Professional Ant Help Needed!

Keep putting ant powder down especially around holes where they have a nest, maybe try a different brand of powder.
Can some local Dept identify what type of ants you have, like a local Agriculture Dept or some such, they may have a solution.
If you can find any ant holes pour boiling water down them, they don’t like that.

Look for ant traps in your local supermarket or DIY store. Put them down as directed. It may take a few weeks but it usually works. A bug killing spray is mroe effective but more toxicity around your son.

If you’re looking for a nature friendly solution: ants dislike copper, so if you can find any copper coins, put them on the places you want ant free.

growing up in Pakistan, my folks used to put cloves in their (ants’) path. Apparently they dislike the smell.
I’d grind some in a powder and spread as needed. They are obviously looking for food and water. If you can minimize those (as much as possible with a toddler, maybe limit them to foods in certain areas only, high chairs etc.) coupled with natural deterents, you’re golden!

just drop pepper everywhere. They’ll sneeze their brains off! :P

ok, that was the punchline of some old joke I heard, but apparently ants hate cinnamon (crushed) and it disorientates them or something. But then you’ve got cinnamon all over the place.

What I do is simply keep cleaning their pathways with chlorine or some other strong stuff so that they can’t smell the trail anymore. Your problem is not the one ant that found the crumb, but all the others that follow thinking there’s more.

If none of this works, just give your son some honey to eat with the ants (which I’m sure he’ll taste at this age). It’s supposed to be a delicacy in most countries :)

lol…y’all make me laugh!! like the cinnamon and cloves idea though…they smell nice too! x

i once lived in a house where we successfully kept the ants at bay with a mixture of ajax and cayenne pepper. but if you have a toddler running around, that might not be such a good idea.

There’s a product called Terro http://www.terro.com/products.php?product=liquid_ant_killer. I’ve used a few times, and it works like a charm, because tehy eat it and then go back to their nest to spread the poison to their fam. However, it’s a little dangerous, so i would suggest putting it in just a few places where your toddler can’t reach. (I usually put mine at the back of the kitchen counter sort of behind the microwave). You can get it at hardware stores.

ok…so I’m cleaning every day, hoovering, sweeping etc and putting ant powder down.. I’m still seeing the odd little demon here and there…

Do they have ultra sensitive smell or something??? Are they just co-habiting somewhere (yet to find the nest) and just keep sending their troops out every now and then in search of goodies… or are these just random ants not from a nest as such..just keep finding their way into the house… hmmmm

it’s still bothering me…can you tell!!

Ok, the other day, soon after replying to this thread, the ant gods decided to strike my sterile kitchen, (for disiminating bad advice)!
So I decided to test my folks theory as well as jack79’s.
Well don’t tell my folks but cinnimon worked way better (on these American Ants ;)

Talcum powder is very effective in deterring some species of North American ants… I have found talcum powder dissolved in water and then wiping down their trails will often confuse them to the point they may not return.

Also, if you really want to get rid of them and you aren’t really squeamish, I would go to a pet store and buy some crickets. You can get boric acid online… basically you have to mash up some of the crickets and pour the boric acid on top (the worst part is that you should leave some of them in a mortally wounded state they will attract the ants with their struggling).

I suggest you keep the cricket/boric acid mix in a disposable tupperware container. Keep it away from food, children, or pets and thoroughly wipe down whatever area the concoction is placed around. Place the container wherever the ant problem is based, be aware that it will not kill the ants immediately. This method is for killing the queen ant or queen ants depending on the species you are battling. This means letting the foraging ants (the ones you see outside a nest or in this case in your home) bring the cricket mix back to the nest for dinner.

This method is best if for long term euthanasia of an ant colony, it kills the queens which kills the colony but not allowing it to reproduce. I would suggest leaving the mixture out overnight and perhaps repeating the process in a week.

@science_girl89 i love it…but I think my duties to animals as “experiencing subjects of life” might come into play here….lol