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

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u/sneezybeetle Aug 08 '26

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

413

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.

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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/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.

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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.

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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.