Saturday, March 17, 2018

Is an Army of Ants Invading Your Space?


The ants seem to be moving in early this year at my house.  So I thought I would share a few suggestions on ways to help control ants in a natural safe bird-friendly way.

Here are a few ideas on naturally controlling ant invasions and a few stronger suggestions if necessary


Unless you are an ant lover, you probably would prefer to see no ants in your bird room or anywhere else in your home.  In fact, you probably also prefer not to have them hanging around your home on the outside either.

There are many articles online to help you identify which species of ant you are trying to rid yourself of.  However, I prefer to focus on how to get rid of them.  Getting rid of ants naturally is the way to go if you have birds, other pets, or even small children in the home.
There are commercial ant baits that do work, but I prefer not to use them around my birds, cats, and my little dog.  My birds and cats are very inquisitive creatures that love to check out anything new in the room so safety is very important to me.  Birds are quite capable of cracking open ant baits to see what is inside, and I find my cats love to bat the ant baits around the room to see how far they will slide.


 One easy way to help prevent ants from climbing up your bird's cage is to put all cage legs in a small container of water.  Ants do not like water, they do not swim.  However, you will need to check daily to be sure there is still water in the bowls.  Although this helps keep the ants out of the cage, it doesn't get rid of them.  It is, however, a quick fix to keep ants out of your bird's cage.

Idea #1: Mix a soapy water solution in a spray bottle.  Doesn't take much liquid soap or dish detergent.  Spray the ants.  This will kill them almost instantly.  The soapy water mixture also eliminates scent trails of the ants helping with newcomers.  You can also spray this mixture on your bird's cage legs (but not on your bird) and around baseboards of the room as well.  You may need to repeat daily if you have a lot of ants invading.

Idea #2: Mix a solution of 50/50 vinegar and water, and with a spray bottle, spray the ants.  This will kill them and vinegar is not harmful to your birds or other animals (of course don't spray it on your bird or other pets).  Doesn't especially smell good, but it does work.  Vinegar and water is also a great cleaning and disinfecting solution for cleaning your bird's cage too. Just rinse after cleaning.



Idea #3:  Cucumber peels repeal ants, so you can chop up some big cucumber slices and spread around the bird cage tray.  You will need to do this fresh daily as your bird if able, may decide to taste or enjoy the cucumbers as well.  Cucumbers are fine for your bird and most love the cucumber seeds as well.  However, you don't want your bird eating day old stale cucumbers.




Idea #4: Mix up a solution of water with some lemon juice and spray around the room corners or baseboard.  Ants don't seem to like lemons very much either.  Your room will probably also smell lemony good.  Clean and reapply as often as needed.


Idea #5: You can sprinkle cornmeal around the corners and baseboards of the room to keep ants out as well.  Or sprinkle a circle around your bird's cage.  Cornmeal is safe for pets and children, but not so attractive sprinkled all over your floor.  Cornmeal seems to work well outside the home, especially poured on top of ant beds or mounds.  If using outside, you will need to repeat after any rain.

Idea #6: I'm sure everyone has seen or heard of the spray bottle of Bird Mite Spray you can buy at many pet stores.

I personally do not recommend ever spraying your bird with this yucky stuff.  If your bird has mites, lice, or anything else these sprays claim to take care of, your bird needs to go to the avian vet.  Your bird does not need this chemical sprayed on him or her.  

So why do I even mention this product then you ask?  Because this Bird Mite Spray stuff kills ants.  Kills them quick and is actually safe to spray on your bird's cage, trays, papers, or all around the floor.  Just remember to not spray directly on your bird.  It does have to be repeated every day or two to stay active.

I also recommend a product called Control Bug Spray.  It is safe to use around your birds and other pets, but should never be sprayed directly on them, nor should it be sprayed freely in the air if they are in the room.  I recommend you remove the birds, then spray around the floor or baseboard or cabinet area, air out a bit, and safely return the birds and other pets to the area.  For more information:  Click for information on Control Bug Spray

A note about using Diatomaceous Earth as a deterrent.  

Yes, Diatomaceous Earth does kill ants, slugs, roaches, grasshopper, earwigs, and fleas.  However, the dust can be an irritant to birds, children, pets, or anyone with asthma or other breathing issues.  I prefer not to use this inside the home.  It can be safely used around the outside of the home with good results.  For more information:  Click to learn more about Diatomaceous Earth

Hopefully, some of these suggestions will help you with your ant problem this summer. 

For more information please check out our Pinterest Board "Bug and Pest Control Naturally 

Thursday, March 08, 2018

Egg Laying Females without Mates

My Bird keeps laying eggs without a mate.

Is that normal?

Yes, laying eggs without a mate does happen.  Some birds such as Love Birds, Budgies, and Cockatiels, in particular may lay eggs several times a year.  Usually it's not a serious issue for them, but there are a few things you can try that might help break the hormonal breeding cycle.  Laying too many eggs can deplete calcium and can become a health issue for some birds.
Some of the triggers for breeding include longer days, warmer days, abundance of food, and nesting areas as determined by your bird.
So in attempting to break the cycle, try putting your bird to bed very early so the days are short for her.  That means covering her cage "completely" with a dark cover and making sure her cage is located in a very quite room for sleeping.  You may have to shorten her days for several weeks to break the cycle.
If she has a favorite toy she feeds, or a sleeping hut or bed, she thinks of as "nesty" spot, or even a favorite food dish she likes to sit in,  it would be a good idea to remove these.  In fact you should really consider removing all of her current bird toys and replacing them with different ones as well as moving her perches around and even food dishes.  You are then helping to distract her from the breeding cycle.  Provide lots of interactive busy foraging type toys, and it may also be helpful to move her cage from one side of the room to the other for a new non-breeding environment.
If your bird is sweet and cuddly, don't cuddle for a while.  Snuggling, petting, and such, can also encourage breeding hormones.  So stick to little feather scratches around the cheeks and such and stay away from any snuggles that she might incorrectly interpret as love is in the air.  If she tries to feed you, carefully replace her in the cage until she is distracted.  
Most birds have an internal number of eggs they will lay and if you keep removing the eggs as soon as she lays them, she may keep laying in an attempt to reach her number.  Sometimes leaving the eggs for her to sit on or roll around, will allow her to reach the number she thinks she needs, and her laying may stop.  Letting her sit on them for a week or two is fine, and often the bird will loose interest after a while and desert her eggs which is the perfect time to then remove them.  Smaller birds lay their eggs every day or every other day until their clutch is complete.  So if your bird has not laid an egg in several days, you can then guess her egg quota, and just let her sit a while.
Make sure she is getting all the calcium she needs during this time.  Providing cuttlebone, a calcium supplement, or calcium enriched bird pellets will usually provide the calcium she will need.  If at any time however, she lays a soft shelled egg, she will need to see her veterinarian as soon as possible.  Soft shelled eggs can be a sign of a serious  calcium deficiency or other health issue not allowing her to absorb calcium in her diet.
Egg binding is another serious medical condition and requires veterinarian care quickly.  Egg binding is when the bird is unable to pass an egg because of it's size, her health, or other issue, and she will need assistance of a specialist to help her pass the egg.  Soft shelled eggs that do not pass or rupture inside the bird, or egg binding, can lead to infection or internal organ damage, and even death.  If your bird looks like she is straining, or is sitting all puffed up and not eating and moving around, call your vet for assistance.  Better to be safe than sorry.
I hope this helps give you some ideas on how to safely help a bird that is laying eggs without a mate.