Fly Spray? Yikes!

[Cherron]

My landlord is wanting to spray the apartment building for spiders and flies. She knows that I keep chameleons and I tried to talk her out of spraying my apartment, but she insisted. What should I do about my chameleons? Will covering their cages work? I don't think it will but I don't know what else to do. Maybe sit them outside for 24 hours? What is the amount of time I should keep them out of the area? Ahhh.. I am stressing about this! Any ideas?

 

[Scooter]

NO !! you will need to move your chams and cages out and your buggies too. Contact an exterminator company to find out how long your critters need to be out of the house for. I have had birds all my life and they are very sensitive to sprays like that. I have had to take my bird out for days.

 

[VerteX]

Do you mean outside of the building or inside of the apartment?

 

[ChromaChameleons]

I cant believe you posted this item. I just finished posting a similar situation on another thread. What a bizarre coincidence.Hopefully some other keepers have similar experiences that might help.

 

[Cherron]

I know that I have to remove the chameleons. I was just wondering what amount of time I need to keep them out of the apartment for. Calling an exterminator won't help really unless they were the ones spraying and using their products. She is just planning on using rid spray that she bought herself.

VerteX-
INSIDE the apartment! Yikes. I am pretty freaked out by this.

If I leave the cages outside for 24 or 48 hours and leave all of the windows open and place fans in them will this air it out enough to make it safe for them?

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

You might want to contact the manufacturer of the insecticide product through the phone number listed on the container. They are usually able to shed some light on the situation.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Fly Spray? Yikes!

I strongly urge you to find a way to prevent her from doing this. I'd even call the health department. That stuff she is planning on using is TOXIC and lingers for quite a while. I would not subject my own person to that stuff. Some people are sensitive to it and get sick when exposed to it (I am one of those who can not even walk down the pesticide isle at the hardware store without becoming ill). Chams are very sensitive to those chemicals. Their lungs are very fragile. They are not like people, dog or cat lungs. They are like thin sacs. Birds have a similar lung structure. That's why respiratory issues are often deadly. Their lungs don't heal well like ours do. I have a friend who moved into a home that had been sprayed for pests. She couldn't figure out why the crickets she was feeding her chams were dying in the chameleon cages. Then she lost a couple of chams. Her vet told her it was the pest spray. It had been a month since the place had been sprayed. She had to wash all her walls and get the carpet cleaned thoroughly. The stuff you buy yourself is even more toxic and, surprisingly, less regulated. Yikes is right!

 

[Dave Weldon]

...She is just planning on using rid spray that she bought herself...

Howdy,

I just realized that you mentioned that your landlord wants to use "Rid Spray" which we can see in this ad, is the common permethrin insecticide: http://www.aaaskindoctor.com/ridspray.html This is also what is used in the reptile product "Provent-a-mite". It appears to have a history of use around reptiles. Here's a vet article: http://arav.org/Journals/JA021743.htm Both Rid and Provent-a-Mite are 0.5% permethrin. More info: http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Product.jsp?REG_NR=05040400007&DIST_NR=073617

As was mentioned, this product will kill and maybe continue to kill crickets, roaches etc. for some time.

 

[John33871]

i dont know if this is a good idea, but maybe give her a little bribe and tell her that you will do it yourself. i would just slip her a twenty and tell her my apartment is already sprayed. im not saying you should but hey i might work

 

[Scooter]

"RID" ? That is for lice. I'm a social worker, and keep a can in the car for when I have to transport kids that are crawling with head lice, to treat the car seats and head rests in the car.

Either she has the wrong name of the product, or it's something I've never heard of....

 

[booshified]

i would have to agree that spraying inside the house is very weird. even if you had no pets would you yourself want to be around this stuff?

 

[FaunaBgirl]

I hate the fact that landlords can be so invasive on one's life. I had malithyon (sp?)used in my home before I went to sleep. Had to breathe it all night long. Always wondered how much they may have shortened my life expectancy, etc.