# Termites in EVERYTHING!



## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

We just moved to Sugar Land Texas (Houston area), and in the process of moving we had to put all of our belongings in a storage unit. It has only been a few weeks, but when we were able to move our things into our apartment we found that everything we had in storage was crawling with termites, and who knows what else!

I have already purchased Diatomaceous Earth for the apartment, but I would probably have to purchase a whole lot more if I wanted to try and sprinkle it around the termites in storage...

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting rid of these pesky critters so we can finally move our stuff into the apartment? Any advice on cat safe bug bombs perhaps? I think the storage unit is about 12'x15', and eveyrthing in there is stacked up.

Just another bump in the road!


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## Jan Rebecca (Oct 14, 2010)

I've no advice to give but UGH - I'd talk to the ppl who you rented the storage space from.


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## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

We checked the storage again, and they definitely are everywhere. When we got back to the apartment I found that there was also a trail of them going to the cat food and back into the wall... I'm very stressed out because now we have to deal with getting rid of them since they are in our apartment. I guess we need to get an exterminator out here asap.

Are there any bug bombs anyone would recommend that we could use in the storage unit? How long would we have to wait for everything to be cat safe as far as moving it back into the apartment after exterminating? I guess we should have seen something like this coming since we are newbies to Texas. So stressful!


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## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

I think my husband will call the storage place tomorrow and see what they ahve to say. Obviously it's an issue there!


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

OK I live in the Termite city. 

Since your in Houston and you can actually see these termites ~ I am going to bet they are Formosan termites and talk about a pain to get rid of.

The life cycle of a Formosan is pretty easy. What you most likely saw were the queens to be looking for a mate. They are the only ones that have wings and will crawl outside of wood.

So I would google Formosan Termites and look at treatments and all of that good stuff. On a plus side Formosan Swarms are extremely common and happen once a year. 99.9% of these crawlers/swarmers won't find a mate and will die off shortly. They still need a water source to thrive so check for any tiny leaks on the outside of your home. I live outside of New Orleans and our state has been through the ringer with these little critters!


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

Swarming termites cause a stir in Slidell | NOLA.com

That site has an article about them and some great photos of a Formosan swarm. As you can see, it is impossible to protect against one of those swarms... they get EVERYWHERE...even in people's mouths.

If that was what was crawling and swarming around ~ well its that time of year and its impossible to keep them out of stuff.


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

> When we got back to the apartment I found that there was also a trail of them going to the cat food and back into the wall.


This has me seriously doubting its termites. Termites make a mud casing for a trail and would never make it to the cat food. They are soft bodied and eat wood. What are you feeding your cat?! LOL

Cincinnati Ohio Termite Inspection | Dayton Ohio Termite Inspectors
If you scroll down on that page you will see the mud trail in a photo. Its extremely uncommon for them to make a trail in your home to go after food.


What you are describing sounds more like flying ants. They are often mistaken for Formosan termites.

Flying Ants, Winged Termites, Winged Ants, Flying Termite
As you can see in this diagram, they look very similar. Flying ants would make a B line for cat food as well and would make a trail of them unlike termites.


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## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

Oh my gosh, thanks so much for the info guys! I don't think they are Formosan Termites unfortunately  They don't have wings or anything. They are very, very small, and kind of a peach/yellow/clear color. They were all over and inside the cardboard boxes, and started eating into everything including paper, wood boxes, wood furniture. 

Does anyone think it would be safe to set off a fogger or bug bomb in the storage unit and wait for everything to die in there, and then move everything into the apartment afterwards? In a few weeks I will have a place to take the cats while an exterminator comes out to the apartment if any survive on the way over.

Thanks again for your advice everyone! I'm dissapointed now that they aren't Formosan Termites


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

I just threw up in my mouth a little.....

Good luck.


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

Meezer_lover said:


> I just threw up in my mouth a little.....
> 
> Good luck.


