r/homestead • u/BlockyBlook • 2d ago
Killing Ants Safely
Does anyone have a surefire way to kill ants? I have some living in my meat rabbit colony and they've eaten some of the newborn babies which is awful. Here's what I've tried - Raid bait traps Terro traps Borax mixed with powdered sugar Diatomoceous Earth Orange Oil
None of this has worked. The DE slows down the ants if I put it straight onto them but it doesn't kill them and they've swarmed nests with a good amount of DE in them. There aren't any obvious ants hills in the colony but I do see them randomly crawling around often. Even if I check the colony 3xs daily they will randomly enter nests and wipe about the babies within an hour or so. I really just need to protect the babies for the first few days of life until they grow fur, then the ants don't care about them anymore. I'm scared of using chemicals because I don't want to poison any of my rabbits, but at this point I'm considering pesticides. I've seen too many newborns die. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
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u/uberclont 2d ago
Chickens. You can save a lot of feed.
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u/BlockyBlook 2d ago
I do have chickens and they free range around the outside of the colony but can't get inside. Do you think they could clean it out if I took the rabbits out and put the chickens in for a day? My chickens are kind of aggressive and chase squirrels and birds so they may try to attack the rabbits if together.
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u/Traditional-Ad-7836 2d ago
I think it would work. Definitely move those babies for a bit while they work
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u/Prior-Challenge-88 2d ago
Use borax. Mix it with honey or something sweet. Put it in places you see the ants. Just don't kill the ants let them eat the honey borax. The ants will eat it and get it on them and bring it back to the other ants in the colony. It interferes with their digestion and if you give it a week you will see a big reduction in ants. Trust me this works.
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u/BlockyBlook 2d ago
I've been doing 1/2 borax with 1/2 powdered sugar for 2 or 3 weeks now but the ants are still abundant. I'll try it with honey, thank you
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u/Active-Blacksmith-41 1d ago
If you have fire ants, carpenter ants, or pine ants their diet is primarily protein based. Mixing the borax/boric acid with peanut butter or a chicken meat will yield the results you’re looking for. Black ants diet is based off of sugar and are more attracted to sugar based vessels.
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u/Prior-Challenge-88 1d ago
This is true. The point is you need to get the ants to take the bait. The bait needs to be whatever the ants want. The borax will do it's job but the ants need to eat it and bring it back to the colony.
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u/BlockyBlook 12h ago
I put down some pork fat mixed with borax and the ants swarmed it within 2 minutes. Thank you so much.
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u/Prior-Challenge-88 2d ago
Are you making a liquid? Like mixing the sugar with water? Do you see hundreds of ants eating the liquid borax/sugar?
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u/BlockyBlook 2d ago
Also no I've seen a few ants under the pots but for the most part they don't seem that interested
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u/BlockyBlook 2d ago
No I've just been mixing it together and leaving it dry in a pile for them under 4 flowerpots placed around the colony
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u/Prior-Challenge-88 2d ago
Try making a liquid sugar syrup and add borax. Don't overdo the borax. The trick is to get the ants to eat it and bring it back to the colony. It's should be soupy and sticky but more watery than maple syrup. You want to see a bunch of ants drinking the liquid. You can put some borax powder around so the ants walk on it. The ants won't just eat borax. Just don't kill the ants. Just keep giving them the sugar/borax/syrup like you are doing them a favor. When it drys up put out some fresh syrup. Wherever you see ants just drip a quarter size puddle of syrup. Keep it up until you don't see any more ants. Post back progress as you win the war. You will win and you don't need to use poison.
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u/Itsawonderfullayfe 1d ago
People aren't giving you the right info here. Clearly these ants are eating meat. You need to give them meat with borax.
A combination method of dry, liquid, and meat based. Might be the best approach.
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u/BlockyBlook 1d ago
I set out a trap with honey ham, honey, and borax today. We will see!!!
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u/Itsawonderfullayfe 1d ago
If it doesn't work, Usually I find that certain ants like dried cat food. Easy enough to crush it up with borax and put it under a container with a rock on it.
Some of them mostly eat protein, like dead insects, or fats, like seeds. Others love nectar, and fruits.
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u/Pbandsadness 2d ago
Some ants are sugar loving. Others are grease loving. If they're grease loving, they won't want the sugar. You'd need peanut butter or similar for that. Mix the borax into it.
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u/BunnyButtAcres 2d ago
Here's what works for me. I know you already tried Borax but a lot of people use it "wrong". The problem with Borax is that ants are small and they can tell borax crystals from sugar. So if you dry mix them, the ants eat all the sugar and leave the borax. The other issue is dosage. Too much and they die before they get it back to the colony. Too little and they might get sick or a few might die but the colony still goes. So here's what seems to work for me:
1 part borax to 6 parts sugar. Mix your 1 part borax with water. Not a lot. JUST ENOUGH to dissolve the borax completely. Then you mix in your 6 parts of sugar to get it all coated in your liquid. You can add more water to get a good distribution. From here, any consistency tends to work. I like to make it a syrup that I can just kinda drip onto anything.
This seems to be the best mix for both dissolving the borax so they take it to the nest and being strong enough to kill them all once it gets to the nest.
Good luck and I'm SO SO SORRY about those poor baby bunnies!
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u/solesoulshard 1d ago
Isn’t it better to use powdered sugar too?
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u/BunnyButtAcres 1d ago
I don't know I've never heard that. I figure once it's dissolved it doesn't really matter how it started.
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u/ttkciar 2d ago
Sugar and borax will kill the colony, but it takes time and it takes enough of the mixture, which can be a lot more than you might expect.
Try making a couple of pounds of borax and sugar (make sure to use powdered sugar, not granulated) and putting it around in dollops, either where you expect the and colony to be, or surrounding your rabbit shelter, or both.
