Safe way to kill ants in outside aviary?

[MariusStegmann]

Does anyone know of a safe way to kill ants? Ants killed 2 of my baby zebra doves today and I am scared that the babies of my red-eared waxbills who nest on the ground will be the next to go. A few years ago we used to get a white chalk (imported from China) in South Africa. It looked like normal board chalk, the one used at school, but if you drew lines over the surface where the ants were walking, the ants used to die. Apparently the chalk cut the legs of the ants and they basically bled to death. This chalk was supposedly non poisonous, even kids could eat without ill effects. Anyway, imports of it to South Africa was stopped for some reason. Does anyone know know of something that can be used to kill ants without harming the birds? Maybe we will have a bad winter in a few months because the ants are every where outside.

[paul-inAZ]

There are granular poisons that the ants carry back into the nest that kill the queens. These ought to be available there. Scatter these around the outside perimeter of the aviary out of reach to the birds.
While at it, lay down a 3 foot strip around your house to keep the ants from coming in. As a side benefit, I don't know if you have scorpions but here in the desert scorpions will hang out where there are plentiful ants to eat.

[Perfex]

I think the chalk you are talking of is diotemaceous earth. It is non toxic and actually is very finely ground exoskeletons of ancient crustaceans or something like it as don't remember exactly. We use it around the perimeter of our house and have it mixed in the dirt of my (being built out door aviary that will have pea gravel on top).
Diotemaceous earth is in a lot of animal feed because it stops the larvae of moths getting established that ruins the feed.
It is non toxic BUT I would do further research as to whether finches might have problems if they over eat it

[Sally]

I don't know if this is available to you, but Avian Insect Liquidator will kill ants, and is perfectly safe to be around birds. It is permethrin-based. So sorry they got some of your doves, they will definitely get into nests.

[Nerien]

Be careful with diatomaceous earth. It is indeed the exoskeletons of microscopic creatures, but it is basically equivalent to finely ground glass. It kills bugs by dessicating them (drying them out) and by the irritation/damage done by the physical contact with such particles. It is not good for people or any creatures to breathe in or have too much physical contact with. Just make sure the birds will not be exposed to it, it would be disastrous in their lungs, however you choose to apply it to the area.

We had ant problems in the house, from the teeny tiny ones up to 1/2 inch size, possible carpenter ants. They make outdoor ant poison traps--the poison is contained in a little round section on top of a plastic stake, so you just shove it in the ground. The ants go in and eat and take the poison back to their nests, but the poison trap is completely self-contained, so other animals will not get accidentally exposed or poisoned, and it won't be blowing around in the wind or washed across the area in the rain. I put them all around the outside of the foundation of the house. (We have kids and cats and a dog. Very cautious with toxic stuff.)

These worked great. Not only did they solve the ant problem that year, we haven't had a return for several years now, even tho I haven't replaced these things. You can get them in the bug stuff section of a supermarket, or a hardware store, or supply store like Lowes & Home Depot.

Once the ants are gone, here's something else that may help discourage them from returning. We were told that mint drives away ants. When we bought this house, we had ants, and a baby. So we scattered dried mint in all the cabinets, and it did indeed seem to drive the ants out of the cabinets (it was several years later I found the outdoor ant-stakes and did away with the ants for good.) So, I suspect that if you plant mints around the outside of the aviary, it might discourage ants from returning or going past the mint border into it. There are many, many different species of mint, from big tall ones to little tiny ground covers, different leave colors and textures, different kinds of mint (peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, apple mint...), it could be very pretty and artistic as well as functional. (And you can dry the mint for use during the off-season--teas, potpourri--and use it fresh during the growing season. One year, when I was young, we made our own mint jelly. Delicious, but what a lot of work!)

Now, I have never tried the mint-plantings as an ant deterrent (got hurt before I could), but it seems like a reasonable idea, as long as mint plants are not harmful to birds.

