Moths!!!!

[Tango's_Mom]

OK so I have a slight problem. I have moths in my apartment, they're tiny little brown things, and they're horribly annoying, first I noticed these little yellow maggot things, and I tried a couple times to figure out where they were coming from, and finally I opened a bag of nutriberries and it was full of cobwebby stuff and a couple of the little maggots, so I got rid of that and soaked the area where i found all the little maggoty things with GSE. Since then, no sign of the little maggots, but now I have adult moths, which I feel must be related. They're driving me and my roomate nuts.

How do I kill them without hurting Tango or Pumpkin (my 2 month old guinea pig)?

[bookworm0550]

gross!!! Now I gotta peek into my stash of nutriberries.

[Al and Roxy]

We have had those nasties as well.:omg:Everyone gets something like that one time or another. I did go on a get-outta-my-way cleaning mission. Moths will eat most food , flour, cereal ect-
I put all food that was not obviously contaminated in plastic containers. Bonus, super organized- bug and mouse proof Check your food every once in a while after to catch them if they were in there and not visible at the time
Clean all shelves ect inside and out with vinegar water, keeping an eye out for the eggs (the eggs look like tiny brown seeds, I mean tiny )
I washed em down several times to make sure my work was not in vain.
It is also an idea to keep food stuffs in the freezer and no moths dare to go in there!
Make sure no adult moths remain flittering around your place cause they'll start the cycle over again. :very_sad:
Hope this helps. Alida

[linda040899]

I keep all my seed in a freezer chest. While it won't eliminate the seed moths, I think it at least cuts down on their numbers. I also vacuum them up as I clean. At least those I get will not be producing more!

[lemonypickett]

I had read that old seed can contain those moths. Check the dates on any Lafaber products you buy.

I frequently see expired stuff for sale in the petstores. IMO the freshest stuff comes mail order direct from Lafaber or from Dr.'s Foster & Smith.

[Tango's_Mom]

how can I get rid of the adults that are left to make sure they don't start all over again?

[Al and Roxy]

umm... Squish em. I know... there is a special place in H- E- double hockey sticks for me!

[Chickobee]

I bought some little things that are really designed to catch fleas. They have a green light which attracts them and then there is an area that has a really sticky surface and if they land on it they are stuck. They worked great when I moved into a new house and the former owner's pets had left me some small surprises. Fleas!

Anyway, they worked great for the fleas. Since then I have used them for fruit flies and little tiny moths and they worked well for those also. For the moths I put a tiny bit of flour on the sticky surface to attract them and it worked. I don't know if the light helps or not but possibly the moths would be attracted to it like the fleas are. Sometimes I don't plug them in at all--like when I used them for fruit flies near my house plants.

These are completely non-toxic for the birds too. There are no poisonous chemicals or fumes.

It's been a while since I bought these. I hope they're still available if someone is looking for them. I found them in the hardware store near the bug sprays and mouse traps....

I put all of my birdseed into the freezer to kill the moths too. Even if I take it out later I have never noticed any moths after being well frozen.

[Kiwi*]

tango's mom last weekend my bf and i killed soooo many of them and clean this one cupboard of them.... 2weeks later we still get about 2 or 3 every other day... lucky they arent in kiwis food. and i dont know how to get rid of the last of them either! so annoying

[Janie]

Jenna, common problem (off and on) and I've found wonderful traps at bird fairs. Here is a link that might help. These traps WILL kill the adults and will not harm your birds. When I used the traps in the bird room I only put them out at night when the birds were locked up in their cages. Otherwise I kept the traps in the kitchen (that is where I had my largest problem) day and night. Just "google" India Meal Moths" and you'll find lots of links with trapping info.


http://www.cleanertoday.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=trap-moth-special&Click=6013&OVRAW=indian%20meal%20moth%20traps&OVKEY=indian%20meal%20moth%20trap&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=6950388521&OVKWID=77966868021


I freeze my seed and only put a small (4 to 5 day) portion out in air tight containers but these traps will take care of any wondering moths.

[bbslovie]

OMG :omg: I just read this. I had some birdy bread mix that I'm now concerned might have had an issue. The mix came in plastic and when I was making it I just thought when I emptied it into the bowl it was a little clingy at the top because of the plastic. Now I'm thinking it might have been that cob webby stuff. There was just a trace of what might have been the cob webby stuff at the top of the bag. I've never dealt with this before. There weren't any crawly things in there and we don't have any moths in the house but now I'm worried about the birds! I made this on Sunday and froze the mini muffins after baking. They've each had a half a muffin now (one quarter each a day). I'll be throwing these out but what if the birds ingested eggs??? :confused: They've been eating, drinking, pooping fine. I'll be contacting my vet as well. I feel just horrible...:( Maybe I'm just being paranoid but I don't want my little ones to get sick.

[linda040899]

There's actually nothing toxic about the moths, their larvae or that cob webby stuff. The cob webby stuff might indicate that the mix is a bit dated but that's the worst of it.

I freeze all new bags/boxes of flour, cornmeal, etc for a minimum of 24 hrs before use and that pretty much takes care of any problems. I also go though a lot of it so I don't have anything hanging around for very long, either.

[BarbieH]

Freezing seed really does help the problem. These days, that means I store it on the back porch for a while.

[bbslovie]

Whew! That's a relief! Everything else I have is in airtight containers but the other ready made birdy bread mix is now in the freezer! I sure don't want sick birdies! Thanks for the quick responses and I just love this place! :)