# Mouse! Mouse! Mouse!



## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Okay. I'm freaking out. 

I went down to check on the birds this morning. They were all on the bottom. Willow and Ama were happily eating away at the food dishes. Farrah was clinging to the side of the cage close to the bottom. And Grey was sitting on the bottom on top of the grate. I started talking to them and Grey was kind of walking around on the bottom looking down. 

I didn't think anything of it. He's weird. Then I heard the news paper and I looked down and thought one of their toys maybe had fallen through.

I looked at Willow and she looked down and looked back up at me. So at this point I'm curious as to what toy fell and I pulled the bottom tray out. And there's this tiny mouse that starts scurrying back and forth on the bottom of the tray.

I freaked. I took off out of the room and up the stairs and was screaming, "Mouse! mouse! Kevin, there's a mouse in the birdcage!"

He was in the bathroom and told me to wait. I impatiently ran back down the stairs to see if the mouse was still in the cage. He was gone.

So now I'm freaking out. And I need to know how to get rid of the mouse. My birds thought he was awesome but obviously I don't. So please help. Lol


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Oh no! I'm not sure what to suggest. They have those humane traps where you just put food in and they close behind the mouse but don't kill it. Then you can release the mouse outside far from home. But I'm trying to remember how they close and if the tiels could get a foot or something hurt if they got near it. Obviously if you got a regular trap the birds would have to stay in their cages......


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Oh and mice seem to really like peanut butter.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

if you can get ahold of a humane trap that would be great.


a trick i used before (other than having a mouser of a cat) is a box with a tootsie pop sucker stick. i put the end of the stick that has a bit of chewed up candy on the floor, using the top to prop the box up. have it on an angle so that the candy part is just slightly inside the box. it worked for me, it might work for you. its weird but trust me, it worked lol place it somewhere the mouse frequents, so say under the birds cage. check it every morning since the mouse is likely going to come out a bit in the night. for extra measure, put some seed around the bottom of the sucker stick. if you see the box and its down, you may have caught the mouse. dont lift it, slide a flat stiff piece of cardboard under the box, carry it outside and let the mouse out. i caught 7 mice with this method in my moms home. my cat jessie caught just as many.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Do you think they have those at Walmart? Maybe lowes? That would be best bc I really don't want to kill him. And the birds would be put up while the traps are out. 

Kevin wanted to let the cats loose down there for the day.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

im not sure about where to get them, ive never had to purchase mouse traps.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I got mine at my local hardware store. (Luckily only had a mouse once.) But I would think Lowe's would have them too.


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## Loopy Lou (Jul 26, 2012)

I had a problem with rats when i first moved into my flat (i was NOT amused!), i found DIY/hardware shops the best place to get traps from.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Lowes has them for 4.47 so we will be going after work to get some. 

Thanks for the peanut butter suggestion, sunnysmom.


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

Eek I would have took the mouse outsidewith the bird cage set it on the ground then freak out.


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## Ghosth (Jun 25, 2012)

A peanut butter seems to be the go to bait of choice. 

B The humane traps I tried when I had a mouse infestation last winter did not work. Didn't catch any mice at all.

C Put birds to bed in cage make sure cage is shut so birds can't get out, set traps, in morning reverse, unset traps, deal with any caught mice, before releasing birds from cage.

D Clean up clutter as much as possible, but leave 1 corner kind of cluttered to make an attractive spot for mice to check out. Put traps in that area 2 traps is better than 1.

In my case I knew they were coming out of the closet (Sewer stack is in there, and easy access to basement) So I set trap so they would smell bait soon as they crawled under the closet door.

Just peanut butter on traps can be licked off easily by a mouse not tripping the trap. 
But, if you take a postage sized piece of fresh white bread, squeeze it into the trap trigger so it locks into place, let it dry and harden, then put a smear of peanut butter on the bread. That worked every time. They just couldn't lick it all off, they had to get teeth into the bread, and that would trigger trap every time.

Main thing is to keep your cool. 

Remember, believe it or not, he is much more afraid of you than you are of it.

With one flick of a finger you can send it flying across the room where at worst all it can do is give you a bite not even as hard as one of your tiels.

Use your head, mice love to come out at night, mice are always hungry. Don't stop setting traps until you have caught no mouse nor seen one, or sign of one for a week.

