Do Parrots Attract Cockroaches? + How to get rid of them

Parrots do not directly attract cockroaches, but their foods do. When parrots drop some of the food they eat, the cockroaches take them as an invitation. 

If you are a parrot parent, you must have noticed your little birdie is quite messy while eating. Parrots waste a large chunk of the food they eat, especially if you give them something they don’t fancy eating. And whatever they discard or drop ends up either on their cage floor or on the house floor. These little bits and pieces of food bring cockroaches near your parrot.

What Makes The Parrots Attract Cockroaches?

To reiterate, cockroaches aren’t particularly attracted to parrots but their food. The pellets your parrot wastes away are like a gastronomical treat for the cockroaches. 

Cockroaches eat anything they find their way because they are scavengers. They can feed on the decomposing matter such as dead skin, hair, trash bits, sewage, rotting wood, to name a few. And if they can savor such icky things, imagine how real food like pellets would attract them, especially if they are lying around on the floor or in the birdcage.

Why would they choose trash when they can devour real food, pellets in this case? The pellets you give to your parrot include various foods from veggies to fruits to seeds. And these are nothing less than a delicacy for the roaches. The worst part is cockroaches can happily eat your parrot’s droppings if they can’t find food around.

Do Cockroaches Spread Diseases?

Cockroaches are carriers of various diseases. That’s because their diet typically revolves around trash and unsanitary matter. Moreover, they seek shelter in the most unhygienic places such as drains, garbage, sewers, and other moist and contaminated areas.

Through the food they eat and the living condition, cockroaches consume bacteria which can survive in their anatomy for months to years. And they eventually spread the bacteria through their feces.

The worst part is roaches will spare no place in leaving their droppings and vomiting, and our food is no exception. And if we eat food that they contaminate, we take in the bacteria too. Similar will be the case with parrots too. Cockroaches carry viruses like the polio virus and bacteria like streptococcus, salmonella, and staphylococcus.

How To Keep Cockroaches Away From My Parrot’s Cage?

Prevention is much easier any day than eliminating the roaches once they have infested your parrot cage. Let’s have a look at some prevention tips.

  • You may not own a parrot, but you love feeding wild birds and have a bird feeder on your lawn. Make sure it is as far from your home as possible. Because just like parrots, other birds can be messy too and leave a lot of food on the lawn. As mentioned earlier, the food will lure in cockroaches and other rodents and crawlers. 
  • Keeping the parrot cage clean is an essential step to keeping cockroaches at bay. A clean cage means no food waste for the roaches to eat. Do make it a point to clean the cage and around it after every meal. Also, keep the rest of the home clean, for only a clean cage won’t do much help.
  • Cockroaches love feeding on trash. And if you keep a compost bin, make sure it is nowhere near your home. Your parrot’s leftover foods should end up in the compost bin after every clean-up post their mealtime.
  • Store parrot food in sealed containers and stash them away in cupboards. And if you cannot store a food item in a container, keep it in the freezer. 
  • Be it your parrot cage or your home; make sure both are clutter-free. Cockroaches like to hide in tight, dark crevices. In simple words, they love clutter and roaming around it.
  • Clearing away leftover foods is not enough. Since cockroaches like feeding on anything and everything, it’d be best to clean parrot droppings regularly and clean the cage as many times as possible.

You may also read : Do Parrots attract Mice

How Do I Chase Away Cockroaches From My Parrot Cage And Home?

So you were a little too late in preventing cockroaches from infiltrating the parrot cage and your home. If the infestation is too extreme, you may seek professional help. Otherwise, here are some doable ways to get rid of the pests.

  • Deep-clean your house at least one time a week and continue this regime. And whenever you do, take care of dirty dishes and leave the sink clean. Wipe away food residue and liquid from the floor. Do make sure that every corner of the kitchen is clean as most food wastes take place there.
  • Always ensure that the water sources in your home are not dripping. Cockroaches need to hydrate to survive, and if you take that necessity away, they won’t thrive.
  • The most common go-to method to get rid of cockroaches is using baits and traps. You can use either kill or catch traps. If you are using poisonous baits or lures, keep them away from the parrot for their safety.

FAQs

Q. Should I Hire Pest Control Professionals For Cockroach Infestation?

A. Hiring a professional pest exterminator is one way of eliminating cockroaches from your home, as long as you don’t compromise your parrot’s health.

Pest control professionals use pesticides to exterminate cockroaches which can also be harmful to your parrot. That’s because parrots are vulnerable to particles in the air, including pesticides. Their lungs are pretty sensitive and susceptible to illnesses from any toxic matter. They can even die from ingesting pesticides.

Moreover, even if they don’t inhale the pesticide directly, the pesticide-contaminated food and water may harm.

Q. What should I keep in mind while hiring pest control to eliminate cockroaches?

A. If the cockroach problem is not too severe, try to contemplate a safer alternative over hiring pest control. However, if the situation is desperate, you may want to inform the pest control company that you have a pet parrot and weigh options to eliminate the roaches without harming the bird.

Conclusion

To sum up, we can safely say that parrots do not attract cockroaches by themselves but through their food and droppings. If you can maintain a clean home and a clean parrot cage, keeping the cockroaches at bay won’t be much of a challenge. Just make sure you follow the steps mentioned above to prevent and eliminate cockroaches.