[cindy]

Also be very careful, if you find a mound (we have fire ants in Florida) put the ant bait on the top gently, do not stir it in the mound....disturbing an ant nest will just cause them to move to another location...also circle the nest with a fine line of ant bait. (this is to be done on nests outside of the aviary only.

[EyesofFreedom]

Is there any possibility of getting a few frogs? Making a small pond in the aviary could give your finches somewhere to bathe and drink and a home for the frogs as well... the frogs will eat the ants

And if you live in mosquito territory you can stock the lil pond with mosquito fish...

I have been giving alot of thought to my perfect outside aviary lol

[cindy]

The birds woud be drinking the water the fish poop in, that would be my concern. To keep mosquitoes out run a fine layer of pool/patio screening around the outside and top of the flight, mounted about 1/2 to 1 inch away from the cage screening. You can make the front so you can pull it back during the day and close it up using magnets to help seal it shut or ties. As far as frogs go some will not eat ants, especially fire ants, Frogs (if large enough) may get into nests disturb birds and may eat hatchilings. I would try to control the ants from getting in the aviary by treating the area and yard around the aviary first.

[EyesofFreedom]

I forgot to mention that my planned pond will be filtered... lol

I have a built in mini Koi pond that I would move... here it is when I first bought the place... it was such a mess

[paul-inAZ]

Callow: Don't forget that a pond is a virtually closed ecosystem. Filtration is a small part of the management, useful only for larger particulate matter. Dissolved components from fish waste & other organic materials will include nitrogen and phosphates which will fuel bacterial and algal growth once it gets warmer and the sun hits it. Some of the algae are toxic if an animal eats it. Aquatic plants may help a bit. It would seem to me that simple frequent water changes would be the most effective management in a tiny "pond" as pictured.
I speak from some experience with a pond of around 10,000 gallons some 30 feet across. The smaller the pond the harder it is to keep the ecosystem in balance and to keep the water from being noxious.

[Asym]

I have a 115 gallon pond in my aviary. It has six goldfish and a large plecostomus in it. I have a box filter hooked up to it and a nice natural rock feature that is the waterfall. Most of the birds drink (and bathe) out of the rock waterfall. I also offer water at other levels of height of course. My pond has been overrun with algae numerous times till I finally got the right amount of plants and I used barley treatment when I see it starting to flare up.

I'm going on two years with this set up. The birds love the sound of the moving water and it is hilarious to watch some of the more comical ones.. when they get really hot they simply plant their butts in the hole where the water comes out at the top of the waterfall to cool themselves. Two of my original birds use this for their main source of water and are still alive and kicking. I add Pond quel type chlorine and phosphate etc remover each time I add some water to top off the pond.

The major thing I did which cost a small fortune was to paint the pond with pool paint to make it light blue. I can see everything this way and the goldfish POP against it. I got the idea from the people who 'show' koi.

[paul-inAZ]

Algae blooms are a major headache until you get the balance of waste and nutrient-eating plants going. Early on I had algae blooms that looked like pea soup and resorted to chemically killing the algae. That of course puts the nitrogen right back into the water as the algae die. Water changes and an oxygenating waterfall helped.
Algae are at their worst in spring, when the water warms up a bit , algae start to multiply but the plants haven't started metabolizing yet. One very useful solution is to add 'beneficial' bacteria [harmless to animals] that eat the nutrients. I buy it in liquid form by the gallon. There are freeze dried bacteria available but these are not very effective.

[EyesofFreedom]

Most of the birds drink (and bathe) out of the rock waterfall. I also offer water at other levels of height of course.

That was my idea to begin with was to go with a fishless pond and have a continuous loop of water flowing knowing the finches would be more likey to be on rocks than at the pond edge...

As far as filtration I had also considered a biowheel... I mean in the wild the birds dont drink Evian

In the long run it is highly unlikely that I will go to an outside aviary... I mean I am remodeling my home right now and have a nice spot for an indoor one... where I would feel much more at ease...