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mouse in the bird room

derin

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So, today I noticed there was a spot in the bird room with lots of mouse poop that I had missed. I live in an old house and we have mice, I have a cat but she only helps to an extent. I cleaned up the mouse poop and swept the floor, and I think I know where he's hiding. There's nothing I can do for tonight, so i moved the birds cage away and put them (two bonded cockatiels) in it. i also soaked the floor near his hiding spot with a vinegar-water solution, I know it probably won't do anything but it's all I can do for tonight. Tomorrow when I get home I'm going to move the cage out of there and put up mouse traps. I also put down paper towels, so I can make sure he's active. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime? He's probably been here for a while, I don't know how I missed it but I did. I can't put mouse traps down tonight because I'll have to go buy some. I really hate killing the mice but what else can you do.
 

Pat H

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Did you take the birds food dishes out for the night? [I also wonder about the water bowls, since the thought of the mice drinking out of them is abhorrent! And disease spreading].
Do you use a night light for the birds... to prevent them from thrashing around too much if frightened by a wandering mouse.
Trying to remember what spices deter mice? Is it cloves, cayenne pepper, or _____?
 

Kiwi's Dad

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Did you take the birds food dishes out for the night? [I also wonder about the water bowls, since the thought of the mice drinking out of them is abhorrent! And disease spreading].
Do you use a night light for the birds... to prevent them from thrashing around too much if frightened by a wandering mouse.
Trying to remember what spices deter mice? Is it cloves, cayenne pepper, or _____?
Peppermint deters mice but only temporarily.
 

April

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@Shezbug always has good ideas about this type of situation
 

derin

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Did you take the birds food dishes out for the night? [I also wonder about the water bowls, since the thought of the mice drinking out of them is abhorrent! And disease spreading].
Do you use a night light for the birds... to prevent them from thrashing around too much if frightened by a wandering mouse.
Trying to remember what spices deter mice? Is it cloves, cayenne pepper, or _____?
i have the food and water bowl still in there, i usually keep it on top of the cage but now its in the cage, its towards the top and i have an a&e flight cage, would the mouse be able to climb?
 

Shezbug

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Peppermint deters mice but only temporarily.
Peppermint can be very harmful to birds (and other animals) and only slightly slows them down- they’ll overcome their dislike if it pretty fast and then ignore it.
Did you take the birds food dishes out for the night? [I also wonder about the water bowls, since the thought of the mice drinking out of them is abhorrent! And disease spreading].
Do you use a night light for the birds... to prevent them from thrashing around too much if frightened by a wandering mouse.
Trying to remember what spices deter mice? Is it cloves, cayenne pepper, or _____?
Nothing non toxic/chemical really works. Just gives the people more to clean up. Bay leaves is possibly the best out of many things but even those will end up ignored by mice.

So, today I noticed there was a spot in the bird room with lots of mouse poop that I had missed. I live in an old house and we have mice, I have a cat but she only helps to an extent. I cleaned up the mouse poop and swept the floor, and I think I know where he's hiding. There's nothing I can do for tonight, so i moved the birds cage away and put them (two bonded cockatiels) in it. i also soaked the floor near his hiding spot with a vinegar-water solution, I know it probably won't do anything but it's all I can do for tonight. Tomorrow when I get home I'm going to move the cage out of there and put up mouse traps. I also put down paper towels, so I can make sure he's active. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime? He's probably been here for a while, I don't know how I missed it but I did. I can't put mouse traps down tonight because I'll have to go buy some. I really hate killing the mice but what else can you do.
Put all foods into sealed containers and remove all water sources that you can.

If your cage has legs I suggest filling some containers with water and placing the legs in that for the night to help keep mice out of the cage.
Keeping everything clean and out of mouse reach helps a lot- bin empty each night, all food in containers, bird food removed and cages cleaned before bed etc. Snap traps loaded with peanut butter and set along walls that are used (you’ll see poop) when your birds are locked away is your best way of ridding of the mice.
 

Kiwi's Dad

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Peppermint can be very harmful to birds (and other animals) and only slightly slows them down- they’ll overcome their dislike if it pretty fast and then ignore it.
Thank you Shez! I’ll keep that in mind.
 

Shezbug

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@Shezbug always has good ideas about this type of situation
Shezbug is seriously obsessed with catching them- it’s like a personal war between me and them :laugh: I’ve spent the last two days nearly killing my self in the garden pulling out the overgrown weeds (that mum keeps saying she’s gonna tidy up) cos there’s a shifty ballsy mouse playing in there to escape capture who’s managed to dodge a few attempts from swooping hungry prey birds- the weeds come out and the mouse has nowhere to hide! I won’t stop till he’s gone!! I’m kinda crazy about them- I learned so much about the gross things they spread and how much they can destroy when we had plagues so I see mouse and it’s game on:roflmao:
 

April

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i have the food and water bowl still in there, i usually keep it on top of the cage but now its in the cage, its towards the top and i have an a&e flight cage, would the mouse be able to climb?
Unfortunately yes mice can very easily climb especially something as easy as a barred cage.
 

