Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

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kongjie
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Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by kongjie » Sun Dec 30, 2012 11:58 pm

Some months ago my wife and I moved into our rental cottage in the country and discovered there are a lot of spiders here. After a few weeks work we reduced the population, and I started putting glue traps by the doors that also caught a lot when they came in from outside. Fortunately, the black widows that I saw out in the shed don't seem to come into the house.

Every morning I disconnect my hose, mask, and hang them, along with my papcap, on hooks on the back of my bathroom door. A few weeks ago I got a big spider on the shelf near that door and all of a sudden it hit me--what if a spider crawled into my equipment during the day, and when I set it up at night, I didn't realize it? Really freaked me out and I started making sure I looked at the mask and inside the hose to make sure no bugs where hiding out in there.

Well, no spiders to date. But with the recent heavy rains out here in NorCal, ants have been on the move. We had a bunch in the house and I put out poison bait for them to take home to the queen. Seems to have worked but we still have a few hanging around. And finally, sure enough, I looked in my mask tonight and there were two ants crawling around inside. UGH!

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ddk
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by ddk » Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:29 am


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cosmo
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by cosmo » Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:55 am

Image

This is what I use for ants. I found them at Target or Walmart. Hardware stores should also have them.

No poison smells and you kill them all and not the few hundred you sprayed with the poison. You will have a bigger ant invasion once you set them out, but its a trap. You will get them all. They all die off somewhere else and are gone within a week.

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RogerSC
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by RogerSC » Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:43 am

I use the Terro ant baits, and also figure out where the ants are coming in. For that I use Terro outside ant spray. Between the two of those, gets the ants under control quickly.
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herefishy
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by herefishy » Mon Dec 31, 2012 8:30 am

That stuff is poison to pets, right?

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chunkyfrog
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by chunkyfrog » Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:28 pm

Check the label for a statement of very low "secondary toxicity".
Some products are deadly to the animal that ate it; but not the animal that eats THAT animal.
Since spiders are attracted to prey insects, getting rid of those will also drive away the spiders.

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RogerSC
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by RogerSC » Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:53 pm

herefishy wrote:That stuff is poison to pets, right?
While they tell you that the ant baits aren't toxic to pets and children:

http://www.terro.com/faq-ants.php

they also say on the package to put in locations not accessible to pets. I figure this is simply an attempt to avoid litigation, and understand that these days.

The way that I look at it is that I try to put the ant baits out of the way, but if they're incidentally eaten by our dog and cat, it won't hurt them. On the other hand, the dog and cat have had no interest in these ant baits over the years.
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Julie
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by Julie » Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:03 pm

Use a hair dryer for a few minutes to dry the mask out after washing and then it in a plastic bag. Done.

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RogerSC
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by RogerSC » Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:36 pm

Julie wrote:Use a hair dryer for a few minutes to dry the mask out after washing and then it in a plastic bag. Done.
Low heat, right?
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cosmo
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by cosmo » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:27 pm

herefishy wrote:That stuff is poison to pets, right?
Even if it is poisonous to pets, I don't think it is, you can put it in a small box, tape it up and poke little holes in the box for ants to enter and leave.

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mattd65636
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by mattd65636 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:29 pm

To control the ants in the yard:
Hydromethylnon ( andro) kills ants

Methoprene (extingush) or Pyriproxyfen (distance) for control

Broadcast up to 1 hour before dark. Sunlight will break down the insecticide.
Also good to check if Thay are feeding by placing a potato chip a short distance from the mound.
Most all ant control works, but it has to do with how and when it is applied.

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jencat824
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by jencat824 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:50 pm

Julie wrote:Use a hair dryer for a few minutes to dry the mask out after washing and then it in a plastic bag. Done.
I second this.

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zoocrewphoto
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by zoocrewphoto » Tue Jan 01, 2013 3:05 am

Get a box of borax (with the laundry detergent) and sprinkle it in areas where the bugs may be. Along the baseboards, into the carpets, etc. I use it to prevent fleas, and it works great. Three times a year, and we are free of fleas, even with 2 dogs going in and out all day.

It works by absorbing moisture and drying out small bugs. It does not hurt pets or children. Just don't toss it around and cause a lot of dust. Sprinkle it low and sweep it into the carpets.

Also look at door frames, walls, etc and see if you need to caulk anywhere. One of my bedroom walls used to be an outside wall, and had shifted over the years. You can't see any holes, and it was only about half an inch, but I was getting spiders frequently, and right near my bed. I would come home one day and find a lot of baby spiders coming down from my desk onto my bed. Even after a vacuum cleaner, I couldn't sleep in my bed for a couple days. We caulked that line where the wall was slightly moved, and the spiders stopped.

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kismet210
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by kismet210 » Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:55 pm

Now that would freak me out...finding a spider in my mask or hose! What about stuffing the opening with a piece of soft cotton material after using the hair dryer idea? Then the hose would be dry and nothing could crawl in through the opening in the mask?

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kongjie
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Re: Unwelcome participants in my CPAP therapy

Post by kongjie » Tue Jan 01, 2013 3:34 pm

Thanks for all the ideas on ant control. I put out the colony-destroying baits and they have pretty much done their job. Plus the rains have stopped for a few days and so the ants are less prone to looking for a new place to live that's unsuitable.

I will continue to go out of my way to visually inspect my gear before I hook it up each night. It's easier than figuring out a spider-proof way to store it. Plus the spiders here are pretty smart. I have a Pholcus phalangioides that lives in my bathroom that is amazing. It hides either behind the pedestal sink or on the side of the toilet close to the wall. I realized there was something living in both places a couple months ago when I kept on finding debris on the ground, finally understanding that it was insect carcasses dropping down from his well-hidden and inaccessible webs.

He knows to hide when the light comes on--I've only actually seen him two times, and only for a split second at that. He doesn't go on the ground so the sticky traps don't get him. And the places he hides are completely safe. I've even tried vacuuming him out, only to get webs. It's at the point now where I have a begrudging respect, and when he does slip up and I get him, I'm going to feel a little bad.

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