Get Rid Of Ants In Your Caravan / RV
Ant Prevention
Ants can be a huge problem to the caravanner, and at times it seems like a never ending battle to keep these pests at bay.
Some ideas fellow caravanners have devised to manage this problem are:
- When you are back home after your holiday and have cleaned your van, put ant kill around the jockey wheels and tyres. This helps prevent ants from entering your van.
- Talcum powder. Lay it across their trail – or anywhere else for that matter. Sprinkle it on any part of the van that touches the ground. This will soon get rid of or deter them. Easy to clean up afterwards too.
- Spray UNDILUTED Bio Magic around tyres and anything in contact with the ground.
- Mix a little honey and Borax on a small sheet of cardboard or similar and place these around the problem areas (this one worked for us)
- Crush some cinnamon sticks & toss them in the cupboards and in all the dark spots.
Use outdoor surface spray on the electrical cord and hoses near the van, jockey wheel, legs and axle of the caravan when camped in an ant infested environment. This can be repeated every 3 months when the caravan is not in use. - Prior to storage or when your RV is not in use for some time, remove all foodstuffs from cupboards and/or pantry. There are various do it yourself spray surface packs available to spray inside the cupboards which will prevent insect infestation against ants, cockroaches and spiders for up to 3 months.
- When travelling, store your foodstuffs in lidded containers, wipe up drink spills and keep floor and benches clean of food spills. One owner experienced ants in an unopened box of scone mix and it was likely they were attracted to the sweetener in the pre-mix recipe.
Another good point to remember is, never park your van where tree branches or leaves (no matter how small) can brush against the van itself. This provides an easy path for ants to enter your van from above while you’re busy concentrating on their trail from the nest on the ground ie. jockey wheels, stabilising legs, tyres etc.
Ant Eradication
How Do I Get Rid Of Ants In My Caravan, Motorhome Or RV?
Ant nests have sometimes been located in air conditioners or wall cavities of RV’s after they have not been in use for some time or have been in storage.
Once ants are in your caravan, motorhome or 5th wheeler it is possible there may be a nest which will contain a queen ant.
There is a spray product called ‘Crawley Cruncher Household Insecticide Surface Spray” available from Woolworths that has good reports on it’s effectiveness and Mortein have a couple of products called ‘Mortein Ant SAND’ and ‘Mortein Nest Kill Ant Baits’. The baits are placed where the ant trail is located maybe near a window or small crack in the wall. If you know where the nest is then closer to the nest is best. The idea is the ants feed on the bait and carry the bait back to the nest killing the queen ant and the nest.
As the baits contain an attractant don’t be surprised if there seems to be more ants around the bait in the first couple of days of use.
Make sure you read the directions on the container prior to using the baits. There are some precautions you should take as you would with handling any insecticide or pesticide.
Another note of caution – a lot of products can be harmful to pets and children so keep out of their reach.
