Hi Jeff, if you're having problems with ants I'd consider using a 3in1 oil for mechnical saws etc. I'm an avid ant keeper and yes argentine ants are a pain and swarm in huge numbers but they are far from being immune. They're so successful and invasive because they simply don't know how to quit. What you can do is use a small paint brush and brush a 1 inch line of it on the outside of the container and that will stop the little guys from crossing. And I find that some oils have a citronella smell to them and that seems to deter the ants as well. Only down side is you'd have to reapply probably once a week until they leave. And I'm not too sure how safe it actually is to ingest either so if you have a cat or free roaming pet then I'd take that into consideration. Hope this helps.

Thanks cacoseraph!  Yes, I took the tank outside the other day, took out all the hissers and rescued as many turkistans as I could and then went digging around.  I didnt find the queen but there were THOUSANDS of eggs!  I will be trying out your recipe tonight and setting bait all around my room though since there is a large section of the colony still slinking around my room.  Lesson learned in this?  Yeah, you see ants...have no mercy or they will take over.  Ive had to cover all my cages tops in pantyhose until this is over, it seems that is the only stuff that they have trouble getting through....~Sigh

you NEED to take care of those. they specialize in killing and eating inverts.  they are seriously bad news

i made a mixture of orthoboric acid (about as lethal as table salt to big animals), syrup, and hot water

parts:

1 boric acid

1 syrup

3-5 water

heat the water up HOT, add orthoboric acid, stir till ~dissolved.  add th esyrup (this is the attractant).  now... here is were we get tricky. i added toilet paper until i had paper mach`e of death!  you can mold this, stick it into corners, stick it in little balls to the top of doorways, etc.  the ants will take poison fibers back to their nests and feed them to the babies :evilsmiley:  the kill window for boric acid is like 3-10 days so it is not as immediately satisfying as hosing down the ants with ant spray... but i used this treatment in my bed/bugroom where my cat spends most of his time with no perceptible undesireable affects

you do have to periodically wet down the paper of death. it won't attract the ants when it is dry

I have those too. The most pestering ants on the west side. Well you you're gonna keep them, just know that a few will escape, find a food source and tell their buddies. I keep them in an airtight carved plexiglass nest. If they DO happen to get out. You're going to have to buy or make some bait and hope for the best. Pesticide doesn't even work at all.