Bugs in birdseed??

[GreenWing]

Just bought a brand new bag of (sealed) bird seed at my local bird store. So far I've seen two tiny beetle-like bugs in the bag since I've opened it. Anyone else ever had this happen? Kinda grossing me out!

Laura

I wager they're grain weevils. They look like little dark brown beetles with a protruding snout. They're harmless but they can be a nuisance, so you'll want to kill them.

Anyway, this has happened to me before, when buying a bag of Chance's food. I consulted an entomologist who advised to bake the parrot food at 130 F for an hour to kill them. Go ahead and place the bag of seed in a glass pie or casserole dish (do not use teflon or non-stick bakeware!) and bake at the above temperature/time.

[KimberlyAnn]

I don't feed her mealworms often and the ones I get are from a safe source. She won't touch the freeze dried anymore. She won't eat the shell. Just the insides.

And wow Marie! You got your hands completely full! I could handle one or two mice, but 22? They multiply rather quickly. Lol

[Pajarita]

You put coffee in the fridge to keep it fresh and fragrant (it's the oils in it that gives it the distinctive aroma/flavor).

They also said the live mealworms are too fatty. Mind you, I am no expert on this! I know a bit about avian nutrition but mostly herbivores like finches, canaries and parrots, I don't really know that much about insectivores diet and what is available out there. I came across the mealworm information doing research on the button quail and the cardinals diet. I found almost nothing on the cardinals even though I went to South American ornithology sites and everything but there is quite a lot on the quails and I discovered that they require a diet higher in protein that what you can find out there in little seeds (they are tiny birds and cannot eat large seeds) and two websites said not to give them live mealworms because of them been too fatty and the danger of salmonella but, for all I know, the info could be dated. BTW, I had to order special game bird food for him so now I am up to 9 different types of bird mixes plus nuts -LOL

[marie83]

I don't feed her mealworms often and the ones I get are from a safe source. She won't touch the freeze dried anymore. She won't eat the shell. Just the insides.

And wow Marie! You got your hands completely full! I could handle one or two mice, but 22? They multiply rather quickly. Lol

It is a lot of work with all the cleaning and stuff, the males outnumber the females, the males scentmark, we had a big problem with smell at one point, I could tolerate it but bf couldn't. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to invite friends round. a change of substrates almost cured that problem though.
They don't get handled much which isn't brilliant- mainly just at cleaning out time, they are friendly and climb straight onto my hand. I guess they all have each other for company and they are tame enough to handle so it doesn't matter too much but not sure how that will work out once the males are separated as I don't have time to give 12 male mice individual company. Currant mouse mansions are multi-tiered so they have lots of room plus their flying saucers for exercise. Its not ideal, I would like to give them more time but can't. Nobody wants male mice as pets cuz they stink and shouldn't be housed together, most males end up as snake food. As much as I've always said my pets have a home for life with me rehoming the males to someone who can give them time might be the best option if I can convince them the smell wont be bad if they use the substrate I've found, trouble is it's expensive.


@OP so sorry for going this far off topic

[A.J.]

I recommend that you bake your seeds at about 350 for 10 mins to remove and bugs or bacteria.

[Pajarita]

No, no, seeds should never be baked. You can roast nuts (bigger size and thicker shells) but never higher than at 150 degrees. A higher temperature doesn't only reduce their nutritional value, kills the phytonutrients and adds trans-fatty acids so you are, in effect, taking away the good points and adding bad ones.

[GreenWing]

No, no, seeds should never be baked. You can roast nuts (bigger size and thicker shells) but never higher than at 150 degrees. A higher temperature doesn't only reduce their nutritional value, kills the phytonutrients and adds trans-fatty acids so you are, in effect, taking away the good points and adding bad ones.

The entomologist said 130 degrees F, not 150 (if your oven has that option). The bags of parrot food I baked was the Volkman's Avian Science Diet food, which is a mix of seed, nuts, dried peas, coconut, etc.

Personally I would rather lightly bake the parrot food than risk a weevil problem, because grain weevils can be really problematic and spread to your own stock of grain and flour. Seeds are a supplement to diet, anyway, and never should be the main course

[marie83]

You put coffee in the fridge to keep it fresh and fragrant (it's the oils in it that gives it the distinctive aroma/flavor).

Ooooh ok. That isn't something we do over here lol. If I could stand coffee it would probably be something *I* would do though- everything goes in the fridge/freezer lol

[Pajarita]

[quote="GreenWingThe entomologist said 130 degrees F, not 150 (if your oven has that option). /quote]

I did not explain myself well, I was not talking about killing bugs, I was talking about the temperature for roasting nuts

[bpdowell]

Greetings from Cajun Country in Lafayette, Louisiana. For years we have fed our Double Yellowhead Amazon Parrots and Congo African Grays a mixture of seed and fruit (Sleek & Sassy lg. hookbill no sunflowers) and pelleted (Pretty Bird). They have thrived. My distributor is retiring soon and I need to research another source. Any suggestions from those who have Amazons and Grays? Thank you!