I had a scare!

kc_y0 · Mar 3, 2012

So I woke up the other night around 4am and just checked in on Audrey. She was sitting on the bottom of the cage. I assumed the worst and started to look up emergency vets but I wasn't able to get to any of them due to roads being blocked off from flooding!

So I got her out, was giving her a cuddle and my partner had a look in her cage and noticed ants in there.

On her perch that she sleeps on! Poor little bugger, I clean her cage on a daily basis so I am guessing the ants and other bugs were coming inside because of the floods and rain! I soaked all her perches and scrubbed her cage down very thoroughly. Can't use bug spray. They were back in the morning though, and not just in Audrey's cage arghh! So we sprayed the house outside. But for now they are gone and thankfully Audrey is on her perch again. I hope they didn't bite her or anything poor little thing, I was very worried! :O I felt really bad for her!

Yucky ants!

HalfInsane · Mar 3, 2012

Aww, poor Audrey. I can imagine, especially given the size of an ant relative to a bird, having one run across your feet would be unsettling. And they can be a bugger to get rid of. Perhaps try placing some ant traps out of reach of Audrey but close enough to her cage to lure them away, just in case they do show up again?

We had a problem with ants coming in to our house in the spring back when I had my lovebird. Though I cleaned obsessively, they still sometimes got in her cage. But, being the evil little critter she was, she liked to throw them in her water bowl and watch them drown. I kid you not (and she'd laugh at them, too). Perhaps she could have used a shrink lol.

Fiwi · Mar 3, 2012

Poor little Audrey! Ants! Ugh! I am having a terrible time with them this year. I've tried everything to get rid of them to no avail. We're going away next week and I'm thinking of having an exterminator come in since all pets and people will be gone for 10 days. I hate using harsh chemicals, but I don't see any other option. The ants come running as soon as I put down any food for the animals. Heaven forbid they leave a crumb in their bowl and the whole colony shows up!

mnkeastman · Mar 3, 2012

Ugh so sorry that happened to her, I would have been so scared!

IcyWolf · Mar 3, 2012

poor audrey! The good news is, you don't have to use harsh chemicals, the only thing I've ever had work for ants is borax. You just place a few drops near any openings they can come in. Replace it every 3-6 months and you will never have an ant problem again! Last time, we used this stuff called terro, it's made to kill ants but the main ingredient is just borax so it would probably be cheaper and just as effective to get a box of borax from your grocery store. Ant Problem? Terro = Ant Control Solutions

roxynoodle · Mar 3, 2012

It probably is from the flooding. Last summer I opened my mail box to find what seemed like a million of them and they were all holding eggs! Later when I came back with the hose and ant spray they were gone though. ?? Then the next day they were back with their eggs and would be gone later. I think they had to keep looking for places for the eggs to keep them safe and the right temperature. Apparently my mail box was the choice for morning and then must have been too hot in the afternoon. But, if we weren't constantly flooding all last spring, summer and fall, they probably would have stayed in the ground where they belong.

I'm so sorry they came into your house and bird's cage. That's just awful!

luvmytooo · Mar 3, 2012

On no , poor Audry ! How scary that must have been for you to find her on the bottom of her cage !! Hopefully you go the ants under control now.
Just something to think about , I always write down or save the labels from what pesticides I use around the house , indoor and out , because you never know if one of the animals will get sick from it accidentally This could really help the poison control center , because they will know exactly what to tell you to do , before heading to the emergency. Bring the list with you for them as well.

MikeyTN · Mar 3, 2012

Here's a way I got rid of ants invading my house. I went to outside of the house to see where they were coming in from, I used chalk and draw a line in the pathway, they will not pass it!!!! Anywhere it was heavily infested I used the dust from the chalk and they all disappeared. So now we're ant free.

suebee · Mar 3, 2012

oh i will try the chalk thing

and poor audrey, when i lived in the country we had red ants they hurt when they bit, but now we get the black ones. glad there not wood ants as there huge! they live in the small copse a field over, from our back garden
hope audrey is ok

roxynoodle · Mar 3, 2012

Oh, those red ants do hurt! I got some on me when I was putting the siding on my house and they bit the heck out of my arms and hands. That poor bird. I hate ants. They are just nasty and creepy.

