HELP my mom set off flea bombs with my parrot in the house!

[Chica_]

My dogs brought fleas into the house and we haven't been able to get them under control so my mom without my knowledge set off a flea bomb on the direct opposite side of the house and sprayed all the rooms downstairs. My pet bird is at the end of the hall upstairs in my room but at the top of the stairs I can smell the fumes (my house isn't very big anyways). My door is closed, all my windows open and fan going, but there isn't much else I can do. There's an insane lightning storm outside and even if that weren't the case I couldn't get her outside because she'd have to be carried through the fumes downstairs, and it's over 100 degrees out. I'm beyond angry. My mom is out getting duct tape so I can tape my vent closed for the time being because the vent where the bomb went off is connected to all of the rooms. My bird looks completely fine and I'm not leaving the room so I can keep an eye on her but I'm still scared out of my mind that she's going to get sick. Is there anything else I can do to try and keep her safe? I've made it VERY clear that anyone that tries to spray flea killer upstairs will have to pay so once the flea spray downstairs is done and has been ventilated, I'll move her down there and they can do it upstairs. PLEASE someone help, is there anything else I should do to keep her safe? I'm going to give her a bath, scrub down her cage, give her new food, etc just in case once this is over.

 

[Mango121913]

Is there a way to get her in a cage and have someone hand it to you through the window and put her in a car or even a neighbor house till every thing is over. Make sureher food cannot be contaminated wherever it is stored as well. Wash EVERTHING the bird would touch with its beak too. The residue will get her sick too. Hope everything goes well for you and her.

 

[Chica_]

Her food is sealed and in a drawer and no, she can't be handed out a window because I'm on the second floor and she'd have to be brought through heavy fumes to get outside, and it's pouring really heavily and the lightning is basically right on top of us. The circumstances are just awful. I've moved her cage closer to the window

 

[happycat]

Stuff towels under the door and keep the window open. Thats what I do every time there are fumes. If the fumes are hurting her you'll see it. She will tail bob/breath heavily/gasp for air. If you see any of these symptoms I would go outside and run through the fumes quickly.


What I personally would do would be to drive her to a vet/pet store/friends house to board for a couple of days until the fumes are completely gone.

 

[Kalidasa]

Do you have fans? If so, put one outside your door, so it's blowing away from your door, pushing the fumes away. And place one at the window, so it blows inward, sucking in fresh air, so it creates a current of air from the window to the door. Of course, keep the door shut during. It really would be best to get the bird out...you could put her in her carrier, wrap it in a sheet and run out when the weather permits.

 

[Kiwibird]

At this point, you've done what you can. If you haven't already, open the rest of the windows/screened doors in the house to let the fumes dissipate faster. Keep a close eye on your bird and have a travel cage ready. If you notice signs of respiratory distress, get her in the travel cage and go sit in the car or maybe even go hang out at a neighbors or friends house for a while where she can get fresh air.

 

[Scott]

Perhaps you can place your bird in a small carrier and place it in a very large (33 gallon) plastic bag, then double bag and tie tightly so it is virtually air-tight. Take the assembly downstairs and out of the house to a safer temporary area. Once outside, get rid of the plastic bags; being placed in an air-tight bag for 2 or 3 minutes won't exhaust the supply of breathable oxygen.

 

[kq_fan]

I agree with every one to vent the air out in currents. When we sent off a flea bomb and I had JayJay, we taped the door shut and turned on fans and opens windows. I hope your bird wild be ok! Maybe you could just run with her out the door? People and pets really shouldn't be in the house for a few hours when they go off. My mom had all the pets at my grandmas and we left through the garage to get out for the day they don't seem like the safest things... I hope you will all be ok!

 

[weco]

If you have a serious infestation, I doubt this one application downstairs will take care of the fleas there and spraying upstairs will probably not kill all the fleas there either.....with fleas, you have to break the egg cycle and that is going to take 3-4 applications, each about a week apart.....you may want to, as has been suggested, move your bird to a neighbor's, friend's or relative's house while all this flea treatment is going on...it's not a one or two day process.....

If you have carpet in your house, there's a very good chance that it might take 6-10 months to get a handle on your flea problem.....and.....if your dogs are allowed to come back in the house, you may never solve the problem.....the dogs will need to be flea shampooed every 2-3 days and/or use a topical flea control like Frontline, but both the shampoo & topical treatments are deadly to companion birds, be sure that you wash your hands very well before handling your bird.....

Along with treating the inside, you have a recurring flea problem outside and every time you and others walk through your yard, you will attract fleas & bring them into the house, not only the dogs, but we humans haul fleas around more than you might believe.....

As far as the fans go, Kalidasa is right about setting fans up to bring fresh air into the room your bird is in, rather than setting a fan in your window blowing out.....unless you are going to treat your room with a bomb, I might get a package of 5% Sevin Dust and dust it into your carpet, broom it around, leave it a day or two, vacuum it up & empty the bag/canister in an outdoor trash container that is not sitting next to the house.....you will need to do this every 3-4 days, to catch the fleas that will be hatching out...and then do the same thing next week, the week after that, etc.....fleas can lay around 50 eggs a day & they live up to 100 days, so one female can generate 5000 eggs in her lifetime.....I have read that some mathematical types have estimated that 10 female fleas, in a 10 day period, can generate over a quarter million eggs.....

Good luck on your family's battle with the fleas.....


I might suggest that you have your mom read up on how to control a flea infestation!

 

[Anansi]

Any updates?

I'm so sorry you and your fid have been caught in this situation. I'm late to this thread, considering the urgency of your circumstances, but for what it's worth you've received some good advice from everyone.

I would just add that, given all that Weco has pointed out in regard to the prolonged nature of a battle with a flea home infestation, I think you'd be best served taking Scott's advice to get your parrot out of the house and over to a neighbor's or something for the duration.

And then, in the meantime, following Kalidasa's advice about setting up an air current in your room will likely keep the majority of fumes out... which will be good for you AND your fid as regards residue afterward. (This idea is only a true option if you have a strong enough fan, btw)

I hope it all works out for you both!