# meal moths in food



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

are meal moth larvae harmless? i just noticed them in the seed bin. i dont know how long they've been in there but once i noticed i checked all the food bowls and found them in the tiel's dish and mango's dish... havent found any in munch's dish (not sure if maybe she ate them) but the seeds are webby and i found a few larvae. question is, if they ate them, will that make them sick? im chucking the food all the same....

either theyve just recently got in there, or they came from my fiance's mom's place. she has a lot of them moths and shes having a hard time getting rid of them. she gave us what seed she had left when she had tsuka. and stupid me, i forgot to check and dumped that seed in with ours....


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

also, how do i get rid of them if theyre in my house? dont want them in the food again


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It won't hurt the birds to eat them although a big infestation messes up the seed. You can kill them by freezing the seed, preferably right after you bring it home from the store. Keep the seed in a container that moths can't penetrate. I use a glass jar but there are other materials that will work. 

These insects tend to get into the flour-based human food too, so you might end up having to freeze and repackage your own stuff too.


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## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

Oh NO! Meal moths are the pits.

I never heard that either the larvae or the moths are harmful to birds. But the larvae will pupate and then hatch out and drive you crazy.

I've seen bird-safe traps for the moths. Used to get the vet to order them but I bet they have them on Amazon and stuff nowadays. It takes forever but will eventually get rid of them. And you're supposed to try and find the pupae and wipe them up before they hatch. Which is nice if you can find them, but they can be anywhere.

For prevention I've always stuck all seed and seed-based treats in the freezer for three days. After the freezer treatment, keep the seed in airtight jars or canisters so that the loose moths can't get in and lay fresh eggs. I heard they can chew through plastic but don't know if that's actually true-- maybe somebody else knows if that's an old wives' tale or not.

Good old Munch-- she probably saw some and was all "Protein! Grrrr."

Edit to add: What tielfan said, LOL!


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

ive already froze the food 

and ive noticed just ONE flying in the house. it didnt last long. cats ate it.

i had the seed in a large bucket with a lid. but as said, my fiance's mom kept her seed in an open bag with a moth infested in her house. without thinking, i dumped that bag into the bucket, thus infesting it


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## Jac249 (May 19, 2011)

We used to have a seed bin outside and we still do but i leave the seed in the bag it came in and put that in the bin. Haven't had issues since. Also I keep a small tub of seed inside so I don't have to open the seed bin constantly.


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