bugs in my birds seeds

[Justin Garcia]

hey guys,

Just a few minutes ago, i opened my bag of bird seeds to put in my cockatiels food bow. When i opened the bag, there were tiny bugs crawling in the seeds. They didnt seem harmfull, but regardless, i thew away the entire bag of bird seeds. I felt wastfull by doing that, but i didnt want tro risk their being more bugs in it. I didnt find any bugs in my bag of pellets however, so that was a good thing.


When i found the tiny bugs in the bag, here is what i did:

1) Threw the entire bag of seeds away.
2) Threw away ALL the food in BOLTH of my birds cages. (cockatiel, lovebird).
3) I had another bag of seeds that i had not opened yet. I opened it, and i checked it VERY thoroughly for any insects in it, and found none.
4) cleaned all of my birds food and water dishes
5) cleaned out bolth of my birds cages
6) checked my bag of pellets, and my spare bag of seeds again just to make sure

does anyone know how to avoid these bugs so it doesnt happen again?

Thank you guys very much

[BiiRDiiELuV805]

Those bugs are very common in bird seed, i always freeze all bird seed for at least 23 hours to kill off any insects or larva.

[KDK241]

Yep, freeze it for 24 hours or keep it in the freezer. I have never had bugs in my seed but after reading about them I keep my seed in the freezer and pellets in the fridge.

[my-africangrey-echo]

Yep freezing the seed I have heard 24 hrs will do it but I leave mine in the freezer until I am ready to open the packaging. Then store it in a plastic container..

[Justin Garcia]

thanks for the advice guys

[Monica]

If you had just recently bought that bag, you could have tried returning it and getting your money back... I had gotten a container of Nutriberries, and when opened was full of white webs from moth worms. I had the container returned to the store (with reciept) and got my money back.

Bugs SHOULD NOT come in a bag of pellets unless there is some little opening...

I agree, freeze the seed! I usually say about 48 hours to be on the safe side... it may be fun to use a squirt bottle and play target practice, or gathering them (moths, not beetles - both found in seeds, if not moth larvae) into small plastic bottles with lids and giving to the cats for a fun and interesting toy! But it's also a hassle... Unless you like doing stuff like that I wouldn't recommend it.... lol

[catschair]

I buy way too much birdseed at once to keep it in the freezer, but if moths or other bugs start hatching, I pop it in the freezer overnight, and have never had any problems.