>        I need help!  Quickly!  My house has suddenly been invaded by
>ants! Those little red and black ants....
First thing, mop all your floors till you could eat off them, all the
way to the cage that's being bothered. Do it twice--first time, just use
soap; second time, use a disinfectant. You want to eliminate any traces
of the smell markers the ants are leaving to mark the trail to the
bird's cage.
Then go get some Boric Acid powder at the local drugstore. Sprinkle it
liberally on the floor in the places where you see the ants entering the
house; make a solid barrier with no gaps. (To find those spots, follow
the trail of ants backwards from the cage). Boric acid is a dessicant,
or drying agent. It will dry out the ants as they cross the powder, and
they won't be able to get into the house. It's not *intensely* toxic to
the birds, but you should try to keep them out of the stuff on the
floor, as it can be irritating to the eyes and skin. Try to keep it away
from flapping wings so it doesn't get blown around.
Another thing you can do is put down those round can-like ant traps near
the entry points. The ants will go THERE instead of to the cage
(stronger smelling bait). The stuff in the traps gets carried back to
the nest by the worker ants, and kills the egg-layers and adults there.
The stuff in these things IS toxic--do NOT let the birds get down on the
floor and play with the ant traps.
I did all this when I had an ant problem a few years ago, and once I had
put down the powder/traps near the door, I never saw another ant get
past the door. Good luck!
--Kathy
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