6 Best Ant Traps & Baits


When you’ve got ants in your home there are only so many things you can do to get rid of them. Destroying the nest can work – if you can find it. Cleaning up any food sources and wiping down the ant trail with bleach can help, but when the going gets tough, you’ve gotta break out the big guns – ant traps.

Ant traps differ slightly from other insect and pest traps, as their essentially just poisoned bait. The ants are attracted by the bait and take small bits of it back to their nest for the rest of them to eat. What they don’t know is that the bait is laced with chemicals that are toxic to ants (although not toxic to humans or pets).

The ants then feed on the poisoned bait and eventually die off. Due to the slow-acting nature of ant traps, it can take several weeks for the bait to eventually kill off the entire colony.

Let’s take a look at some of the best ant traps on the market, so you can rid your home of these pesky little critters.

Quick Answer: 6 Best Ant Traps


Top 6 Ant Traps and Baits

Best Overall

Terro Liquid Ant Killer

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Key Features:

  • 12 bait stations come included.
  • Kills all common household ants.
  • The active ingredient is borax.
  • Patented liquid bait design prevents the bait from drying out.

This 12-pack of liquid ant traps is highly effective at eliminating both indoor and outdoor ants. It will kill any type of household ant and is highly effective at eliminating entire ant colonies in about two weeks. Like other ant traps, it can take time to completely eliminate an ant colony, as the active ingredient, Borax, is slow acting and takes time to interfere with the ant’s digestive system.

The slow killing action means you may see more ants in your home before the poison does its magic. This is because the bait is sweet and attractive to the ants, so they’ll often come pouring in when they find the bait. It’s also important to ensure that there’s no other food source in the area for them to feed on.

To use the traps, all you need to do is break off the tab at the top, while being careful not to spill the bait contained inside. Then place the bait station on a flat surface in the home near existing ant trails. Make sure to place some traps near any entrances ants have made to your house.


Best Outdoor Traps

Terro Outdoor Liquid Ant Bait Stakes

terro ant bait stakes

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Key Features:

  • 16 bait stakes come included.
  • Kill the ants before they get the chance to enter your home.
  • See-through bait indicator makes it easy to know when it’s time to refill the bait.
  • Sturdy enough to withstand any weather conditions.

If you’re looking for an outdoor ant trap, these stake traps make an excellent option. They’re designed to be used in grass and other soft exterior surfaces and targets ants before they can make their way indoors.

The see-through bait monitor lets you know when it’s time to replace the bait, which you can do by inserting bait back. Sturdy reinforced stake ridges ensure the traps stay put in the ground no matter what the conditions are like out there.

Slow killing poison gives the ants ample time to return to their colony before it begins to act, while the bait is attractive to all common household ants. Like other ant traps, when you first place the ant traps in the ground, you’ll likely see increased ant activity around the traps. This should go away over time, as the poison has had its chance to work its way into the colony.


Best Ant Granules

Amdro Ant Block Granule

amdro ant block granules

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Key Features:

  • Baits and kills ants before they have the chance to get inside.
  • Creates a barrier around your home which prevents ant penetration.
  • Granules will last for about 3 months and provide 1800 linear feet of coverage.
  • Kills up to 25 different ant species.

Granules are a great option when you don’t know exactly where the ants are coming from. These little pellets create a barrier around the perimeter of your home, killing ants before they can work their way inside.

To use the granules effectively, you’ll want to place them in a 1-foot band around the perimeter of your home. Like many other baits, it takes some time for the granules to begin to work their magic. Typically about a week for the queen to die, and another week to finish off the colony.

The granules will last for about 3 months, and provide up to 1,800 linear feet of protection. As this bait is only for outdoor use, it works well in conjunction with indoor ant baits.

Ant block kills up to 25 different ant species, including carpenter ants, fire ants, ghost ants, harvester ants, argentine ants, pharaoh ants, and more.


Also Consider

RESCUE! Ant Baits

rescue ant baits

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Key Features:

  • Child and pet resistant ant baits.
  • Stations are ready to use and activate with no setup or leaking.
  • Both sugar gel and protein bait come included.
  • 6 bait stations per package.

Rescue! Ant baits are a great option when you want a simple to use bait that’s children and tamper-proof. These indoor ant bait stations are perfect for households with small kids and pets and uses non-toxic borax to eliminate the ants.

The traps are also completely mess-free and can be set up with no spilling or leaking. Simply place them anywhere you spot ants in your home and they’ll start working almost immediately. Pre-set bait gel is then carried by the ants back to their colony, where they feed on it and start to die off within days.

Both sugar gel and protein bait are contained within the traps, which results in more ants killed per bait. Sugar bait is fed on by the worker ants, while the protein bait is fed to the queen and larvae.


Best Gel

Syngenta Optigard Ant Bait Gel Box

syngenta optiguard ant gel

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Key Features:

  • Versatile indoor/outdoor ant gel.
  • The highly attractive formula promotes easy transfer of active ingredients throughout the colony.
  • Active ingredient: Thiamethoxam.
  • Powerful active ingredient knocks out workers, broods, and queens.

This versatile ant bait gel is ideal for a number of different ant-killing applications. It’s approved for both indoor and outdoor use, can be used to bait your own traps, or applied to small cracks and crevices around your home or kitchen.

The gel offers broad-spectrum control of ants, including Argentine, Carpenter, Ghost, and many other ant species. The bait remains palatable for at least 14 days after baiting, is non-staining, completely colorless, and has little to no odor.

Each plunger comes with 30-grams of ready-to-use sugar-based gel, with a medium consistency that makes it highly effective and easy for ants to transport back to their colony.


Best Eco-Friendly

MDXconcepts Organic Home Pest Control Spray

MDXconcepts magma pest spray

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Key Features:

  • Eco-friendly pest control spray uses peppermint, spearmint, and rosemary oils.
  • Eliminates insects on contact.
  • Effective against ants, fleas, earwigs, mites, silverfish, and stinkbugs.
  • Safe to use around pets and small children.

Safe, simple, and fast-acting, this eco-friendly pest and ant spray makes an excellent option when you want an ant remover that’s easy on the environment. It’s safe to use around the home and is non-toxic to humans and pets.

The spray utilizes peppermint, spearmint, and rosemary oils to eliminate all types of pest infestations, including ants, fleas, earwigs, mites, silverfish, and stinkbugs. The spray kills insects on contact, so it makes a great method of removing ant trails by spraying them.

Unlike other insect sprays, this one uses completely safe and natural ingredients, so there’s no need to worry about using it around pets or small children.


How to pick the best ant traps?

With so many different types of traps, picking out the right ones can be a tricky task. Let’s take a look at some of the most important features to be on the lookout for when it comes to ant traps.

Indoor Vs. Outdoor

First up, you’ll need to decide whether you’ll be needing traps inside or for the outdoors. If your ants are inside the home, then indoor traps will probably be necessary, but you may also want to utilize outdoor ones.

Outdoor traps give you the ability to kill the ants before they can work their way inside your home. Also, be sure to check the labels of any outdoor traps before you use them indoors. Some of these traps use strong chemicals that aren’t appropriate for indoor usage.

Safety

If you live in a household with small children or pets, you’ll want to ensure any traps you use are safe. Traps using Borax as the killing agent are a good choice in these situations, as it’s completely harmless to humans and pets, but is highly effective at eliminating ant infestations.


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Denis Gardner

I've loved tinkering and fixing things for as long as I can remember. So, naturally, I gravitated towards DIY and home improvement when I bought my first home. Nowadays you can find me writing about my passions or messing around with my newest tool!

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