Yellow snake powder

[vistana]

Does anyone know where you can buy the yellow powder the pest companies sprinkle round the perimeter walls of your house, they never seem to put enough down!

Thanks

Vistana

[moja]

We got some in Villa Market - not cheap mind

[vistana]

Thanks moja can you remember roughly how much it was?

[Takiap]

Not cheap?.......they're taking the Mickey out of you. That yellow powder is nothing but sulfur, and costs next to nothing......lol.

If you're coming from the center of town, turn left at the second set of traffic lights, as if you were heading up towards the rail crossing near G-Market. About 100 meters up you'll see a shop on the left that sells pet foods and etc. The also sell fish pond supplies, fertilizers, pesticides and etc. Most times they also have sulfur, and if they have, they'll order some for you. They usually sell little bags of it for about 20 or 30 baht.

[VincentD]

Agree with Takiap. You can also get sulphur at most medical shops. It's called 'gam-ma-tahn' (กำมะถัน) in Thai.

[PeteC]

and.....it doesn't wash away folks, even in the hardest downpour. I don't know if by nature sulphur is not water soluble but it seems to be. The last time I laid it down you could still see lines and clumps 3 months later. Pete

EDIT: Now, whether it really works is another question. Snakes can't smell to my knowledge, only detect heat with their tongue, so I guess it's not the odor. Perhaps it burns their skin when they try to wriggle over it, but if I were a snake, I would take the quickest way out which would be forward and finally over it.

[poosmate]

Maybe a waste of money?:

People will always try to sell you products, and magic cure-alls. Some products work, and some don't. In the field of wildlife control, you'll often find more bogus products than effective ones. Snakes are reptiles, not insects. The internet is full of snake deterrent products, but virtually none of them work. Some of these products include cinnamon or spicy powders, which are nice ideas in theory, but are not effective. Other products are simply made of napthalene - moth balls - which some companies sell as an end-all be-all in wildlife repellant. Sorry, it simply doesn't work. I've seen people dump a whole 5 lb. box of mothballs under a deck where snakes are living, and they don't care in the slightest. They keep using the area. People also claim that sulphur will keep snakes away. That is ridiculous. Hey, I know, why don't you just sprinkle lemon juice on the ground - that is sure to keep snakes at bay. Devices such as ultrasonic sound emitters that make a high-pitched noise are completely useless. I've been to so many properties over the years in which people have spent time and money on silly gimmicks like these. The only thing that works with snakes is to hire a real wildlife control operator, to get the problem correctly taken care of, or to use a snake removal trap to actively catch the snake. http://www.aaanimalcontrol.com/snake-repellent.htm

[pharvey]

Maybe a waste of money?:

People will always try to sell you products, and magic cure-alls. Some products work, and some don't. In the field of wildlife control, you'll often find more bogus products than effective ones. Snakes are reptiles, not insects. The internet is full of snake deterrent products, but virtually none of them work. Some of these products include cinnamon or spicy powders, which are nice ideas in theory, but are not effective. Other products are simply made of napthalene - moth balls - which some companies sell as an end-all be-all in wildlife repellant. Sorry, it simply doesn't work. I've seen people dump a whole 5 lb. box of mothballs under a deck where snakes are living, and they don't care in the slightest. They keep using the area. People also claim that sulphur will keep snakes away. That is ridiculous. Hey, I know, why don't you just sprinkle lemon juice on the ground - that is sure to keep snakes at bay. Devices such as ultrasonic sound emitters that make a high-pitched noise are completely useless. I've been to so many properties over the years in which people have spent time and money on silly gimmicks like these. The only thing that works with snakes is to hire a real wildlife control operator, to get the problem correctly taken care of, or to use a snake removal trap to actively catch the snake. http://www.aaanimalcontrol.com/snake-repellent.htm

Having been brought up in Africa, and spending a great deal of my working life there or Asia, I would have to agree with pooosmate in most parts.

The best way to get rid of snakes, is to take away either their source of food or where they want to be.....

1. Rats, Frogs etc..... get rid of the rats (easier), frogs - don't have ponds/pools etc. (your choice).
2. Habitat - get rid of wood stockpiles, heavy bush etc.

One thing I have seen is to run a perimeter fence sloping at 30 degrees or so....... fairly major one this though!!

[vistana]

thanks guys for all your advice, so it seems the powder is a bit of a waste of time, maybe buy a small bag just to try it myself and see.

Thanks again for all your input

Regards

Vistana

[hhfarang]

^ Yes, I agree with the others. One of our pest control companies used to spread a "shield" of that powder around our garden and we still had a lot of snakes... mind you, maybe they were already there and the powder just kept them from leaving...

[ste860]

its nigh on imposible to stop snakes ive got alsorts of old wife tales,as mentioned above the only sure way is to have a over hang os 30-45 degrees then as the snake tries to get over it cant and falls back down

[Takiap]

I agree, having been born in South Africa, and growing up there all my life, I can quite honestly tell you nothing will keep snakes away, apart from when they feel threatened. One advantage of growing up in Africa is that you grow up being accustomed to snakes, so when you encounter them here, it's not really a big deal. Anyway, good luck with your mission.....

[vistana]

Thanks everyone for your input..... maybe use the money to buy some more beers instead

Vistana

[PeteC]

One thing that does help, or at least alerts, is to listen to the common myna birds that frequent your place. Nesting pairs usually stay put (unfortunately) for months, or forever . They are a pain in the butt concerning nesting in your roof eaves and chasing off other birds, but they do alert immediately when there is a snake or a cat in the area. Just about every snake I've found on my property was when I followed their screeching and their location and sure enough, a snake right there. Below are photos in case you don't know what they look like. Pete

http://www.google.com/search?q=common+m ... 80&bih=670

[Shane]

Why not get a pet mongoose or two?