Will a wild mouse attack my cockatiels in their cage?

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Will a wild mouse attack my cockatiels in their cage?

by Dwight Snow
(Angus Ontario Canada)

I have been on a number of occasions woke up in the middle of the night with my birds flapping and squalking, and falling off their perches. When I look at them I see a lot of feathers missing with blood on the side of the cage. I have Ma and Pa in one cage with their two boys in another. I also know that there is a mouse in the house I have been humainly trying to trap him I have seen him, he also leaves evidence of bird seed in various different locations. I assumed that he was picking up seed fallen from the cage. The one cage is a couple of inches away from a couch where I have found mouse evidence. In your opinion is this mouse attacking or scareing my birds? I am very concerned as there is a lot of blood stain for such small birds. Otherwise they seem normal and are functioning well.
thank you
Dwight Snow

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Will a wild mouse attack my cockatiels in their cage?

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Mar 01, 2011

Will a wild mouse attack my cockatiels in their cage?
by: Linda

Hi and sorry to hear about your infestation. You do not have ONE mouse, you have several families, and the longer they breed, the more mice you will have, and they do carry disease. Yes, they are going into the bird's cages at night and tracking in all kinds of filth which will make your birds sick.

One house I lived in developed an infestation of rats. We tried humane ways and traps and none of that worked. The rats became so bold as to come out before we even went to bed to start their business. They were in and out of our bird's cages, and we had two Macaws die from sicknesses related to the filthy little creatures.

Here is what we had to do to get rid of them. They are coming in somewhere and it is either in a basement or the attic. You must find and seal any chewed holes where they are coming in FIRST. Then, you will have to use Decon which is a powerful and dangerous poison, so make sure your dogs, cats, birds or any small children DO NOT have access to where you put the bait. Our way in was the attic, so we sealed the holes with steel mesh of a heavy gauge scrwed into wall, covered with taped down steel wool. Then we put the bait in various parts of the attic. Within a few weeks, we were rat free, and there was not even any smell as the Decon dehydrates them from the inside out, so all you'll need do is clean out the bodies before they pile up too much.

The Decon is a very dangerous poison that tastes good to ALL animals and birds, so be very very careful using it. You can find it in groceries, feed stores and some hardware stores. I hated to have to use it myself, and was happy no more of my birds died after I finally realized an infestation of mice or rats is like one of roaches only the larger animals are much, much worse and much nastier. I even had pregnant females sleeping with me in the bed which was the last straw!!!

Keep us posted,
Linda

Mar 01, 2011

Mouse attack in bird cage
by: Tracie

I don't know that Dr B or anyone can tell you if the mouse is attacking the birds, because we can't watch to see, nor examine your birds to see if there are bites on the birds.

It is unlikely the mouse would attack your birds, because they don't eat birds, birds eat them. It is likely that your birds are breaking blood feathers, but only a visit to the avian vet can determine for sure where the blood is coming from if you can't tell by examining them yourselves.

What you can do, is clean up any seed left in the cage or around the cage every night before going to bed, so that there is nothing for the mice to come for. Also, leave on a nightlight by the cage, so that the birds are not blind.

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