Roaches In Bird Cage?

[YoshiFloof]

I have a three year old Green Cheeked Conure (GCC) i got from my sister who lives in South Carolina. (We were up there helping her get a new home since her old one was unfavorable.) So.. I got their bird.. he wasn't in good living conditions and they didn't like him (not giving him attention, out of cage time or cleaning the cage well) There was a bag on top of it.. if i lifted it several roaches would scurry out. Ew. There are roaches in the inner parts of the bird cage too.


I took the bird home with me cage and all. (not the bag or the blanket they were using) It's been 20 days since we got back.. he seems happy and loves to fly and vocalize (he doesn't talk yet.) but there's still the problem with the roaches IN the cage. We need to get rid of the roaches as soon as possible without using anything that would harm the bird. We found out that my sister's boyfriend didn't do a good job cleaning the cage.. I doubt he even took it apart, let alone sterilized it!
i
My mom is currently leaving the cage outside and stuffing Demetrius Earth in it to deal with the roaches, and then she's gonna soak it in boiling hot water. I'm EXTREMELY skeptical to that approach.. so what do we do? Bird cages of the size a small Green Cheek Conure require can cost up to $300 or more.. and we spent a lot of money during the trip.. so what should we do?



We don't want roaches.. we had them 7 years ago in my hometown and it wan't good for any of us.. we don't want that again.. plus the bird could get sick if he were to eat them. (which shouldn't be an option since i feed him..)


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[macawpower58]

I've heard of people enveloping roach invested cages in plastic, then bombing. Several times.
Then plenty of washing to rid the cage of pesticide.
They are very hard to get rid of, you may even want to invest in a new cage.
I'd probably get a new cage, exterminate the old one and keep it for outside visits.
Roaches in your home, is even worse.

 

[Mizzely]

You can get a flight cage for a green cheek for less than $300 for sure. If it's seriously an amazing cage that is one thing, but otherwise, I would weigh the cost of a new cage with the cost of an exterminator!

Diatomacous earth is definitely an option that is effective against roaches, but they have to come into contact with it first, and it takes a few days to kill them usually.

If they are hiding up in the cage and then coming out at night, one option would be to keep each leg of the cage in a wide bowl of soapy water, so that when they try to come out and get onto the floor, they will drown.

 

[macawpower58]

I can't remember the roach life cycle, but they lay eggs inside the bars and you have to catch each hatching.
It's a nightmare my friend who had them said.

 

[Shezbug]

Gosh they sound like super roaches that you get in the US!

People here just tend to throw a few bait stations down and seem to be rid of them in no time- we had an explosion of them last year when we moved some stuff that the old owners had left laying in a pile outside.... less than a week to kill them all off with the baits.

I would bait the area around the cage in a way the bird can’t get to the baits, I would also remove the bird from the cage and clean it very well with boiling water. If the tubes of the cage are open I’d try to find a way to safely block them off or preferably fill them with boiling water.....boiling water kills roaches and eggs.

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue!

Thankyou sooooo much for taking that little guy home!!!

I wish you luck ridding the roaches.

 

[Sparkles99]

I've never had roaches & hope this isn't a common companion bird problem.

That said, I wonder if you know anyone with a swimming pool. Not sure this would kill eggs & perhaps roaches can hold their breath, but I'd be dunking that cage for an hour or so. It might help & there'd be chlorine.

Can you put the bird in a carrier, unscrew the cage and rinse out the pieces?

The last thing you need is them spreading to your home. That'd make this one very expensive bird cage.

 

[Mizzely]

I've never had roaches & hope this isn't a common companion bird problem.

That said, I wonder if you know anyone with a swimming pool. Not sure this would kill eggs & perhaps roaches can hold their breath, but I'd be dunking that cage for an hour or so. It might help & there'd be chlorine.

Can you put the bird in a carrier, unscrew the cage and rinse out the pieces?

The last thing you need is them spreading to your home. That'd make this one very expensive bird cage.

It is not a common problem I have lived with birds in several homes over the last 9 years and have never had roaches due to birds.

In fact, I have roaches to feed to my gecko, and even when they escape, they do not go to my bird cages

 

[tka]

I would just ditch the cage. You have to weigh up the cost of a new cage vs all the things you'd need to eradicate the roaches, plus the stress of not knowing if they're gone or not.

Here's a couple of good-sized cages on Chewy.com. You want something around 32x21" to give your conure room to move. Both of these cages are much less than $300 and have free shipping.

PREVUE PET PRODUCTS Wrought Iron Small & Medium Birds Flight Cage, Black Hammertone - Chewy.com

Buy Prevue Pet Products Wrought Iron Small & Medium Birds Flight Cage, Black Hammertone at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

A&E CAGE COMPANY Flight Bird Cage & Stand, Black - Chewy.com

Buy A&E Cage Company Flight Bird Cage & Stand, Black at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

What size is this cage? You might check around to see if you know someone who has a quality steam cleaner and steam the entire cage for several minutes on each part that can harbor the roaches. Extreme heat from the steamer should kill the roaches and any eggs and sterilize the cage at the same time. Got any photos of it?

 

[Greylady1966]

A friend of mine got a used aquarium with the light and lid. They sat it up and the first night they had roaches coming out of the lid. They cleaned it several times but ended up getting rid of it and getting their apartment fumigated. They put a lot of money into a free aquarium!