Ack! Flour moths in my pellets!

[Sally]

Has anyone else ever had this problem? I am feeding Lafeber's finch granules in seed hoppers. I keep the pellets in a plastic storage bin with tight-fitting, supposedly insect-proof lid. My birds are in a room off my back porch with open, screened windows, except one small window has the screen removed and a box fan set to pull air out of the room. All of a sudden, I have flour moths in the hoppers! I figure I will clean out all the hoppers, salvage what I can, and place the salvaged pellets in the freezer to kill any eggs, etc., that remain, but now I need to work on prevention. Any ideas?

[rottielover]

Sally,

I learned this trick from the parrot breeder that sold us our Severe Macaw.

We purchase 50 lbs of pellets at a time ( about a year's supply).

When we get the bag home, we dose it out into 1 gallon zip-lock freezer bags. Then all the bags are stored in the freezer until the night before they are needed. Then a bag is simply left on the counter overnight to thaw and then placed into the "air tight" tupperware container (or whatever brand it is) for daily doasing.

I'm also doing the same thing with my finch foods, I keep un-needed portions in the freezer full time and only get out about a one week supply at a time.

Works great!

[Sally]

What a great idea! I have a freezer, so will try this. Thanks!

[EmilyHurd]

Good luck! Yuck... I hate bugs that mess with my finches!

[FLAMEonfire]

Just putting in my 2 cents - I used to have those tiny moths way back when - I when to freeze the seed for a week before using it and haven't had a problem since. I also was told that the cold kills off the moth buggies. *Blaze*