Avian Safe Pest Control

[Timothy]

There has been quite a bit of talk about how to rid your cages, houses and aviaries of all those pesky pests. This is one of the products i use and it does work quite well

Mango Control is a safe insecticide to use around your birds to control pests in any aviary

Also in the past i have used Orange Extract which smells wonderfully also.

Please feel free to post your methods of removing pesky things like Ants, Fleas, Spiders, Crickets, Roaches, Wasps, Silverfish, Gnats, Small Flying Moths, Lice, Grain Mites, House Flies and Mosquito's.

I would love some extra methods of removing these things )

 

[Kiwibird]

We always used "Orange Guard". It worked well to kill insects, smelled good and most importantly, was safe for Kiwi to be around

 

[MacawLoverOf3]

I used to believe in using Terror for ants until that one day I put it down and the ants were still there the next morning. Yes, I know the workers are supposed to take the stuff back to the queen but those workers were there so many hours later. I stopped using that and got myself Sevin which is safe to use around the birds, breeders have been dusting the nests with that for years.

Sprinkle Sevin down and come back in 1/2 hr and those ants are gone.

 

[Timothy]

Another thing you can do for ants is use ground corn meal and mix it with some powdered sugar to make it appealing, the ants cant digest the corn meal, they take it to the nest and kill off the whole colony

 

[RavensGryf]

I used to believe in using Terror for ants until that one day I put it down and the ants were still there the next morning. Yes, I know the workers are supposed to take the stuff back to the queen but those workers were there so many hours later. I stopped using that and got myself Sevin which is safe to use around the birds, breeders have been dusting the nests with that for years.

Sprinkle Sevin down and come back in 1/2 hr and those ants are gone.

Hmm, I wonder if it was that.....
Anyway, I almost had a coronary a couple weeks ago... I was going to post about it, but I was too upset and disgusted to even talk about it. I'll say it now since we are on the subject.

For now, we are living with my elderly dad in his house. He is very stubborn and will do things the way he has for many decades. He also doesn't remember real well these days when you tell him to please NOT do something. Either he'll genuinely not remember, or be obstinate regardless because he is set in his ways and doesn't really care what you think otherwise.

Anyway, we had ants from the food he forgot to put away. I saw the half eaten food still on the counter by the sink area AND a a bunch of brown granules around all the ants and the food, with a note that said "ant poison do not wipe off"!

This is the same sink area that I prepare the birds food and water! .
My dad and I started arguing about it, then hubby and I got in a huge fight about it too. He really didn't see it as such a "BIG DEAL"!!

I cleaned it up, smashed all the ants that were left, and bought some of those "ant motel" things the next day. By then, all the ants were gone already. We haven't had ants since, and I really wonder if it is because of those 'brown granules'. My dad really swears by it, and says they take it to the queen, and THIS stuff works right away and better than ANYTHING. It is something 'old school' I guess that has been used long before these more "convenient" modern traps were invented?

What does Sevin look like?
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On another note, what is safe that kills flies?
I've thrown away the Black Flag (the can I was able to find at least), so that no one around here uses it I found some "child and pet safe" spray around here too, and I think I remember it says it's made from tree oils but I hate the smell.

 

[weco]

What does Sevin look like?

 

[RavensGryf]

Thanks, but I meant what does the product look like? We don't have the original package. Is it granules like ground coffee but a tan color? Or is it fine like powder? Maybe this WAS powder but is so old it is now granules I don't know!

 

[weco]

Thanks, but I meant what does the product look like? We don't have the original package. Is it granules like ground coffee but a tan color? Or is it fine like powder? Maybe this WAS powder but is so old it is now granules I don't know!

Think a light brown powdered sugar...not quite as powdery as baking flour...but not really granular either.....

While it's safe to dust birds with, I rubbed it in there feathers, the one time I had a flea problem, rather than aerate the dust.....

 

[Boysmom]

I haven't allowed my Hubby to use any pesticides in years. Last weekend he laid down the law, he was spraying to kill spiders and other creepy crawlies. I simply moved Ruby and Flora Jane into our camper. They lived in the camper for 3 days as the packaging said to allow 48 hours before returning pets. I allowed an extra day just to be safe. We are now pest free and my girls had a safe place to stay.

Wow Weco, I didn't know Sevin was bird safe ! I will buy my Hubby some, he loves manly chores like killing pests.

 

[patch]

I clean routinely and have emptied most of my closet since my mouse fiasco. The spiders seem to prefer the basement, but I still clean everywhere in case one thinks my room is prime real estate. I also stick ant bait around the outside of the house so there's so way they'll get into the house. It takes hours, sometimes an entire day, for the colony to be affected, but it means no pesticides near my bird.

 

[Timothy]

I clean routinely and have emptied most of my closet since my mouse fiasco. The spiders seem to prefer the basement, but I still clean everywhere in case one thinks my room is prime real estate. I also stick ant bait around the outside of the house so there's so way they'll get into the house. It takes hours, sometimes an entire day, for the colony to be affected, but it means no pesticides near my bird.

Dont forget guys, spider's are good for your house, especially the non deadly ones. They kill flies and all sorts of stuff. Moths, roaches, etc.

 

[Boysmom]

After a bit of research, I won't be allowing the use of Sevin at my house. I'm not convinced it is safe. Not worth the risk.

 

[weco]

In one of her 2006 postings to her Exotic Pet Vet Net, Margaret Wissman, DVM, specifically says that 5% Sevin dust, along with several other products “are usually safe to use around birds” though she does say that you should also discuss its use with your veterinarian. Sarcocystosis

In Canada, Dominion Veterinary Laboratories has a posted paper for Canadian veterinarians, that discusses the Sevin dust product: Dusting Powder (Canada) for Animal Use - Drugs.com

To be fair, there are several activist sites around that would have you not use anything that is not a natural insecticide, but like anything today, we must, based on the information we have at hand, we must make our own informed decisions, that affect us, our families and the animals we have chosen to be responsible for.....

The current issue (1978 Univ. of Minnesota Press, Henry Joseph Griffiths) of A Handbook of Veterinary Parasitology: Domestic Animals of North America, states, in its discussion of control of mites in foul (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, etc.), specifically the red mite and northern feather mite that: “Control: Involves management of both the birds and their surroundings. Among older compounds, nicotine sulfate is recommended as a roost paint. A wettable powder spray of coumaphos may be used directly on the birds at the rate of of 1 gallon per 100 birds. Malathion dust or spray may be used on roosts, droppings, nests, and litter. Effective and safe control has been accomplished with Sevin dust.”

For those who follow/followed holisticbird.org and their newsletter, their article at HolisticBird and HolisticBirds discusses Sevin dust usage and their experienced success in using it.

Then, in a May 14, 2014, blog Canary Tales: Friends In The Fancy - Dr. Jim Sillers DVM - Air Sac Mites there is an article Air Sac Mites 101 by Dr. Jim Sillers DVM, who starts off the article with “I am not an avian veterinarian but I have owned,bred and treated birds my entire professional life.[FONT=&quot]”[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]then further recommends “If I saw air sac mites in my aviary today I would mix Sevin into a sprayer and spray the cages.”

The various links are posted for everyone’s edification (and to verify/qualify what I have posted, from the scientific/education community to breeders, to veterinarians), from the followers of holistic/alternative medicine to followers of accepted veterinary medicine.....enjoy your reading.....

 

[Timothy]

Awesome info, Thank you much!