April

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Shezbug is seriously obsessed with catching them- it’s like a personal war between me and them :laugh: I’ve spent the last two days nearly killing my self in the garden pulling out the overgrown weeds (that mum keeps saying she’s gonna tidy up) cos there’s a shifty ballsy mouse playing in there to escape capture who’s managed to dodge a few attempts from swooping hungry prey birds- the weeds come out and the mouse has nowhere to hide! I won’t stop till he’s gone!! I’m kinda crazy about them- I learned so much about the gross things they spread and how much they can destroy when we had plagues so I see mouse and it’s game on:roflmao:
I don't blame you in the slightest its a huge fear of mine that one day a mouse or multiple would get in my apt. Never happened before but you can never say never when it comes to wild animals.
 

derin

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Peppermint can be very harmful to birds (and other animals) and only slightly slows them down- they’ll overcome their dislike if it pretty fast and then ignore it.

Nothing non toxic/chemical really works. Just gives the people more to clean up. Bay leaves is possibly the best out of many things but even those will end up ignored by mice.


Put all foods into sealed containers and remove all water sources that you can.

If your cage has legs I suggest filling some containers with water and placing the legs in that for the night to help keep mice out of the cage.
Keeping everything clean and out of mouse reach helps a lot- bin empty each night, all food in containers, bird food removed and cages cleaned before bed etc. Snap traps loaded with peanut butter and set along walls that are used (you’ll see poop) when your birds are locked away is your best way of ridding of the mice.
Thank you! I took out their food and water, and tomorrow we'll catch that mouse. But I was wondering, would it be better for them to be out of their cage or in it? Usually I let them sleep wherever they want in the room, so would that be better or should they stay in their cage? I don't give them a night light at night because they've never had a night fright, and they will just scream until I turn it off. They only ever scream when they need/want something, so if a mouse bothers them at night I'm assuming they'll just scream and it'll wake me up and I can handle it then.
 

derin

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Unfortunately yes mice can very easily climb especially something as easy as a barred cage.
If the mouse bothers them I'm assuming they'll just scream and I can come in and handle it, because they only ever scream if they need/want something, so do you think they'll be okay for tonight? I'm not worried about the mouse attacking them since they can scream loud and if the mouse tries to mess with either of them they will both start going crazy
 

April

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If the mouse bothers them I'm assuming they'll just scream and I can come in and handle it, because they only ever scream if they need/want something, so do you think they'll be okay for tonight? I'm not worried about the mouse attacking them since they can scream loud and if the mouse tries to mess with either of them they will both start going crazy
I'd definitely keep them in the cage vs letting them roam free especially once you have traps down. Hopefully since the cage will be empty of food and water the mouse won't try to climb it or bother them since they want food not a fight. So if the cage doesn't have either I'd imagine it would hold no interest for the mouse.
But since you don't know how they'd react until it happens if a mouse scared them I definitely would err on the side of caution and keep them caged to prevent flying into walls or crash landing on the floor in the dark.
 

derin

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I'd definitely keep them in the cage vs letting them roam free especially once you have traps down. Hopefully since the cage will be empty of food and water the mouse won't try to climb it or bother them since they want food not a fight. So if the cage doesn't have either I'd imagine it would hold no interest for the mouse.
But since you don't know how they'd react until it happens if a mouse scared them I definitely would err on the side of caution and keep them caged to prevent flying into walls or crash landing on the floor in the dark.
Okay, I'll do that thank you. Tomorrow I'll get traps and we'll catch this mouse!
 

Xoetix

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Just don’t use glue traps!!
 

Shezbug

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Thank you! I took out their food and water, and tomorrow we'll catch that mouse. But I was wondering, would it be better for them to be out of their cage or in it? Usually I let them sleep wherever they want in the room, so would that be better or should they stay in their cage? I don't give them a night light at night because they've never had a night fright, and they will just scream until I turn it off. They only ever scream when they need/want something, so if a mouse bothers them at night I'm assuming they'll just scream and it'll wake me up and I can handle it then.
Totally agree with this...
I'd definitely keep them in the cage vs letting them roam free especially once you have traps down. Hopefully since the cage will be empty of food and water the mouse won't try to climb it or bother them since they want food not a fight. So if the cage doesn't have either I'd imagine it would hold no interest for the mouse.
But since you don't know how they'd react until it happens if a mouse scared them I definitely would err on the side of caution and keep them caged to prevent flying into walls or crash landing on the floor in the dark.
and also totally agree with this too...
Just don’t use glue traps!!
 

flyzipper

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If you have a webcam, they're helpful to confirm what you're dealing with (something that captures video or photos, and alerts on motion is the best).

When you set traps, you can watch them to see if they've sprung, or if they've been visited without being triggered.

This is how I figured out what was stealing food on my third floor balcony, and that the crafty devil who was feeding at the traps while evading them was, in fact, a rat.
 
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