I live in a great apartment complex, and they take maintenance very seriously. I love it because they spray for bugs every 3 months, and I've never had any roaches (they get big in Texas
) since I moved here from a rental house that
never got sprayed
. The pesticide they use doesn't have strong fumes. I usually leave the windows open and fans on, take Rigel out before they get here, and go for a ride to the coffee shop or park for 30-60 minutes while the place airs out. He has never had any health problems with this setup. Today they were all in a rush, and wanted me to let them in before I got Rigel ready, and tried to insist that he would be fine if they just didn't spray around his cage. No deal, they had to wait.
I leave my windows open all day, with screens, but ants can get through, of course. Rigel ate at his new windowside playstand last night, and made the usual mess. I didn't have time to vacuum before the bugspray people came. When we got home, I found that there was a pile of (live) ants all over the food bits on the floor
! I HAD to vacuum them up, even though I was worried that the pesticides would get redistributed in the air.
Long story long, I have these questions/concerns:
How long do we really need to stay away for the pesticides to not hurt him?
Will vacuuming soon after spraying cause problems?
Are ant-specific pesticides more dangerous, would I need to take extra precautions if I had them spray for ants (which I know they would do)?
Would it just be better to not offer any food at the window playstand, or become The Insane Hourly Vacuumer?