Moths

[Kathy]

I have moths in my house for the first time.
What causes them and how do I get rid of them with out hurting my birds?
I keep a pretty clean house and keep all bird food in tightly closed containers.

[4HAND]

Are these big moths or tiny ones often found in birdseed?
Tena

[catschair]

I've had moths in the bird seed; freezing it kills off the moths and eggs. It may be worth catching some and taking them to an ag extension, gardening shop or pest control agency to find out exactly what they are.

[Kathy]

Tiny ones moths

[4HAND]

Sorry to tell you but you should start with the bird food and inspect every single food item in your pantry from breakfast cereal to pancake mix.Look for small worms and stuff that looks like spiderwebs in the food.Personally I would toss anything that is infested.Inspect new birdfood when you buy it and keep in a sealed plastic container.Bulk birdfood often carries eggs or webworms as the are often called.
Tena

[Birdmommy]

I have an infestqation of moths also, I too keep the seeds in tightly closed containers. These moths are not coming out of my pantry but rather from seeds. I find coccoons everywhere incrusted on my walls, crevices where my floor carpet meets the walls and even inside my vaccum cleaner. I go nuts catching them and throughing them outside.
I have a butterfly catcher. I need to know how to stop the infestation. My house is very clean, I pick up every seed that falls out of the cage, vaccum every day. I would really like to know what other people do about this problem. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Birdmommy

[birdlady49]

If you can't freeze your seed when you first bring it home, I've heard that adding a bay leaf to the mix will kill the moths. You cannot, of course, feed the bay leaf to your birds. It's toxic if ingested.