Ant Pest Control
Professional Ant Control Newcastle and Hunter Valley
A persistent ant problem needs a professional ant pest control treatment.
Ants can certainly be annoying – invading the house and digging up dirt. Biting ants in the lawn can be painful and a concern for children and pets!
But eliminating an ant problem can be difficult. Supermarket products simply aren’t good enough – the ants keep coming back!
For a lasting solution to your ant problem call the expert ant exterminators at Rebel Pest Professionals.
Pest Control for Ants > Professional Ant Treatments
When customers talk about ant removal, the are referring to the desire to remove the ants completely from the house. If the ants are nesting in the house, the main way to remove them is to use ant baits.
Ant baits are the smart way to eliminate ant nests. Ant baits consist of an attractive food and slow acting insecticide. Foraging ants take the bait back to the nest and feed it to their nest mates, including the queen – without killing the queen the colony will survive and the problem will return. The baits are slow acting so they can get passed around the colony before it starts to have any impact. By the time the ants realise there is a problem it’s too late! Most nests take 1-3 days to be controlled but for large nests it may take over a week. We use a range of ant baits, choosing the best ant bait for the species present and your particular situation.
Even for nests outside the building, we often use ant baits as it will kill the nests and therefore reduce the “ant pressure” on the property. More information on how ant baits work.
If the issue is caused by outdoor ants coming into the house, we will carry out a spray treatment around the perimeter of the building and entry points. Such treatments generally do not eliminate the nest but are designed to prevent the ants getting into the building.
Our treatments for lawn ants will vary depending on the species present. Sometimes we spread a granular bait over the lawn, sometimes we will carry out a spray treatment (particularly for funnel ants). The main lawn ants that cause problems in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley are green-head ants and funnel ants.
We will always discuss any safety concerns you may have before carrying out a treatment. If we are carrying out a spray treatment, it will be necessary to keep children and pets out of the area until the treatment is dry. We can also use lockable bait stations to enclose the ant bait to prevent unwanted contacted – these can also be moved around the house to areas of other ant activity.
If we can treat the nest directly, you should have instant relief from your ant problem. More often, if we are using baits, it will normally take 1-3 days to get control, but can take 1-2 weeks for large nests. Sometimes for large infestations a second visit may be required.
There are some ant species, such as the coastal brown ant (or big-headed ant), that infest large areas, with multiple nests. With such ant species, it is never possible to get complete control as the ants re-invade from surrounding areas. Our treatment will provide relief for several months, but regular re-treatments will be necessary to keep the problem under control.
What Our Customers Say
What are the signs of an ant problem?
Ant nests tend to be well hidden, but outside their activity can be spotted by the dirt they dig up to make their underground nests. Piles of dirt between pavers and in the lawn are a sure sign of activity. These excavation activities are not only unsightly but they can cause significant damage in undermining pavers and causing subsidence in lawns.
Ant nests tend to be well hidden, but outside their activity can be spotted by the dirt they dig up to make their underground nests. Piles of dirt between pavers and in the lawn are a sure sign of activity. These excavation activities are not only unsightly but they can cause significant damage in undermining pavers and causing subsidence in lawns.
During the warmer months, flying ants emerge from mature ant nests. These are the new kings and queens flying off to mate and start new nests. If you find lots of flying ants around your house you will have a large ant nest nearby. These flying ants can often be confused with flying termites and nearby termite nest is a serious concern. So if you spot some flying insects and not sure what they are, give Rebel Pest Professionals a call.
Ant Pest Control FAQ
Professional pest control can be very effective at getting rid of ants. Professional ant exterminators have the knowledge to identify the ant species and know its nesting habits and behaviours. Coupled with access to professional ant products, this allows ant exterminators to design a successful ant pest control treatment.
To get rid of ants permanently is it essential to kill the nest. As it is often not possible to locate the nest and even if it is, it might not be on the property, the use of ant baits is essential to eliminate the nest. In combination with perimeter sprays, it is possible to keep ants out of the building for many months.
However, even if you eliminate ants from a given area, over time ants from surrounding areas will move in. Once the treatment has worn off, ants can always find their way into the house again.
Ant baits are not dangerous for cats and dogs. The level of insecticide in the bait is very low and so the pet has to eat a lot of bait for it to have any deleterious effect. Cats are carnivores so are not particularly likely to eat ant baits anyway (as most of them do not contain any meat). Of course, if your pet does eat any bait is it best to get it checked by the vet. When we use baits we generally place them out of reach of children and pets and inside bait stations for protection.
How To Prevent an
Ant Infestation
There’s not much you can do to prevent ants nesting inside the house, in between pavers or in the lawn, other than carrying out a pest treatment.
However, there are a number of actions you can take to reduce the chances of ants coming into the house. Typically they come into the house looking for food or moisture.
Remove food sourcesRemove sources of moisturePrevent ants enteringTypes of ants in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley
Although some ants are found across Australia, there are often different species of pest ant in the different parts of Australia. The climate in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, with its warm summers, mild winters and reasonable rainfall, is an ideal breeding ground for ants.
Rebel Pest Professionals are experts in ant control. It is important to correctly identify the species present, as this determines which products and treatment methods should be used to get the best results.
The key pest ants in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley include the black house ant, big-headed or coastal brown ant which digs up dirt between pavers, and the green-head ant in lawns. More details and photos of the key ant varieties can be found on our “Types of Ants” page.
Our Locations
