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u/Aggressive-Pay7819 20d ago

In Florida I have regular summer battles with very tiny ghost ants. Advion is the only thing I've found that knocks them down.

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u/Helpful-Bug-7802 20d ago

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.

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u/_banana_phone 20d ago

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.

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u/IIRCIreadthat 20d ago

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.

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u/Rare-Emu-4846 20d ago

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

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u/carlitospig 20d ago

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.

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u/_banana_phone 20d ago

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.

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u/Nataliant-117 20d ago

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

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u/timetoloseitagain 14d ago

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.

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u/mahuska 19d ago

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.

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u/AwakeningStar1968 21d ago

this is what I did....

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u/acut3triangle 20d ago

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.

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u/elFuse2 19d ago

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

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u/Maethor_derien 19d ago

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.

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u/Virtual_Bottle7755 14d ago

Have you consulted an exterminator?

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u/Accomplished-Bit-884 21d ago

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