Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

[Pajarita]

"The house is held together with bug poop"? I think that your bug problem might have a lot to do with the area where you now live, Liz. I have a problem with mice but, according to my neighbors, everybody in this town has them. Of course, the fact that I refuse to kill them doesn't help, either... Right now, I have another 'pet' mouse (the original one died recently -they only live about 3 years or so, apparently) because one of my bad cats (these are the ones that actually kill the mouse they catch) had caught it and, when I pried it out of his mouth (it was Moono), I saw that it was a little one and that he had a wound on his leg so I couldn't very well put him outside, as I normally do, because it would have a been a sure death sentence for him.

[seagoatdeb]

The only problem bug I have had is pantry moths and they are hard to control with parrots in the house thats for sure. I am using sticky paper too. Gaugan loves cardboard too and I am always looking for good cardboard for her.

[liz]

I use the sticky paper with bate in the middle. Every morning the papers are full of bugs. If the woman I bought this place from had just told me about the bugs I could have hired someone to spray a couple times before I moved in. T&hese bugs are so brazen that they will walk across the floor or up the wall as if it is their home.

I still use sticky paper where I know nothing but bugs will get stuck on it. I recently bought a jell in a tube to combat them. It can be put in loose baseboards or high traffic area for bugs. It seems to be more of a bug repellent. They do not want to walk over it and I have watched the ones in the bathtub. I had to bate it to attract the bugs. When watching a bug go near it the bug does not want to walk on it and will spend a lot of time walking around looking for a spot without jell. The bugs who touch it do die but it is a very slow death.

I have found them in my fridge and freezer still very active. I find them in my dishwasher. The cold does not hurt them and I still don't know how they get in there.

[liz]

I rearranged the Cockatiel room so that they only had one cage to land on. They usually like going in a cage at night. They can be a real handful at times. I went in after dark and scooped up some of them and put them in the cage but some others told me they just were not going to do it.
I got 2 bites out of it and not bad ones. Flutter was the last one still out. I thought I was really in trouble with him. No bites. I am amazed. I named him Flutter for a reason.

They are all now safely in a cage and can be moved to my sons home. Rainbow is easy. He likes to go Bye Bye. I can put her in a small cage for a while and she will be happy playing with a piece of cardboard. I have set up the cage Myrtle came in for her. It will be a real adventure getting her in.
Last time we sprayed I sealed of the Cockatiel room and put Rainbow and Myrtle in two of the Cockatiels flight cages to keep them safe while we sprayed. Guess where all the bugs ran to.

Charles' house is not big enough for 3 big cages. The Amazons will just have to deal with it.

Aunt Betty is a real problem. She does not want her room sprayed so she can stay in it. I told her she has bugs too. Her answer was "I don't see any". I may have to put her in a motel.

With all the critters out of the house we can leave the spray closed in for a couple days.

The furry critters go from house to house to see if the next house has something better to eat of beg. That way they have 4 feeding stations to choose from. No problem with them.

Someone brought in another live mouse. That is the disadvantage of a pet door. It is in my room and I have stayed at my sons house for the last 3 nights. At least the mouse was not put in my toilet again.

My life is so thrilling. These are suppose to be my golden years.

[Pajarita]

I hear you on the 'golden years'! I work more now than I did when I was younger! Thankfully, I don't have a bug problem and the mice, which were a BIG problem, have dwindled to almost none because I no longer find their poop and have not seen one in weeks. But I know there are still some because I see the cats watching certain spots (like under the dishwasher) for hours.

[liz]

After dark I put the Cockatiels in a 2 bird flight cage. They have plenty of room to get around. I am so surprised that the bites I did get were very small and a few. Charles and Rachel carried the cage to Charles' house. I set up 2 cages larger than Rainbows sleep cage with cardboard and toys. All I had to do was open the door and Rainbow went into hers. Myrtle is another thing all together. She always knows what is going on and will not come to me. It takes 2 of us to get her when she flies into a room with a door to confine her. Charles was a big help since she loves him so much. She knew he was going to hand her over to me but could not resist the chance to sit on his shoulder. All my birds are now at Charles' house and we will spray and balm every room at one time to try to get them all.
We spray today. Wish me luck. The birds will stay here for a couple days while I clean up everything that my birds go to.

[Bird woman]

Man I would be so scared spraying poison , even cleaning up real good. I don't know what kind of bugs your dealing with or extermination methods but good luck and hope you get the little buggers. As for those pantry moths , I keep all open grains, seeds ,cereals etc in containers in the pantry and any bird seeds or nuts or pellets refrigerated and it seems to do the trick BW

[liz]

I expect it to take a few good days to clean the spray off everything. I will not take them back home until I have grubbed and am sure that it is safe.

[liz]

Rachel left before Christmas so her critters have joined us in his house. All the critters roam from home to home looking for treats and all the little doors are the same so they just walk right in. The only change to them was that Rachel was not home to give handouts. 7 dogs sleep on or around me but the cats go home at night. I feed them there so they do not compete with the dogs for room. Charles spayed the house and blocked my critter door to keep them out.

I fell just before Christmas. I took the Amazons out of their little cages and put them in the bathroom. Myrtle went straight to the shower curtain rod and started chewing the wood corners that she could reach. I stood on the tub and held on to the rod to cover the corners she had attacked. With Myrtle out of sight is out of mind. You guessed it. The rod went with me on my way down. In slow motion the ribs on my left side crashed into the cage I took Myrtle out of. I hit it so hard that it broke my fall and my head did not get hurt when it hit the toilet. I have 3 cracked ribs, soft tissue damage and I think I popped an old hernia open. It was being held in with mesh so I must have broken the mesh. None of these injuries could be helped in the emergency room so I just did not go.

[liz]

Rachel left before Christmas so her critters have joined us in his house. All the critters roam from home to home looking for treats and all the little doors are the same so they just walk right in. The only change to them was that Rachel was not home to give handouts. 7 dogs sleep on or around me but the cats go home at night. I feed them there so they do not compete with the dogs for room. Charles spayed the house and blocked my critter door to keep them out.

I fell just before Christmas. I took the Amazons out of their little cages and put them in the bathroom. Myrtle went straight to the shower curtain rod and started chewing the wood corners that she could reach. I stood on the tub and held on to the rod to cover the corners she had attacked. With Myrtle out of sight is out of mind. You guessed it. The rod went with me on my way down. In slow motion the ribs on my left side crashed into the cage I took Myrtle out of. I hit it so hard that it broke my fall and my head did not get hurt when it hit the toilet. I have 3 cracked ribs, soft tissue damage and I think I popped an old hernia open. It was being held in with mesh so I must have broken the mesh. None of these injuries could be helped in the emergency room so I just did not go.

I am so grateful that this bi polar Asbergers man has stepped up to deal with the whole family and 3 households.