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We've just discovered our house has carpenter ants
Talked to a few pest control people, and although they all propose doing the same thing (spraying the inside of our walls and the crawl spaces, but not the actual living spaces, and then setting up a chemical perimeter boundary) they don't agree at all as to what precautions we need to safeguard our pets. I've heard anything from no problem, to move everyone and everything out for 24 hours.
Does anyone have any experience with pesticides and their effect on corns, corn eggs, or for that matter turtles, fish or cats. So far I haven't gotten anything but Brand names for the chemicals, and the active ingredients may vary. Are there any particular ones to push for or avoid?
Thanks
Corinne
dragonfly@w-link.net

Well, oddly enough before I became a cop, I worked for my fathers pest control company for 15 years and participated with Dow Elanco and University of Florida on several different projects, including the one that developed the Sentricon termite baiting system that you see on TV today LOL. I have worked extensively with pesticides, ridding pests from reptile facilities.
My first questions is what part of the country are you in? That will tell me what type of carpenter ant is infesting your home. If you are in the south east, you may just have a southern carpenter ant problem which is a non-destructive pest and is more a nuisance then a structural pest problem similar to termites. If you are say north of the Georgia area or west of the Mississippi then your carpenter ant could be one of several species of damaging pests.
If it is a structural pest (A large solid black ant in most cases, instead of a medium sized red and black ant) then you are going to have to do a more intensive spraying, including injections into the infested wood and behind walls. Spraying of the crawl spaces and attics is going to be a must regardless of which ant you are trying to rid yourself of. There are several insecticides that will be less toxic to your animals, but all pesticides are indeed toxic. Timbore, which is a soluble water based boric acid compound can be used to inject into the wood of infested timber to rid the wood of the ants. It is fairly non-toxic if not sprayed directly onto or in the same room as the animals and has little to no odor. Liquid Sevin is another chemical that would be good for spraying in the crawl space under a home (if you have that type of home) and again has little to no fume type problems. There are several powders/dusts that can be used in an attic that can provide long term coverage and providing that there are no holes in your duct work and you have a well insulated attic will also provide no problems for the animals, the dust can either be pyrethrum based, or Sevin based. The perimeter around your home should be sprayed with a liquid based pyrethrum type pesticide for best results (such as Demon EC). This may cause a some small amounts of odor put if you have the ability to have it done on a separate day from the rest of the work, then you can close the inside of the house up for a few hours while the outside is being taken care of.
The best situation would of course be to remove the animals for 24-72 hours, depending on the amount of work you have done and the chemicals used. No pesticide is safe for any reptile but some are less toxic then others, ask to see a MSDS on any pesticides used in your house and look for the LD 50 rating on it. The higher the number the lower the toxicity of the chemical. The safety of your animals will also depend greatly on the air flow of the room. If the cages do not have good ventilation, then if a small amount of chemical finds its way in, it may not get enough air exchange to find its way back out. The better the ventilation the better chances your snakes have of being ok.
Baiting is by far the most preferred way to rid a Herp filled house of pests. Baits are good because they are target specific and require the animal to actual eat the bait themselves to cause harm. Snakes won’t eat ant bait, but many times either will carpenter ants. Carpenter Ants feed mainly on decaying vegetation. In FL the feed on the fungus that causes wood rot and that is why they are found in damaged wood here, they don’t cause the damage, just feed on the fungus that does. The Northern Carpenter Ant digs solid wood out for nesting and this is how they cause damage to the wood, they are not feeding on the wood, but feeding on other matter nearby. Baits may not work for these ants, but are effective for most other pests.
I know this is more info then you could have ever wanted but I am a bit long winded. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Good Luck
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

n/p

dfh
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com