Grain mites + diatomaceous earth + button quail

[ButtonBag]

My button quails' feed (and presumably their home) is infested with grain mites, which is particularly annoying because they live inside my house. I've ordered fresh feed and bedding, and will be thoroughly cleaning their enclosure, but I can't be sure all the mites will be gone. I was thinking of adding some DE to their new feed and/or their sand bath, would any of this be dangerous to them? If not, how much is sensible to mix in? I know chickens are usually okay with DE but buttons are so tiny, I obviously don't want them getting harmed in any way.

 

[Nabiki]

You can add a bit of DE to their dirt bath, but you should not add it to their feed. Be careful not to add too much to their dirt bath because it is basically tiny, sharp shards of silica that can cause breathing issues if they breathe it in.

Even if DE in the feed doesn't do harm, it doesn't do any good either, so it's not a good idea to add to feed even for your chickens.

 

[ButtonBag]

That makes sense, I'll stick to a very small amount in their bath for a short time then. I was thinking about the food because I get it shipped from Germany and it's so damn expensive, I really don't want to risk re-contaminating it!

 

[Nabiki]

That makes sense, I'll stick to a very small amount in their bath for a short time then. I was thinking about the food because I get it shipped from Germany and it's so damn expensive, I really don't want to risk re-contaminating it!

Is freezing it an option? If you put it in containers that fit in the freezer, you can freeze it for a few days, take it out for a day or two (so any eggs might hatch) then freeze it again. That will usually take care of any bugs that might be in it.

 

[CliftonQuail]

Plus 1 on the freezing idea. I had a similar issue sometime ago. I bought a bag of feed and saw bugs in it when I first opened it a week or so later. I separated it out into vacuum sealed bags and froze them, then let them thaw for a couple of days and tossed them back in the freezer. That did the job with that bag. It was a bit concerning that the same thing happened with the next bag of feed. It was the same brand, but from a different feed store. Froze it and no more issues. Since I liked that brand of feed, I did buy it again and haven't had any sign of bugs since.