Seed moths driving us bonkers

[Melissa2010B]

We have a bird room with 5 birds, a umbrella cockatoo , yellow naped amazon , lovebird , a tiel and a parakeet , all doing fine.

But about a year ago, we started getting seed moths and they infested the whole house. We tried traps but they just fill up and then the moths are still around.

Someone suggested putting the bird food in a freezer but we heard that freezing hurts the oils and changes the nature of the food. In fact The Gabriel Foundation here refrigerates their food.

And it's not just the bird food supplies, they got into our kitchen cabinets, the pantry closet and I'm HOPING they haven't gotten into our 800 lbs of freeze dried emergency food supply too! And they've even been putting larvae inside packs of toilet paper, which we have for emergency supplies too, we have about 10 large packs here, with the emergency food supply. Toilet paper! They got in there and laid larvae!

So the people from our bird club kept urging us to get some of that Country Vet Fly Spray, despite my reservations about it, they said it's safe. And the woman at the local feed shop said that we don't need to use it on one of those electronic timer dispensers, that I could just spray it around. Everyone tells me it's perfectly safe, just don't spray us or the birds directly with it, or get it on their food or water. It's supposedly made from chrysanthemum ( mums ) extract, which kills the moths but isn't supposed to harm people or birds.

So I've been trying that, spraying it in the bird food cabinets ( keeping the bags closed ), the kitchen cabinets, the food pantry and around the toilet paper and emergency food supply boxes. And in the bird room, on the aviary and cage floor shavings when the birds are away from them, and in the ceiling frame, where I think a few of them have been putting larvae.

Spraying a shot of it, every so often, with the food packages closed, in the bird food cabinet HAS eliminated them in there, fortunately.

Like the moth traps, it reduces them, but we STILL have maybe 1 a day flying around, and I still see occasional larvae on the ceiling of the pantry closet. And I brought a big pack of TP home the other day, and within a DAY there was larvae in the wrapping!

All of these things just seem to "control" the moths but nothing decisively KILLS and ELIMINATES them! :11:

And when I spray the stuff, I get short of breath for a day after, Jennifer gets mild headaches from it, and Oz, our umbrella cockatoo seems to feel a little sick and won't fly that night. ( we usually fly him across the room 12 times a day for exercise ) So I don't know how benign this stuff really is.

But can ANYONE help us by suggesting something that will decisively get rid of these dreaded things?!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hmmm....this subject has been up several times.

Let's see:

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/34786-pantry-moths-around-my-birds.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/36142-help-moths.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/24956-foraging-greens-contain-moths-ruined-food.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/2474-help-moths-driving-me-quackers.html

And this one was yours, I believe, not that long ago?? http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/37279-seed-moths-making-us-crazy.html

 

[GaryBV]

I had definitely had a problem with those moths - and after reading the links Wendy provided, I'm certainly not the only one. In the end, I keep all my pet foods in the fridge, my bird food (pellet and seed), all the dog food, all the cat food and even my goldflish and koi food for the pond. Those moths got into everything, boxed dinners, seemingly sealed containers, chocolate, it was unbelieveable. It took a long time to be totally clear of them but since I started refridgerating all those foods I haven' had a problem since. Ugh I hate them, and the little maggots that somehow stick and crawl on the ceiling !! how do they do that? lol They usually do come in with seeds but they definitely will eat nearly anything. PS/ - there is hardly any room for HUMAN food left in our fridge lol

 

[Mike17]

I used to work in the food industry and ephestia moths were a big problem. The solutions there were: pallets of produce were surrounded by a layer of oil with pyrethrum (kills crawling grubs) plus fogging with pyrethrum (like a gigantic, noisy can of flyspray) and the UV attractant/electric zappers. These mothods wouldn't be suitable for a home or bird room (although a shielded zapper might work, that is, put another grille around it so birds can't get near). Other than suggestions already made, I can't offer much more. We have issues with ephestia moth too, and have controlled them to a degree by storing seed in the fridge or in well-sealed containers. For the pantry, I spray flyspray every so often and close the door- in a confined space it's quite effective, but has to be done often.

