ANTS!! And also ticks...

[UrbanPolish]

I just got a yellow lab puppy yesterday, and already ants are a huge problem. I don't know about where ever yall are, but here we have a really big issue with ants all over everything.

So I put his puppy chow down into a bowl yesterday, came back like an hour later, and he'd hardly been able to eat at all because of the THOUSANDS of ants swarming on his food. This morning I put less food into the bowl and let him eat it while I fed and watered the chickens, which takes about 5 minutes if the chickens still have clean water (they did). I went back to get his bowl and there was already ants crawling along the edge. He wasn't done yet so a stood there, picking ants off of his ears that hopped on while he was chowing down.

He finally was finished and I got the bowl back. I know that in another five minutes he once again wouldn't have been able to get near the food. So I guess my question is, if you have ants really bad, how do you deal with them? Any tips or suggestions for me?

---

Secondly, I also found a HUGE tick on the little guy this morning. How do I go about getting it off? I'm only 16, and usually one of the parents handles the removal of ticks, but right now I'm home alone. I could wait for them to come back and tell me how, but it's always good to know, huh?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Start by dusting with DE. If that doesn't work you may have to use
a pesticide.

The nice thing about using pesticides on ants is you apply it to nests
and areas where they travel. It's not a "spray everything" thing.

 

[()relics]

Quote:
...both good ideas...in this case you could use a "dirty" bowl filled with food that has been treated with some sort of poison,Diazinon??..the ants will attack the dish eat the poison and bring it back to their nest...killing the entire mess...Left unsaid...keep your dog away and dispose of the dish after use or store it for the next time, labeled of course as "UNCLEAN"...make sure to clean up any spilled/uneaten insecticide...
I don't like to use the poison method but I like less putting my dogs at risk from the inevitable ant attack...One of my GSP's is still trying to completely "get over" an ant attack..depending on the variaty of ant in question they can do a real number on a dog that is just minding her own business one minute then completely covered with ants the next.

 

[Mrs. Glassman]

You could also place the dog food bowl in another bowl with a bit of water, to form a 'moat'.
I don't know how well it would work for dogfood, but I've used it to keep ants out of my hummingbird feeders.

 

[()relics]

...the tick...sorry...Get a tweezers, disinfected with a little rubbing alcohol, grab the tick as close to the skin as possible, with steady pressure pull the tick out of the dog...DO NOT QUICKLY JERK IT...after you pull it off put the tick in a resealable plastic baggie, if the dog latter becomes sick you will have the tick and can take it with you if vet care is needed...BACK to the dog...disinfect the area that the tick was attached to with rubbing alcohol....and you are done....There should be no problems but watch the site none the less for a few days...If ticks are common in your area you may want to ask your vet to prescribe something for external parasites eg: frontline...

 

[chicks4kids]

Definitely get food grade DE. Order it online...chances are you won't find it locally.

That'll do the trick. I couldn't believe the difference it makes!!

 

[PurpleChicken]

I love the idea of a baited bowl of food or even a moat. The baited bowl
would work great. Regular ant traps may help too.


For removing ticks I bought a Tick-Key at my feed store. It works GREAT.
http://tickkey.com/

For tick control nothing beats free ranged chickens or guineas.

 

[UrbanPolish]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I got the tick off and I'm pretty sure the head was still connected to its body, too.

DE has so many uses huh, ?

Sounds pretty awesome. I can't wait until winter when all the ants disappear. It's a wonder they haven't infested the house, but they were just as bad last year and we never found any inside...

Now to start a new topic as to why my dog is constipated...

 

[embkm]

The moat worked great when I was feeding the stray cats outside.

I'm still looking for DE (refuse to believe there's not a single place withing an hour of me selling it). Good luck. I'm having a problem with ants in the rabbit hutches. They keep taking over the bedding areas.