Mice aren’t a physical threat to adult parrots but can spread diseases and parasites (like fleas and mites). Opportunistic mice may also eat parrot eggs and chicks.
You can keep mice away from parrots by better positioning the food and spot-cleaning the enclosure daily. Store all food in air-tight containers and seal all entry points to the cage.
Parrots Attracting Mice
Parrots don’t attract mice, but their food scraps do. Mice are opportunistic omnivores, so they’ll eat what food they find. Warning signs of mice activity include:
- Droppings, which are small and long.
- Bite marks or scratches on cage walls and perches.
- An ammonia smell from their urine.
- Nests or nesting materials, like straw or shredded newspaper.
- Startled parrots at night when mice are likeliest to emerge.
A well-stocked cage with food remnants and water is a haven for hungry mice.
How Parrots Can Be Afraid of Mice
In evolutionary terms, parrots are higher on the food chain than mice. However, if a parrot is easily startled or has never seen a mouse, it’ll likely be afraid the first time it encounters one.
That said, mice are likelier to fear parrots than vice versa. The problem is that mice often overcome this fear when desperate for food and water.
Mice Killing Parrots
It’s unlikely that a mouse would attack a parrot unless it’s cornered and has nowhere to go. However, mice can spread life-ending infectious diseases to parrots.
While mice aren’t predators, they may eat parrot eggs and chicks.
According to Live Science, mice eat albatross, great shearwater, and Atlantic petrel chicks 300 times their weight. They gnaw through the feathers and skin before consuming their entrails.
Parrots Getting Sick from Mice
Mice carry diseases like listeria, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, typhus, and hantavirus. Mice can pass on diseases to parrots through:
- Feces.
- Urine.
- Food contamination.
- Bites and scratches.
Parrots risk breathing in particles contaminated with mouse urine and droppings. Mice also carry fleas and mites. While fleas are less likely to live on parrots, mites are common.
How To Keep Mice Out of Parrot Cages
Keep mice away from your parrot’s cage with these steps:
Clean the Cage
Maintaining a clean cage is the best way to prevent mice from being attracted to food in the cage.
You don’t need to entirely clean the cage more than once a week, but remove all dropped seed husks and food scraps and wipe the surface down every 24 hours.
Keep Food Containers High Up
Mice will eat a parrot’s food if they can reach it. To minimize the risk, move the trays and feeders higher up or use hanging containers and position them from the roof.
You could center the containers. Mice can scale cage mesh, so they’ll easily reach the seeds if they’re too close to the cage sides. Unfortunately, parrots are messy when eating.
Seal Food
When storing your parrot’s food, ensure it’s in an air-tight container, not open bags.
Mice can chew through plastic packaging. If you don’t have any metal or thick plastic containers, keep the bags off the ground. The same applies to fruits and vegetables, so keep them securely stored.
Seal Cage Openings
Mice can squeeze through gaps as small as 10 mm, the same diameter as a pen. The younger the mouse, the smaller the hole it needs to enter and exit.
Mice can also jump up to 24 cm and scale vertical heights without injuring themselves, even if they fall several meters. This means they can get into parrot cages if given the opportunity.
Keep them out by sealing gaps around cage or aviary doors and roofs. Also, consider putting a layer of sheeting at the bottom to stop mice from climbing in.
Solid Aviary Floor
If you have an outdoor aviary, avoid positioning it on bare earth that mice can tunnel through.
Position the aviary on a concrete surface or use paving stones and wire mesh to prevent mice from entering through the base of the cage.
Bird-Safe Mouse Repellent
You can’t use poisons to kill mice. Instead, use bird-safe mouse repellents to keep them away. Electronic mouse repellents use high-frequency sounds to drive mice away.
Another option is using natural repellents like peppermint oil to keep mice away.
According to Phytotherapy Research, peppermint oil triggers an avoidance response in mice, so some are applied to cotton balls and positioned where mice are likely to hide.
Alternatively, sprinkle cayenne pepper or chili flakes onto food. Peppers and chilis have an active component called capsaicin. This causes a burning sensation in mammals, not birds.
Never underestimate the danger posed by mice. While they’re unlikely to threaten adult parrots physically, they endanger their eggs and hatchlings and carry parasites and diseases.
