Aussie Finch Forum

How to keep Ants at bay even when feeding a Nectar Mix.

You need a tray(metal if posssible) with low sides around 15mm high. Attach at least 3 magnetic kitchen cupboard door closers in the middle of the tray. These magnets will support your metal feed tray holding the livefood or food in general.I prefer the top tray to be at least the same size as the bottom. When the top tray is sitting on the magnets it must be clear of the bottom trays edge. Being held on with magnets it is easily removed for cleaning or loading.
Now sprinkler the bottom tray with powdered Coopex, Ant Sand etc.and put the top tray back The birds can't access the powder and the ants have to crawl through it to get to the magnets and they will DIE!!!!!
This system was first seen at Mike Fidlers and it really works.

How to get rid of Mice.On a permanent basis I wish I knew but you can control them.
These days I have bait stations and use the red wax blocks,you don't need to use a whole block cut them in 3 and the baits do their job but a packet/bucket last alot longer.
Have baits out 365 days of the year not just in breeding season.
About every 6 to 8 weeks give the mice a different bait for a week or so,crushed Tallon/Ratsack
mixed with a little cooking oil and chocolate biscuit or Peanut Butter and Poison, just a variation to try and fool them. Most just creep away and die, some may die in the aviary and birds will try and eat them but I have never had any losses from birds being poisoned.
It is so important to keep the mice numbers as low as possible. Mouse infestation will cut your breeding results down by around 80% and no one wants that.

That ant tray sounds brilliant.
Thanks for telling us about it, E Orix
LML

Good idea Reg never thought of that. Thanks.

Thanks E Orix. My only problem with laying baits is I have four dogs I would be really worried that might come across a dying mouse or even a dead one.

Pooky wrote:I think I will just spray around the edges of the floor then and I'll see how it goes.
Does anyone have any ideas on mice??
Those pesty little buggers.

If it is an Aviary & not a cage, why don't you concrete the floor?
Kind regards, Reg

I have concreted the floor but I have seen those pesty little buggars squeeze through the wire. I have the small round wire I think they call it canary wire. I live in an area where there are only paddolks behind our house for a couple of klms, and the mice attract rather large Blue tongue Lizards and Brown snakes. I really need to do something about them soon with Summer coming.

Trudy.

OK dont know about this one but other half tells me he sold bird netting to a fella who was going to use it to control snakes around his home , the snakes get caught in it .
Ive seen bird net used to catch small birds and bats on TV so maybe mice would get tangled in it to.
Guessing a strategically placed shovel will finish off the snakes and the poor old blue tongues Id untangle and set free , dont think they cause too many problems with birds.
Ant sand seems to be working here around the cages and the dog isnt interested in it so it seems to be safe.

Trudy as I also have a fair bit of bush round me, three sides only one neighbour, I know what you mean about the mice attracting snakes.
Have you ever seen a woman trying to climb the metal walls of her finch aviary when she's turned arround and found a bloody great (metre long) snake in the avairy behind her.
"He who prefers tools" tells me he had no trouble hearing me "calling him" to despatch the intruder. Fortunately our side of the fence and the other side are both ex farm boys who think a quick bullet and "no officer I didn't hear any shooting" is the solution.
And my avairys have dirt floors.
The Jack Russell is a very good mouse deterant, but when in over excited hunting mode can't seem to understand that mice do not come with feathers too.
In the end I had to rotate birds to different avairys so each in turn was empty and remove everything and get loose with the shovel and poison.
LML

jusdeb wrote:OK dont know about this one but other half tells me he sold bird netting to a fella who was going to use it to control snakes around his home , the snakes get caught in it .
Ive seen bird net used to catch small birds and bats on TV so maybe mice would get tangled in it to.
Guessing a strategically placed shovel will finish off the snakes and the poor old blue tongues Id untangle and set free , dont think they cause too many problems with birds.
Ant sand seems to be working here around the cages and the dog isnt interested in it so it seems to be safe.

The bird netting sounds like a good idea for the mice and the snakes,and the blue tongues are harmless. I may give it a try.
Thanks for you info.....juseb...

finchbreeder wrote:Trudy as I also have a fair bit of bush round me, three sides only one neighbour, I know what you mean about the mice attracting snakes.
Have you ever seen a woman trying to climb the metal walls of her finch aviary when she's turned arround and found a bloody great (metre long) snake in the avairy behind her.
"He who prefers tools" tells me he had no trouble hearing me "calling him" to despatch the intruder. Fortunately our side of the fence and the other side are both ex farm boys who think a quick bullet and "no officer I didn't hear any shooting" is the solution.
And my avairys have dirt floors.
The Jack Russell is a very good mouse deterant, but when in over excited hunting mode can't seem to understand that mice do not come with feathers too.
In the end I had to rotate birds to different avairys so each in turn was empty and remove everything and get loose with the shovel and poison.
LML

LOL I think I would be able to climb the metal walls of my avairy with ease if I came accross a snake like that!! My dogs can smell where the mice have been but then they go off and chase rabbits.