About a year ago, he had one little fly looking thing (white) around it. We thought it was cute how it was everywhere the macaw was. Later, there were five or six around the cage. Now there are all over the house. We keep his cage as clean as possible, but they are everywhere. Does anyone know what they are and how to get rid of them?
2006-11-09 01:46:19 · 9 answers · asked by Mar 2 in Pets ➔ Birds
Hang some fly strips around the cage, should eventually pick them all up.
2006-11-09 01:51:49 · answer #1 · answered by hankthecowdog 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You've been invaded by seed moths from an infested shipment of seed. It happens...(heavy sigh)...
Don't use a mite guard...they ought to be illegal. Moth balls are used in them and it can cause respiratory distress.
Simply dump the food you have in a plastic bag and save it to take back to wherever you bought it. The new food...freeze it. That will kill any little buggers that are in it.
Tell whoever you bought the seed from, that the food was loaded with larvae, they hatched and now your house is infested with moths. Ask for a replacement for the food that you bought. If it's a smallish bird shop, they'll already know about it...believe me.
Clean everything around the cage and make sure it's all sanitized and wiped down. Use hot water only...or hot water and a little white vinegar. If you can get the cage into a shower stall, great. If you can't, take it outside and scrub it down with a pail of hot water. Rinse thoroughly with a hose or another source of water and dry it off.
For a while, try and keep seed mix out of his cage when he is typically not hungry. Let him eat, and then remove it and refrigerate. You're also going to have to go through the pantry or kitchen and make sure they are not in your food. If you see signs of them in your food...flour, rice, nuts, etc...toss it.
That will take care of any leftover bugs or larvae in your cage.
In the future, as people have said...freeze the food for 24 hours before opening.
Here is an email from a Yahoo Group I belong to, taking about this very same problem:
"The first step is to refrigerate all the seeds and grains - this will help tremendously. The next step is to buy a few moth traps, which attract the females and stop the reproduction. The last thing is to squash (or free) every single one you see. Look inside every possible crevice you can find - they live everywhere! Cage grooves are a great breeding spot (my one reason for not like
a certain cage style). They live/breed in curtain rods, any connector-type things (like plastic table legs), door jambs, etc. I'd also recommend a good steam cleaning of the cages, perhaps weekly until the moths are gone.
Additionally, check all of your grains/pasta/etc. in the kitchen for the little buzzards. I'd recommend a trap in each of the cabinets containing any grains, as well as putting all grains in plastic containers (moths chew through ziploc and plastic bags). You will prevail!"
Good Luck!
2006-11-09 05:22:30 · answer #2 · answered by Phoenix 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
These sound like seed moths. They are harmless but you don't want them in your house. Please DON'T buy a "mite guard" (these are not safe, ask your vet!) for the cage or use anything else toxic around your bird!!! I had a problem with these moths before and this is what I did:
1) Buy fly paper and hang it around your house. Yep, the sticky regular old fashioned fly paper stuff. The moths will go right to it. you won't believe how many end up on there! Make sure these are out of your bird's reach - you don't want your bird tangled up in this stuff. This catches all the flying adults.
2) Freeze all bird food, seeds, pellets, everything, in the freezer. Bring it in the door and make sure it goes right into the freezer for several days. Freezing temps kill the adults as well as any larvae or eggs in the food. You might have noticed "webby" stuff in your bird's food which is from the larvae. It is harmless and does not affect the seed's nutritional quality.
2006-11-09 02:50:23 · answer #3 · answered by Rags to Riches 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Macaws are an quite perplexing breed of poultry. A macaw isn't a poultry for a typical time poultry proprietor the two. the pros are: they could talk, they are candy, they cuddle, the checklist is going on. The cons: undesirable behavior, loud, very needy, and messy... and so on. that each and one and all sounds great, yet do you recognize the way the poultry grew to become into dealt with interior the earlier yours? Macaws could properly be loud and are enormously intelligent birds. Birds do no longer lose previous behavior rather uncomplicated and an older macaw should not be that easy to tame. i think of the terrific subject to do is do somewhat diagnosis on the species, and on the poultry.
2016-10-03 11:06:14 · answer #4 · answered by riesgo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with Sapphyre do not use insecticides around your bird.
Take the bird away from the house for 24 hours while you treat for these insects. Don't forget the cage will need treating as well.
Are they fruit fly that have hatched from the fruit that you feed to the parrot?
2006-11-09 02:31:55 · answer #5 · answered by stevehart53 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It may be because the food you bought for him was infected with bugs. It has happened to me before. The way to solve the problem is to freeze the food you have bought for 24 hours. If there are any bug larve in the food they will have died. Once we started freezing the food for at least 24 hours we have never had anymore bugs flying around.
DO NOT use MITE GUARDS they are toxic to birds. Ask any Avian Vet about the dangers about mite protectors and they will tell you that the fumes that are to kill the mites omit toxic fumes and your bird is breathing in the fumes it will cause health damages and death.
Hope this helps you.
Sapphyre
Certified Avian Specialist
http://www.borrowed-rainbow.com
join our group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BorrowedRainbowAviary/
If you need any other help please contact me.
2006-11-09 02:00:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
What about those mite guards or insect guards that attach to the side of the cage. As far as fly paper goes, if your bird comes out of the cage you will want to make sure that he doesn't go anywhere near the paper and get stuck to it or it to him. (personal experience with one of my birds.)
2006-11-09 01:57:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you need to get the bird a different cage and get him in it and then debug the old one...
Might as well throw the old one away because birds are very delicate and chemicals can kill them easily!
I cleaned out my bird cage with some bleach and water and my bird died...
Broke the kids heart and mine...
2006-11-09 01:56:21 · answer #8 · answered by TRUE GRIT 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this is going to sound gross but i have a parrot and have found the same bugs after a period of time i found out it was the bird food what i thought i was buying fresh had been sitting on the store shelf for awhile and was breeding some kind of bug
2006-11-09 08:44:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