# Boric Acid - Where would one buy it in Mexico?



## adamathefrog

I need some Boric Acid to make some ant baits (the house is teeming with pharaoh ants!), but I can't seem to find it. I'd assumed that I'd be able to buy it in a supermarket or at a farmacia, but Chedraui and the pharmacy didn't have it.

Have any of you guys bought it here? Where from? I've not tried Home Depot yet.

My intention is to make up some sugar/protein baits to try to wipe out the ant colonies. I don't like the idea of using poison inside because the fans blow everything everywhere or even outside because of the dogs.


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## RVGRINGO

It is often found in 'farmacias'. Keep asking for 'ácido bórico'. Sometimes, hardware stores have it.


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## redraidermty

The "Farmacias" should have it, if not look for a places called "drogerias" or "boticas" they are like pharmacies but they sell raw materials.


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## adamathefrog

Got it at the third pharmacy i tried, 30 seconds from the house!

Now to persuade the little monsters to eat it!


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## RVGRINGO

They don't eat it. If you put it in their path, it will clog their breathing pores and they'll die of suffocation.


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## adamathefrog

No, they need to ingest it, it's a stomach poison. There are a lot of myths around how it works.

You need to mix it with something they like, either sugars or protein. They eat it as a side effect of eating the food and take it back to the nest, and poison the rest of the nest too. It's a reasonably slow acting poison, which is important so that you get the entire nest. The beauty of Boric Acid is that they've never developed an aversion to it or a means of detecting it.

If it gets onto their exoskeletons, they'll groom it off, poisoning them in the process.

My initial batch of bait didn't seem to attract the pharaoh ants, but the big ants outside at night took it like it was on sale!

I'm going to have a go with jello next, as that has a decent amount of protein in , and pharaoh ants love protein.

adam.


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## mickisue1

Adam, try using a combination of protein and sweet. 

Perhaps add some meat drippings to your sweet source.

Some ants cycle between sweet/protein, and if you give them both, you'll get them no matter which they are preferring at the moment. OTOH, if they were eating protein, and just now switched to sweet, your new concoction won't help, unless it also has sweet in it.

(I learned this by necessity, in dealing with carpenter ants this summer.)


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## one4mandy

adamathefrog said:


> No, they need to ingest it, it's a stomach poison. There are a lot of myths around how it works.
> 
> You need to mix it with something they like, either sugars or protein. They eat it as a side effect of eating the food and take it back to the nest, and poison the rest of the nest too. It's a reasonably slow acting poison, which is important so that you get the entire nest. The beauty of Boric Acid is that they've never developed an aversion to it or a means of detecting it.
> 
> If it gets onto their exoskeletons, they'll groom it off, poisoning them in the process.
> 
> My initial batch of bait didn't seem to attract the pharaoh ants, but the big ants outside at night took it like it was on sale!
> 
> I'm going to have a go with jello next, as that has a decent amount of protein in , and pharaoh ants love protein.
> 
> adam.


Have you ever tried diatomaceous earth? I have had some luck with that just letting the ******s track it back home. The DE destroys their exoskeleton and they die but it is absolutely safe for animals and humans...just don't inhale a lot of it because it can stick to the inside of your lungs...which is just good planning for any kind of powder. it is safe and good for you...i sometimes mix it in water and drink it to remove heavy metals. I use it in my dog bed so she never gets fleas. Just a thought since you are worried about your pets and putting anything outside.

Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum


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## one4mandy

adamathefrog said:


> I need some Boric Acid to make some ant baits (the house is teeming with pharaoh ants!), but I can't seem to find it. I'd assumed that I'd be able to buy it in a supermarket or at a farmacia, but Chedraui and the pharmacy didn't have it.
> 
> Have any of you guys bought it here? Where from? I've not tried Home Depot yet.
> 
> My intention is to make up some sugar/protein baits to try to wipe out the ant colonies. I don't like the idea of using poison inside because the fans blow everything everywhere or even outside because of the dogs.


Oops...I quoted the wrong person in my last reply...this was the one to which I meant to reply.

Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum


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## adamathefrog

one4mandy said:


> Have you ever tried diatomaceous earth? I have had some luck with that just letting the ******s track it back home. The DE destroys their exoskeleton and they die but it is absolutely safe for animals and humans...just don't inhale a lot of it because it can stick to the inside of your lungs...which is just good planning for any kind of powder. it is safe and good for you...i sometimes mix it in water and drink it to remove heavy metals. I use it in my dog bed so she never gets fleas. Just a thought since you are worried about your pets and putting anything outside.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum


I've never tried it, but I know about it. Chemically speaking, it's a pretty spectacularly awesome substance (google or wikipedia it!). I've no idea where I'd get it here, or what they'd know it as. It's also probably where the myth of Borax/Boric Acid drying out or suffocating the ants comes from, as that's similar to how D.E. works.

It might come in handy when I start to tackle the ants outside. The garden is pretty much useless at the moment, as it's totally full of ants. I'm concentrating on killing the indoor ants first though, as they're harder to kill.

A couple of colonies have started to die off, we've got loads of dead ants around now, and a few colonies have tried to move, presumably to escape their inexplicable decimation. *evil laugh*.

adam.

As a random aside, for some reason it really irritates me that the Spanish speaking world insists on translating *everything*, even chemicals and people's names. Took me a while to work out who "Reina Isabel II" was!


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## adamathefrog

mickisue1 said:


> Adam, try using a combination of protein and sweet.
> 
> Perhaps add some meat drippings to your sweet source.
> 
> Some ants cycle between sweet/protein, and if you give them both, you'll get them no matter which they are preferring at the moment. OTOH, if they were eating protein, and just now switched to sweet, your new concoction won't help, unless it also has sweet in it.
> 
> (I learned this by necessity, in dealing with carpenter ants this summer.)


Oh how I'm glad that mexican construction rarely involves wood.

I switched to a bait made from jell[y|o], sugar and some of the fatty liquid from the dog's food (we boil down animal bones and leftover meat for them). It seems to be working a little better.

I'm far too impatient for this sort of thing, I want results. NOW. 

adam.


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## adamathefrog

Found some peanut butter today (56 pesos, gasp!) and it seems to be working pretty well.

I have huge streams of ants coming out of cracks in the tiling trying their hardest to eat themselves to death. :boom: :target:

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/552621_10151226203615792_1828868621_n.jpg

adam.


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## Isla Verde

adamathefrog said:


> Found some peanut butter today (56 pesos, gasp!) and it seems to be working pretty well.
> 
> I have huge streams of ants coming out of cracks in the tiling trying their hardest to eat themselves to death. :boom: :target:
> 
> http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/552621_10151226203615792_1828868621_n.jpg
> 
> adam.


Sounds like an amazing sight. I hope you're getting this recorded for posterity on video tape. It could be the next big hit on You Tube!


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