 

[MikeyTN]

I don't spray but I had them once when I took in two starving birds. Their cage was covered with it and I thought I had them all removed from the cage before bringing it inside the house. Bad mistake, they were inside the tiny crevice hidden inside the holes in the cage. They started flying through the house. And with me not liking bugs flying nor crawling in the house I rewashed the cage with dish soap and hot water. Dish soap kills them...then I chase after the flying ones through the house until I see no more...lol....I haven't seen any since....

 

[Merlee]

I don't spray but I had them once when I took in two starving birds. Their cage was covered with it and I thought I had them all removed from the cage before bringing it inside the house. Bad mistake, they were inside the tiny crevice hidden inside the holes in the cage. They started flying through the house. And with me not liking bugs flying nor crawling in the house I rewashed the cage with dish soap and hot water. Dish soap kills them...then I chase after the flying ones through the house until I see no more...lol....I haven't seen any since....

Hmm. Another reason not to bring a used cage into the house.

 

[MikeyTN]

Tell me about it Merlee....BUT the cage was practically new once washed. It was filthy though....but nothing broken and no chip nor rust. Couldn't throw it....lol

 

[goalerjones]

One thing I know works is to freeze all new food items that might contain moth larvae. I had them one in a avitreats bag and then froze them. Done.

I did learn one more important lesson though. When you find their cocoons in the corners of the ceiling, resist the temptation to use a lighter or match to kill them. The scorch marks on the ceiling are hard to get out once their silk catches fire. Had to explain that one to the wife....

 

[Mike17]

One thing I know works is to freeze all new food items that might contain moth larvae. I had them one in a avitreats bag and then froze them. Done.

I did learn one more important lesson though. When you find their cocoons in the corners of the ceiling, resist the temptation to use a lighter or match to kill them. The scorch marks on the ceiling are hard to get out once their silk catches fire. Had to explain that one to the wife....

Yeah, I get them in the corners of the cornices- I've tried brush, that can smear hard to clean goo in the corner- so I give them a quick flick with a stiff nylon brush, cocoon gone (well, onto the floor somewhere ) and no mess left in the cornice/ceiling angle.

If I get any grubs, the plumhead is very partial to them, too

 

[nyspy]

Clean the cages daily. Vacuum the floors in the whole house every day. If you have carpet, it's steam-cleaner time.

Before you steam clean, remove the birds from the house for 24 hours (as in move out) and ozone shock treatment the whole house. All the moths will be eliminated in one shot.

You can either rent an ozone machine, but it's better to just build your own, because you will use it time and time again.

Completely natural, chemical free, and EXTREMELY effective.

Also, a bug zapper in the bird room hanging in a corner the birds can't get to all the time will help to mitigate any new moth situations you have.

As for freezing the bird food, if you do it for 24 hours when you first bring it into the house, it kills any moth eggs.

I had a moth problem, but after the ozone shock treatment, the house was moth free. It's just maintenance after that. If you have furniture that is cloth (like couches), steam clean those as well..

I can tell you ozone works.. I ended up building my own machine and I use it monthly.

 

[nyspy]

fyi.. Ozone is used in grain storage towers for insect control.

 

[Melissa2010B]

Hmmm....this subject has been up several times.

Let's see:

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/34786-pantry-moths-around-my-birds.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/36142-help-moths.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/24956-foraging-greens-contain-moths-ruined-food.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/2474-help-moths-driving-me-quackers.html

And this one was yours, I believe, not that long ago?? http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/37279-seed-moths-making-us-crazy.html

Yes you're right, but it doesn't address the very scary problem of what to do with our 800 lb emergency food supply. It's too big to refrigerate or freeze and if they manage to get in there, it will be trashed by them.

AND they appear to have taken up residency in the bird room ceiling molding. They like to be near the seed source and the best one of all is what our birds drop into the shavings every day, as they eat.

 

[Melissa2010B]

Clean the cages daily. Vacuum the floors in the whole house every day. If you have carpet, it's steam-cleaner time.

Before you steam clean, remove the birds from the house for 24 hours (as in move out) and ozone shock treatment the whole house. All the moths will be eliminated in one shot.

You can either rent an ozone machine, but it's better to just build your own, because you will use it time and time again.

Completely natural, chemical free, and EXTREMELY effective.

Also, a bug zapper in the bird room hanging in a corner the birds can't get to all the time will help to mitigate any new moth situations you have.

As for freezing the bird food, if you do it for 24 hours when you first bring it into the house, it kills any moth eggs.