Its something our city deals with on a regular basis. They have done a lot of termite research because the little suckers were eating our city to the ground.


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

Snarfums said:


> Oh my gosh, thanks so much for the info guys! I don't think they are Formosan Termites unfortunately  They don't have wings or anything. They are very, very small, and kind of a peach/yellow/clear color. They were all over and inside the cardboard boxes, and started eating into everything including paper, wood boxes, wood furniture.
> 
> Does anyone think it would be safe to set off a fogger or bug bomb in the storage unit and wait for everything to die in there, and then move everything into the apartment afterwards? In a few weeks I will have a place to take the cats while an exterminator comes out to the apartment if any survive on the way over.
> 
> Thanks again for your advice everyone! I'm dissapointed now that they aren't Formosan Termites


Formosan's only have wings for an hour or 2. They quickly shed their wings and crawl around like you described. It is really really rare that you would see a regular termite crawling around on the floor without being protected by a mud casing.


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## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

Oh, perhaps they are just small ants then? I figured they were termites because they were living in the cardboard and eating what seemed to be everything wood. I'm really new to the bugs in Texas!

Even so, if they are ants... There are millions of them. And they're eating and crawling all over our belongings :? I have read about people on catforum using Terro- would that be an option? Should I just bug bomb instead?


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## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

I don't think I have seen any with wings yet either... Just lots and lots of small ones trailing everywhere.


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

praline said:


> Its something our city deals with on a regular basis. They have done a lot of termite research because the little suckers were eating our city to the ground.


That's insane! 8O


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

If its termites ... they are best left up to professionals. If its ants, sealing food and any ant killer should work. I am not sure what is safe on cats though.


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## Fran (Jan 9, 2008)

Check around for the professional exterminators who use natural methods - those will be safe for kitties (and your food and houseplants, etc.) and include high heat, extreme cold, borax, orange oil (not a kitty favorite but still non-toxic) and other means. With the growth of 'green' businesses, you should be able to figure out something which will not actually poison you and your pets! 

Keep us posted! 

Fran


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

Gross!!!

Can you take a picture? Maybe then Praline will know what they are.


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## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

Yeah, I'll try to get a good picture of some of them. I think I will stop by walmart today and see if they have any good ant bait traps. I sprinkled Diatomaceous Earth around the opening they had made for themselves in the wood door jam, and sprayed over it with some Natural Defense. For some reason Kimba wants to lick the Natural Defense stuff, thank goodness it's all natural stuff, but I'm keeping her away from it as best as I can. I know there's still more in the apartment, because they were spewing out of that little hole when I was putting the DE on it. I guess I will have to keep close watch on everything here in the meantime.

I'll keep everyone updated though! Thanks so much for the helpful replies!


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

*Eastern Subterranean Termite Workers* 

Formosan swarmers before losing their wings










Formosan termite workers










Here is an article you might want to read ~ It seems Houston has a plague of Rasberry ants.
Houston We Have a Problem: Crazy Ants Have Invaded! | Amazing Data
They have the white look about them.

Another article with photos of them coming out of the wall..
Rasberry Crazy Ants: A Southeast Texas Menace


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## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

Yikes! I hope they're not Rasberry crazy ants because they are more immune to poisons... It might be a posibility though. They are very very tiny and about the same color as the ones in the photo. That's so creepy how they are coming out of the electrical socket -ewwww-

Good thing is that in a few weeks I will be able to bring the cats with me to Austin and my husband can exterminate his apartment here when I start my job up there (I guess that's really the only perk of living in separate cities!)

Off to find some Terro, then to storage.


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## Snarfums (Dec 28, 2010)

I couldn't find any Terro, but I pick up some Combat Source Kill and put it under the washer in the apartment to see if I have any luck trapping some ants. I'll put the other 5 in storage and see how that goes as well.

I also tried taking a picture of some of the ants, but they're so darn small that my camera just gives me a reddish/brown blur!


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