harmful spices to ferrets

Question
I am trying to use natural spices like cinnamon and cloves, or peppermint oil to get rid of the ants that have decided to go after my ferret chow. Will those things be harmful to the animals if it is ingested or inhaled? Also sometimes the ferrets will lick up the ants if they find a  good amount of them, do i need to be concerned if using ant traps in other parts of the house. thanks

Answer
Hi Daniel:

I rcently had an ant problem also.  Here's what I did....

Vacuum the room/cage daily to keep all tiny bits of food up (they won't eat them anyway); then wipe the area with a very weak bleach solution to remove the oils the food may have left...1/4 cup to 1/2 bucket water.  My ferret has full run of my fully ferretproofed bedroom and I vac and mop with weak bleach solution through the room daily anyway (you would be surprised how much dust and fur one ferret produces on a bedroom floor in a day;  I use a small vac and empty the cup and filter daily after use and am always shocked!), but it is especially necessary if you have ants.  THEN, after you have removed the major food source....do THIS:

1....get a licensed exterminator to treat the OUTSIDE ONLY of your home.  I never put chemicls inside the house because of the ferret/s.

2....strangely enough, an ant will not cross a line of BABY POWDER! Really!  So, put a thin line of baby powder around the ferrets food/water bowls.  The ferrets won't bother it, at least mine didn't, and the ants won't cross the barrier.  When they try to leave the house for other food sources, they encounter what the exterminator left for them :-)

3....check around your house and be sure there are no other sources of food for the ants,....if so, remove & clean that area also.  Be sure to use the weak bleach solution there too, as the grease or sugars from food is what attracts ants mostly and if they have no source of food, or can't smell it because of the bleach cleaning, they will move next doir or round the block :-)

In other words, ants exist and always will.  Best you can do is rmove their access to any food and they will go elsewhe

Best of luck.  GOOD THINKING on being cautious with chemicals around your ferrets!!

Sincerely,
Jacquie Rodgers

In other words, ants exist and always will.  Best you can do is rmove their ccess to any food and they will go elsewhere141073547026