I had a moth problem, but after the ozone shock treatment, the house was moth free. It's just maintenance after that. If you have furniture that is cloth (like couches), steam clean those as well..

I can tell you ozone works.. I ended up building my own machine and I use it monthly.

Ozone generators are a health hazard. I've seen NIH info on them, etc.

Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | Indoor Air | US Environmental Protection Agency

It burns living tissue, like sinuses, throats, skin.

 

[Blueridge]

This has happened to a pet shop near me. I bought some seed from them, and when I went to feed my bird it, I found a worm in his food! At the time I didn't know what it was because I had only had my parrot for a week or so, and I thought that my bird had worms!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yes you're right, but it doesn't address the very scary problem of what to do with our 800 lb emergency food supply. It's too big to refrigerate or freeze and if they manage to get in there, it will be trashed by them.

AND they appear to have taken up residency in the bird room ceiling molding. They like to be near the seed source and the best one of all is what our birds drop into the shavings every day, as they eat.

Oh my....I am so sorry to hear you have such a massive infestation. :11:

You are right about those nasties getting into your emergency food supply.

THIS is a true story: I had a brand new container of bread crumbs in the garage, unopened, seal attached. When I brought it into the kitchen and ripped the seal open, an ungodly amount of little moths came flying out, not to mention all the larvae crawling inside the bread crumbs themselves. It was gross...and I was in a state of shock. I will never know HOW they got in a sealed container, unless it happened inside the factory.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

I feel your pain with those moths. I had them too. They even infested some expensive dried morel mushrooms I stashed in my pantry. Grrrrr! We just ended up killing them wherever we saw them, and we threw out a ton of stuff. We would find their larvae and kill those too. Eventually they all died because they had nothing to feed on, and all grains nuts and seed were stored in the fridge. As soon as I get home with bird food, it goes in the fridge. If you see a moth near the food at a pet store, I wouldn't buy from there. It only takes one.

 

[strudel]

They can get into containers, for sure. They will lay up under lids, in the seal groove, then the grubs can crawl the other way down into the food (they often don't manage to, the seal does work, but the lid will still get laid on). They do also come in on cardboard packets, they'll have had the insects lay under the flap. They can also pierce plastic bags and lay in the plastic bag, so the packet still looks unopened.

One thing about those pheremone traps that I found out (I've posted this before, but not sure whether on this forum) is that they only attract males. I was wondering why I had the traps out and was still seeing them on the walls. The process is like a "contraceptive" arrangement. It stops the males getting to the females. So, even though the traps look like they aren't "trapping" or killing the moths, they will be working as intended. It just isn't an immediate "terminator" approach, it's a longer term thing.

So dealing with them involves vigilance when bringing home new packages, sealing/isolating the packets and opened stuff (even if they can bypass the packaging to some extent it slows them down in terms of numbers), removing any grubs (this is the hard part, they put them EVERYWHERE. any little crevice is fair game.) If you keep up with the traps, they will eventually go, but only if you manage to prevent any reinfestation. This is the worst of all. Bird seed and pet supplies seems to be a direct conduit. Unfortunately, I think all of the seed products from all of the pet shops have them.... Even if you don't see any at the shop, they'll be there...

 

[Mike17]

I agree Strudel, we've had moths emerge from plastic containers we thought were "sealed" and deduced that the eggs had been laid around lid and the tiny hatchlings get through the seal gap. The fat brown thing you see are the ones that have been gorging on YOUR food I've gone through a heap of breakfast cereal because of these monsters...

 

[strudel]

When I conducted "the great cupboard purge of 2013" I found cocoons and sometimes grubs in the "ditch" of the seals. The main problem is that they get into spots where they will not be detectable, so unless you take apart, look under, in every single container, there'll still be some, somewhere. Even if they can't get into the plastic container, those grubs will cocoon and hatch and break into a packet or head for the bird's seed or something to get a feed. That's where the traps come in. That "second generation" of sneaky hiding ones should be prevented for having babies. It all comes to a stop, except where you bring in another crop of adults and they keep laying everywhere.

 

[Mike17]

I opened a new jar of Promite (something like Vegemite, to any Americans reading, which most of you think is akin to axle grease but is in fact an Oz delicacy ) this morning and there were multiple moth cocoon remains under the lid lip/glass jar threads. Erk!