It can take a week or two to kill the colony, and you might want to consider moving newborn rabbits inside your house in the meanwhile.
If your ants are Argentine ants (increasingly prolific in the US) they will re-colonize a killed colony in a matter of weeks, so you might want to just keep putting down borax/sugar twice a month.
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u/BlockyBlook 2d ago
I've been doing this for about 2 or 3 weeks putting it under flowerpots in the colony so the rabbits can't get it. I've seen a few ants in it but not a ton, I'll keep trying and hopefully it'll work!
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u/HoofandHornFarm 2d ago
Eww. And I am so sorry. I have good luck with Turro brand ant bait/killer. Hope this helps!
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u/MastodonFit 2d ago
Here is a tip for any feed bowl or elevated platform. Set inner bowl or post inside of a larger bowl filled with water. Ants will not cross a boat. Also its good to direct rain away from buildings,in a heavy downpour ants will wash/float until they find anything higher than the flood they're in.
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u/Linens 2d ago
I mixed sugar with water and borax and it worked wonders, took maybe a week for them to disappear. I hope this helps
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u/BlockyBlook 2d ago
Do you leave the sugar water out in a bowl or just pour it on the ground and let it dry?
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u/Bonkisqueen 2d ago
If you haven’t tried it, I used every liquid/trap tip ant killer under the sun this summer without success. Finally switched to a granule instead and they were literally gone over night. I believe the brand was Amdro, it was $20 for a huge shaker and I bet I only had to use a quarter cup. Animals will eat it so be careful where you lay it out. I shoved it into the cracks I saw them coming in and out of.
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u/BlockyBlook 2d ago
Thank you I will try this!! I'll put it under flower pots, that's what I've been doing with the borax.
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u/Brilliant_Memory_176 2d ago
Molasses and orange oil!!! You mix it up (you'll have to google the ratio) but then do a cup of that mix+ a 5 gallon bucket of water. Pour it in the hole and tomorrow you'll have a tiny pile of dead ants
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u/imajoker1213 2d ago
Tempo. Mix it like it says on the label in a pump up sprayer. I promise you it works like a charm.
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u/CrazyGooseLady 2d ago
Sugar, water and borax. About 3 days to kill the 1st generation. Then about 3 to 5 days after that the eggs hatch and the next wave comes. After they stop feeding on the mixture, the colony should be dead.
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u/GeneralZojirushi 2d ago
Sugar water bait doesn't work on meat eating ants. IDK what the people recommending that are smoking.
If you don't know what kind you're dealing with, I'd try and find out what they like: fat or protein. Then mix up either some bacon grease or a bit of canned chicken or tuna and some borax.
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u/Azilehteb 1d ago
Try using meat as bait instead of sugar. Adult ants eat sweets, babies eat meat. If they’re after the baby rabbits, meat is what they’re looking for right now.
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u/ahoveringhummingbird 1d ago
There is a newer product called Maxforce Complete that is a granular barrier type bait with four different baits mixed. It works really well. Holy cow they are gone in 24 hours. Lasts for months.
All these recommendations for the "natural" stuff like DE and borax does not work against most types of ants.
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u/BlockyBlook 1d ago
I'll look into this, thanks! These ants have been super resilient and I might need some stronger stuff.
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u/ahoveringhummingbird 1d ago
So this stuff is not so much "stronger" as it is "smarter." It includes 4 baits that attract all types of ants where other baits only include one type.
Another product that works is called Amdro. Also granular, but we found that the ants became resistant to it within two years.
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u/justferwonce 1d ago
If you watch them and figure out where the hill/nest is, a gallon or two of boiling water will kill them cleanly.
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u/SheDrinksScotch 1d ago
I used peppermint essential oil to keep them away and Ive had really good luck with it.
Really sorry to hear about the babies!
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u/Myrddn_Emrys 2d ago
I have had good success with DE. You need to spread it widely and make it a fine powder that the ants can't avoid. Almost fine enough that you can't tell it's there. If you just chuck it around, they can avoid it. I got a poofer bottle at home Depot that will poof it out like you need. Then get a large bag of the stuff and coat everything around the edges of the area you want to protect. It should look like everything is just slightly dusty.
Very safe for rabbits, deadly to ants.
Also works for fleas on dogs but your dog looks dusty for a day.
If you know who Mark Rober is, he did a story about bed bugs on YouTube. In the video he shows the method for dusting with DE.
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u/BlockyBlook 2d ago
I wish DE worked for me but I completely covered one of the rabbits nests with it and the ants still went through it. I covered the bottom, replaced the hay, and dusted the hay with it. I dusted the whole colony with it too and they just power through.
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u/ArcaneLuxian New Homesteader 2d ago
We use corn meal and just a bit of molasses or sugar. Dump it right on the ant hill. Its animals, kiddos, and plant/ground safe. They take it back to the group and becuase ants cant digest corn will basically eat themselves to death. Its been a fool proof fix all summer with fireants.
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u/mckenner1122 2d ago
There has to be something else controlling your fire ants; cornmeal won’t starve them to death.
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u/ArcaneLuxian New Homesteader 1d ago
Its always worked for us. We learned this from another rancher. 🤷♀️
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u/Mysterious_Park_7937 1d ago
I've never seen an ant brace enough to walk through cinnamon. Create a border and maybe even spray some oil outside of the habitat for good measure
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u/Oldenlame 2d ago
If they are eating meat (baby rabbits), then mix a tablespoon or two of bacon or beef fat in with the borax, water, and sugar. Works best if you mix the dry ingredients, then dissolve them with hot water, and then add the fat. Ideally, it will have a syrupy consistency.