What to use to kill ants in my house? (Terro ant bait doesnt work)

[JEDI]

I had small black ants in my kitchen (1st floor) and in my upstairs master bathroom.
I don't know what they are.
they're are smaller than carpenter ants.

I've tried terro. ants drank it like it was nothing.

what got rid of the ants in the kitchen was a mixture of sugar/borax/water.
same mixture didn't work on bathroom ants. they look like the same ants.
WTF?

my kitchen has been ant free for years.

tried Tetro again last year. and also used the sugar/borax liquid mixture a few feet away.
saw the ants go for both.

but still see ants in the bathroom this year.
(and I have no idea how they got to the 2nd floor bathroom.)

Suggestions?

 

[MustISO]

I assume you mean Terro liquid bait? They will eat terro if they are sweet eating ants and it will kill them eventually but it can take a few applications and they don't always want it. I use protein based baits as well.

I've had good luck with Combat gel ant bait (comes in a syringe) and RAID gel baits. This is supposed to work well but I've never tried it:

http://www.amazon.com/Argentine-Car...qid=1431528859&sr=1-1&keywords=advion+ant+gel

http://www.amazon.com/Optigard-Ant-Bait-Gel-~~Compares/dp/B003K8JDPM

If they're in the second floor they're probably living in the walls or in the floors.

 

[Vdubchaos]

They are not living in your house.

Before you kill them, use the best tool in your arsenal, your eyes.

Watch them and see where they are coming from, going and going back. Ants leave a scent on the floor for other ants to follow.

Second, clean the crap out of your house. The reason why they are there is because there is food.

Third, once you find the entrance....get some silicone and caulk it up.

This is going to require time and patience. Chances are high they will find more holes, you have to keep sealing them.

Did I say clean your house?

 

[JEDI]

I assume you mean Terro liquid bait? They will eat terro if they are sweet eating ants and it will kill them eventually but it can take a few applications and they don't always want it. I use protein based baits as well.

I've had good luck with Combat gel ant bait (comes in a syringe) and RAID gel baits. This is supposed to work well but I've never tried it:

http://www.amazon.com/Argentine-Car...qid=1431528859&sr=1-1&keywords=advion+ant+gel

http://www.amazon.com/Optigard-Ant-Bait-Gel-~~Compares/dp/B003K8JDPM

If they're in the second floor they're probably living in the walls or in the floors.

thx! will try the gel bait

 

[JEDI]

They are not living in your house.

Before you kill them, use the best tool in your arsenal, your eyes.

Watch them and see where they are coming from, going and going back. Ants leave a scent on the floor for other ants to follow.

Second, clean the crap out of your house. The reason why they are there is because there is food.

Third, once you find the entrance....get some silicone and caulk it up.

This is going to require time and patience. Chances are high they will find more holes, you have to keep sealing them.

Did I say clean your house?

there's no food in my master bathroom (or master bedroom for that matter).
I've never eaten in my bedroom. and need to walk thru the bedroom to get to the bathroom.

but yet the ants have been in the bathroom for years. (near the shower)
what are they living off of?

 

[Blanky]

If they are actually, truly drinking up the terro and/or borax, the presumption I make is that it is doing something, just not enough. I think you need to make far more of this stuff and place it damn everywhere. I've mixed up a bowl of sugar/borax/water before and dropped huge amounts outside my home. No idea if it helped, but they do eat it. If it is indeed poisonous they probably just need more.

You could also try spraying around your foundation and a couple feet out from the house with Demon WP. order it online, or non-brand of the same chemical formula. Mix it up and walk a poisonous wall around the house.

You have to buy this stuff online. Local stores carry watered down junk.

 

[mindless1]

They drink it, they die, but more were coming because that's where the food is. Ideally you follow their trail to see where the earliest point in your home is that you can put the bait down, then use detergent solution to scrub away their trail after that point, but not before it so they can find the poison quicker.

So long as they are eating it you just have to be patient but as Vdubchaos mentioned, they may be coming from outside so look carefully around the perimeter as it may be effective to put down poison outside, of which there are many types but some sort of granules they carry back to the colony worked well for me in the past.

Try to put them down when there won't be rain for a few days and some state not to put them around vegetable/etc food plants.

 

[JEDI]

They drink it, they die, but more were coming because that's where the food is. Ideally you follow their trail to see where the earliest point in your home is that you can put the bait down, then use detergent solution to scrub away their trail after that point, but not before it so they can find the poison quicker.

So long as they are eating it you just have to be patient but as Vdubchaos mentioned, they may be coming from outside so look carefully around the perimeter as it may be effective to put down poison outside, of which there are many types but some sort of granules they carry back to the colony worked well for me in the past.

Try to put them down when there won't be rain for a few days and some state not to put them around vegetable/etc food plants.

but these ants are in the SECOND floor of my house.
there's none on the 1st floor.

there are no trees touching the house, and no vines growing up it.

so if they're coming back year after year, I have no clue how?
unless they walk up the side of the house to the 2nd floor.
even if so, there's only water in my bathroom.

edit:
and I cant find gel ant killer at super walmart.
only gel roach killer.

going to try home depot/lowes

 

[mindless1]

Yes, ants can walk up the sides of houses, or inside the walls, or down the exhaust fan vent, etc. etc.

Gel ant killer need not be anything more special than corn syrup mixed with boric acid. Web search for the right ratio. It's a lot cheaper to mix your own than to buy specially made traps, then just put it in a margarine lid or equivalent if there are no pets or children that would disturb it.

 

[JEDI]

Gel ant killer need not be anything more special than corn syrup mixed with boric acid. Web search for the right ratio. It's a lot cheaper to mix your own than to buy specially made traps, then just put it in a margarine lid or equivalent if there are no pets or children that would disturb it.

thx for the suggestion for homemade ant gel.

"Sweet-loving ants will gather around sugar, honey and maple syrup, and you can mix any of these with boric acid to make an effective bait. Ants that are more omnivorous may not gather as readily, especially if there are other food sources nearby, but you can increase the attractiveness of the bait for those that prefer to eat greasy foods by adding vegetable oil "

I don't see how adding veggie oil to sugar water/boric acid will make it into a gel?


edit:
hm.. would just adding sugar/boric acid to veggie oil (no water) turn it into a gel?

 

[mindless1]

Corn syrup is already practically a gel and gets thicker as it sits. Once it starts to harden you can put a few drops of water on to rehydrate it into a drinkable form again. Never tried mixing vegetable oil, wouldn't think it would stay mixed instead of separating but you could just put both on the same bait and not care if they mixed together.

Mix some (food based) grease with vegetable oil to thicken it.

 

[blackangst1]

Ive always used Amdro. They carry it back the lair and kill the queen. Thats the only way youre gonna stop em. You can get Amdro at home depot/lowes/etc