I had a hold out in the basement, living in the floor joists behind insulation of all places. But a board and a trap placed near the spot nailed him on day 6.

I ended up using old fashioned mouse traps tomcat brand, in the bird room I put them in places the bird would not go. So floor, back in the corner behind things. 

I caught 8 mice in 6 days (yes we had a lot( 2 of them in the bird room (lots of food around).

Make sure all food is in mouse proof plastic or metal containers for storage. A hungry mouse can go through a plastic/paper bag in seconds.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Jynxstorm said:


> Eek I would have took the mouse outsidewith the bird cage set it on the ground then freak out.


My cage is way too big for that. lol.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Thanks Ghosth... I will try the humane traps first bc I can't stand the idea of killing the poor thing. If that fails, I'll move on to something else.


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## Homer2012 (Aug 19, 2012)

Mice really love bird seed. I had a mouse problem not too long ago, and I would always use bird seed as bait when I would set the trap. I would catch them the same night......and sometimes within minutes. I no longer have a problem because I caught them all. The mice would get into Rusty's cage as well. That is what gave me the idea about them being attracted to bird seed. I was right....the bird seed worked. 

Good luck. I hope you get rid of them soon.


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## Payton Leeroy (Sep 10, 2012)

Speaking as someone with a pet mouse, don't feel bad about killing it. Wild mice often carry diseases that can affect you, your family, and even your birds. Also, if you do manage to capture it alive, where are you going to take it? If you just put it outside it will be back in within the day. If you take it a few blocks it will either find it's way back or invade someone else's home. Taking it out to the country isn't any better, because it's either causing damage to crops or will probably starve to death, as it's learned to survive off of our waste instead of foraging for food, and the predators are completely different. If it's carrying a disease it could spread that to the wildlife in that area as well. So, as nice as the idea of catching it alive and letting it go is, it really isn't practical or safe.

However, I will suggest avoiding sticky traps... Those things are just nasty.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Well. We set the trap up last night and the mouse triggered it but no mouse. If it fails another time or two, I saw some traps that once they go in- it shuts and kills the mouse and you never have to see it- you just throw it away. If the live mouse trap fails, I will go that route.


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## Valks (Sep 12, 2012)

meaggiedear said:


> My birds thought he was awesome but


Hahaha thats sort of cute! :blush:

Yeah the mouse has to go, but other than the diseases they can carry can mice physically harm the birds?


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## Homer2012 (Aug 19, 2012)

I hated it but I used the sticky traps. Yes...they are pretty nasty...but they do the job quite well. I hate killing living things, but I have to think of my family and Rusty. The bad thing about sticky traps is that the mouse Will more than likely be alive when you find the trap. I had to then kill it to put it out of his misery. Good luck. I hope you catch it soon.


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## Payton Leeroy (Sep 10, 2012)

Valks, my little mouse is flat out vicious. I have no doubt that he could take my cockatiel down if they ever met. ****, he attacks my hand/anything else that goes into his cage, and yes, it hurts! He grabs on and shakes even. Not really the best of pet mice, but that's what happens when you rescue one who's already showing signs of aggression. Once he's out of his cage he's a sweety to me, but I have to use leather gloves to get him out to start with. Or even to change his water or clean his bedding out...


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Valks said:


> Yeah the mouse has to go, but other than the diseases they can carry can mice physically harm the birds?


Their saliva has pasteurella in it which, if they bite the bird, can kill the bird if it goes untreated. Also, if a bird is ever bit by any animal with pasteurella in their saliva they should be taken to the vet ASAP to get medicine for it. Pasteurella is in the saliva of cats, dogs, and some other mammals as well.


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## Loopy Lou (Jul 26, 2012)

Homer2012 said:


> I hated it but I used the sticky traps. Yes...they are pretty nasty...but they do the job quite well. I hate killing living things, but I have to think of my family and Rusty. The bad thing about sticky traps is that the mouse Will more than likely be alive when you find the trap. I had to then kill it to put it out of his misery. Good luck. I hope you catch it soon.


I tried the sticky traps for my rat problem, caught one on it but the rat chewed it's own back leg off to get away.

When i called my landlord and told him about it he said "Well, on the bright side you only need to catch it 3 more times"

Eventually i called out pest control and they put down poison then i blocked up any hole i could find with steel wool and concrete.

I agree about them finding their way back, i was told that too.


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