Pantry moth problems

This is only kinda sorta health related, because I've looked it up and pantry moths aren't really a health issue, but who really wants pantry moths?

My husband and I have had a problem with pantry moths for a few weeks. We've seen them a lot downstairs, but they are mostly in our bedroom, where my parrot resides, and I spend most of my time. A few weeks ago, I noticed that in my parrot's bag of Harrison's pellets there were odd "web-like" things, that I now know were evidence of moth reproduction. I immediately threw it out and opened a brand new bag, being careful to fully zip seal it after opening. As you may know, Harrison's pellets aren't cheap, so this was a bummer.

The moths briefly disappeared, but then we saw them come back again with a vengeance. I realized that I had to VERY VERY thoroughly clean his food hamper, and every other possible moth breeding ground in the bedroom (garbage cans, under the flooring we have below our parrot's cage, etc). We had cleaned our downstairs pantry thoroughly a few weeks before.

Though I fully clean (with soap) my parrot's dishes every single day, I sometimes do leave fully cleaning some of his other areas a little longer than I should. Bad me! As you know, parrot food debris gets caught in many places, some hard to reach. I'll definitely be more diligent now. It's not only pantry moths that are attracted to parrot food debris.

My husband had read that putting bay leaves in a pantry can help deter pantry moths. We've had bay leaves strategically placed around the pantry downstairs for a while. But we hadn't thought about my parrot's area. So, I put some bay leaves in his food hamper today, too. Of course I wouldn't want them anywhere my parrot could get access to them, since the leaves themselves should not eaten.

Sadly, the most common method of preventing moths is not well published.

When you obtain dry Parrot food, regardless of its source and packaging it needs to be Frozen for a given period of time to Kill the moths and other bugs!

What we do:
1. When we receive Products like Harrison (their type of packaging), we place it in a large ZipLock type bag forcing the majority of air out of the plastic bag. It is then placed in the freezer for a minimum of 30 days. At that point, the original package in opened and broken down into lot sizes that would define a weeks worth of eating by our Amazon and refrozen. It is pulled from the freezer the day before use to allow it to come to room temperature.
2. When we receive Products that are packaged in sealed plastic bags we breakdown the package into one month or one week packages depending of the size of the original packaging.
3. Always place the date it was placed into the freezer on the ZipLock packaging!!!
4. Target buying for periods of at most six months!!! Buying super large packages may safe a few cents upfront, but freezer burn will likely cause you to trash-out far more than you saved.
5. All dry foods should be frozen for a bare minimum of two weeks prior to use. We are a minimum 30 day household!

There is nothing wrong with those pellets!

I want to follow up on this thread but I don't have time while I am at work.
OP you are not alone. We have been fighting them for a while including freezing all seed (but not pellets).
We don't have freezer space or time in advance to freeze for a month long. we would have to buy a spare freezer.
again I will try to follow up when I have time at home.

We have been dealing with the pantry moths for a few months now. I have been embarrassed to mention it but since it's out there and I know I am not the only one I feel a bit better about it.

As far as dealing with the ones that are alive now and trying to make them dead we have been using 3 methods.
1. traps. You can buy little fold out traps that have the scent that the female moths have. It is not a smell that is detectable to people or (I presume) birds. The traps have sticky tape inside, the male moths go inside looking for the female and get stuck. The downside of the traps is it only catches the male moths and you have to be sure to locate the trap where your birds wont get to them.

2. Electric fly swatter. These things are great for moths in motion and the ones that are parked on walls or other surfaces you can reach. Downside is... well sometimes the moths smolder a bit a the stench is unpleasant in the extreme.
3. Bug-a-salt. It's a gun that functions a bit like a pump shotgun and shoots nothing more deadly than table salt. This helps in hitting the moths that are out of reach. We have some vaulted ceilings and the only way to get at the moths parked on the ceiling is with the bug a salt gun. Downside is it does not outright kill the moths all that often, just knocks them down. The gun is meant for house flys not moths and just not that effective on them.

I have considered getting a freezer only (one the size used in dorm rooms) but I just don't have any room for it, not even in the garage.
I have considered taking newly purchased seed to work and putting it in a sub zero freezer for 24 hours but I am a bit afraid of getting into trouble with that.

Other than freezing there is one other way I know of to kill of bugs in seed or grain. you use dry ice.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of whatever you want to rid of bugs.
Put a large piece of dry ice on top and LOOSLY set the lid on top. DO NOT put the lid on tightly or you will be making a bomb.
the dry ice turns slowly into carbon dioxide gas and fills the bucket. Any bug eggs that hatch will die and any larva will die and leave you with bug free seed or grain.

texsize