# Help! I have mice!



## EntwinedSpoon (Jun 12, 2013)

And not the kind one keeps as a pet. I'm posting this because I'm desperate right now. My apartment has mice, and I just caught one eating Tonks' food -inside her cage- while she sat there silently watching. I'm afraid my 'tiels are going to get sick or hurt. What do I do?


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## satamakaupunki (Aug 30, 2015)

Call pest control, if the source is out of your apartment call the land lord and tell them about it


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I think you should thoroughly clean Tonk's cage. Throw out all the food the mouse came in contact with. And then work on catching the mouse/mice. Remember you don't want to use anything that can hurt Tonk. My biggest concern would be to make sure the mice don't get in his cage at night. Is there a place you can safely move his cage to?


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

I agree, the first priority is to disinfect the cage and make sure no mice get into it. Consider buying some bird-safe materials to block off any parts of the cage that might allow a mouse to get in.


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

I feel your pain! I just started with a small mouse problem. Thankfully they're not in the cages. Yet. Seems my mouser dog, Aaerro, is getting to them faster than anything I'm using. 

I've heard peppermint oil in a spray bottle helps deter mice. I've not tried it, but people have sworn by it.


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## EntwinedSpoon (Jun 12, 2013)

I've had mice for a whole now. I was living with my very messy sister and they had easily accessible food via her room for months. Now that she's moved out, the only easily accessible food source is inside my 'tiels cages. I cleaned Tonks' cage, and Nod's just to be safe. I'll try the peppermint oil and see how that goes. Thanks ^^


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I think you need to trap the mice. I've used humane traps before that don't kill them. Just traps them and then we've set them free outside. But you need to set them free quite a distance from where you live or they'll just go back in. And to be safe, I don't think I'd spray the oil around the tiels or their cages.


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## Kaliska (Sep 17, 2015)

1 cup plaster of paris to 1 cup peanut butter. Make 1" balls and place them where mice are traveling the most. Can also roll them in birds seed or use cornmeal. They mice will die after eating them but you will not have poison around. Replace as they dry out. If you want to try trapping them instead order some traps online like from amazon. The ones sold in stores, even feed stores, are made to be very safe but are so weak they don't stop the mouse from escaping half the time and the other half the time it just gets a limb jammed or something and carries the trap around the area.

It has been a mouse war here since we moved in last year.


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## Brandon2k14 (Nov 26, 2014)

sunnysmom said:


> I think you need to trap the mice. I've used humane traps before that don't kill them. Just traps them and then we've set them free outside. But you need to set them free quite a distance from where you live or they'll just go back in. And to be safe, I don't think I'd spray the oil around the tiels or their cages.


I think they should be released in the forest or something anywhere near other houses is just giving other people a problem.


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Definitely give the cage a thorough scrubbing and wash everything, including perches and toys etc. You don't want to take any risks!

I'd get pest control out to sort your mouse problem out. Or you can do what others have suggested and use the humane catch & release traps. Or snap traps if you're okay with that (some people aren't). Just don't use baits because if a neighbouring dog or cat eats a baited mouse, they can become ill from the poison as well.


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## CosmoBird (Jan 14, 2015)

Snap traps were the most efficient for me. My suggestion is to get dried friut like mangos/pineapples that are sticky and smear it onto the trap. I got some out of trail mixes I had on hand. If not mix peanut butter with some small seed because some are sneaky and will ever so slightly lick the peanut butter off without setting it off. Marshmallow fluff is also a hit, but you might have to mix seed in.
****The most important thing if your bird is always out and you have curious dogs. I took old snack boxes from crackers and butter stick boxes, soda/beer can boxes, layed them flat, and stuck the snap traps in them. Just make sure there is enough room for the trap to properly go off. I would put them under the couch, behind trash cans, beside the stove, and anywhere that would be appealing to a mouse and where I can hide it from the pets. It's a win win solution because you keep your pets safe and you can pick up the box and throw it away instead of having to grab the trigger rod with the mouse right there. Ick!


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## CosmoBird (Jan 14, 2015)

Another thing that nabbed me 9 chipmunks this summer that is said to work with mice (haven't tried with mice) 

Get a 5 gallon (paint style) bucket fill it half way with water get BLACK SUNFLOWER seed (it's the only one that floats) and sprinkle the seed on top of the water to where it appears from the top the bucket is full of seed. Get a plank of wood and slant it to where it leads up to the bucket. Put some seed or mouse goodies up to the top of the plank. The mice and chipmunks eat the food leading up to the top of the plank then they see the bucket of seed and think they hit the jackpot and jump right in!! Greedy jerks! They swim around till they get too tired and drown. Then you dump the bucket outside and start over and send out the invites to the pool party 

If you are in an apartment do this set up at night when they are more likely to come out. Just make sure the bird is put away and the animals don't have access to the bucket to mess with it. I keep an old metal grate shelf from my greenhouse on top of my bucket outside so the birds can't accidentally get in and drown. Don't want that!


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

When using snap traps, ties string or yarn onto the trigger, the. Then trim about 1/2 or so long, then smear peanut butter into the string making sure it is soaked in it... The mouse may lick off the peanut butter but then the will grab the string and pull on it trying to eat it... SNAP dead mouse!


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## Dylan&Gracie (Nov 21, 2014)

CosmoBird said:


> They swim around till they get too tired and drown. Then you dump the bucket outside and start over and send out the invites to the pool party


This is horribly inhumane. If you're going to kill something do it properly.


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## littletiel (May 15, 2011)

Dylan&Gracie said:


> This is horribly inhumane. If you're going to kill something do it properly.


Yes, it should be quick. There is no need to prolong their suffering before dying. I even feel bad when I kill insects or spiders. Once I saw a giant hairy spider by my bed at 3 am and was terrified. I opened the window in the hope it would go out, but it didn't and I ended up killing it with an insect spray because I didn't even know if it was poisonous (it was really huge, probably the size of a fist) and I was scared and didn't feel like going to bed with a huge hairy spider in my bedroom , but I felt bad for killing it...


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Definitely choose a method that is quick and as painless as possible. Another reason to stay away from baits.. they cause a long, slow and excruciating death which just isn't fair. Nothing should have its life ended that way. Same with drowning.


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## BirdBoy (Jun 15, 2011)

Hi EntwinedSpoon, I just read this post because I am having the same problem. At the very least, get duct tape apply it around your bird's cage because that's what I did and they don't come near the tape. But they are still in the house. 
I was just talking to Orkin to see if what they would do is bird friendly and to my surprise, they didn't tell me anything poisonous /chemicals with odors but rather the same things that we've been already using. 
I am looking up natural mice control products but I am not sure which one to get. 

I am wondering how you're coping with your issue.


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## LadyLuv (Sep 22, 2018)

Kaliska said:


> 1 cup plaster of paris to 1 cup peanut butter. Make 1" balls and place them where mice are traveling the most. Can also roll them in birds seed or use cornmeal. They mice will die after eating them but you will not have poison around. Replace as they dry out. If you want to try trapping them instead order some traps online like from amazon. The ones sold in stores, even feed stores, are made to be very safe but are so weak they don't stop the mouse from escaping half the time and the other half the time it just gets a limb jammed or something and carries the trap around the area.
> 
> It has been a mouse war here since we moved in last year.


That's a really, really cruel way to handle mice. Slow death by impaction starvation? Heartless.

(I know this is mad late, but it's still here for all to see so...)


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