MikeyTN · Mar 3, 2012

Trust me it works!!! I was skeptical at first until I tried it out and it works like a charm. Plus chalk is super cheap and not harmful like borax can be!

Spiritbird · Mar 3, 2012

Another effective method is to coat the legs of the cage with Vaseline. Kind of greasy though but it really worked.

MikeyTN · Mar 3, 2012

Spiritbird said:
Another effective method is to coat the legs of the cage with Vaseline. Kind of greasy though but it really worked.

This does work but I didn't want to deal with the grease everytime I have to move or clean the cage. I do a total wipe down from top to bottom.

kc_y0 · Mar 3, 2012

Thanks for the replies everyone, some great ideas here! Ants are buggers aren't they, I had them at my old house during a time where I didn't even have pets and I'm a pretty clean person! That chalk idea is very interesting haha! :O And that Terro product looks good for the ones that are already in the house too! Thanks guys

Audrey is okay thankfully, chattering away at the moment haha! Poor little thing I felt bad for days!

roxynoodle · Mar 3, 2012

Oh, I don't think it matters how clean you are. If they decide there's a reason to come in, they just do. I had carpenter ants once. They just started coming in their little trooper lines. I traced them to the front porch and somewhere into the ground covering plants. I set up the bait traps that they take back to their nest right outside the front door, which seemed to be their point of entry. In a few days that was the end of that.

But, when it floods, all those insects in the ground just go floating on top of the water and grab onto anything they can hold onto. When we flooded bad back in 98, the water was up to almost my shoulders while in my neighbor's barn trying to help her get her horses out. I can't tell you how many insects I had grab onto me and start climbing up towards my face. They were all over the fence posts, too, trying to keep from drowning. So yes, they grabbed onto your house and then came in.

kc_y0 · Mar 3, 2012

Oh gosh thats scary I would be terrified! Yeah we are having all sorts of creepy crawlys coming into the house yucky!

The sun is out today and not a sign of rain so I'm hoping this is the end of it!

luvmytooo · Mar 3, 2012

Yeah , every spring , like clockwork , we get a army of ants that show up.
For some reason they love my kitchen windowsill.
Then , like magic , they are gone. I hate them , but I know they dont stick around for long , so I try to keep cleaning the sill and area around it . I even had my husband look outside to see if we could block up their pathway in , but we never found out exactly how they got in , those stinkers !

MikeyTN · Mar 3, 2012

We were constantly cleaning, they would all be in the cat food, then the cats refuse to eat and I kept dumping all natural cat food in the trash, they were all over the kitchen counters...made me mad so it was all out war, tried the bait, pesticide spray outside, ant powder, etc. Nothing worked! Then I find out about chalk, it was a cheap solution and I was totally surprised that it worked. I was drawing a circle to trap a ant, he kept going in circles but will not cross the line. I did some on the walls and they all eventually jumped off the wall to get out of the circle.

luvmytooo · Mar 4, 2012

MikeyTN said:
We were constantly cleaning, they would all be in the cat food, then the cats refuse to eat and I kept dumping all natural cat food in the trash, they were all over the kitchen counters...made me mad so it was all out war, tried the bait, pesticide spray outside, ant powder, etc. Nothing worked! Then I find out about chalk, it was a cheap solution and I was totally surprised that it worked. I was drawing a circle to trap a ant, he kept going in circles but will not cross the line. I did some on the walls and they all eventually jumped off the wall to get out of the circle.

I have to try this chalk , it sounds crazy ! I want to see it for myself.
I wonder why they dont want to step in it ? Now I will be going around with chalk in hand looking for ants , lolol.
I take a medium size jacket

roxynoodle · Mar 4, 2012

kc_y0 said:
Oh gosh thats scary I would be terrified! Yeah we are having all sorts of creepy crawlys coming into the house yucky! The sun is out today and not a sign of rain so I'm hoping this is the end of it!

I'm not sure what was worse, the bugs or the furry thing I couldn't see that touched my leg as it swam past. I don't know if it was a rat or what it was, lol! Floods are just awful. I'm so glad we just have a creek and not an actual huge river that could flood.

I had a scare!

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Behavior quesiton

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