Air sac mites (tracheal mites) in canaries and finches
Other names: Chest mite، Clicking، Clicking sound، Gouldian sneezing، Airway mite
Symptoms
- Clicking or wheezing with breathing (more obvious after movement or handling)
- Sneezing and tail bobbing with every breath
- Open-beak breathing
- Saliva or mucus in the mouth
- The male stops singing or his voice changes
- Fluffed-up appearance and weakness; mortality can be high in severe infestations
How it spreads
Passed from the parents to the chicks during feeding, and from bird to bird through water, food and coughing in a communal flight cage.
Diagnosis
In a darkened room, shine a strong light on the bird's neck (transillumination) and you may see the mites as black dots in the trachea. Improvement after treatment also supports the diagnosis. Necropsy shows the mites in the trachea and air sacs.
Treatment
Per the Merck manual: ivermectin (0.2-0.4 mg/kg orally or intramuscularly) or moxidectin (0.2 mg/kg orally or as a spot-on), repeated after two weeks. Minimize handling during treatment. In practice a spot-on ivermectin drop is used on the neck skin (like the SCATT product mentioned by finchinfo). Treat the whole flock. (All under veterinary supervision.)
Prevention
Treat all birds before the breeding season and before the molt, quarantine and treat new birds, and do not overcrowd the flight cages.
Season
Year-round; more apparent in winter, humidity, and during breeding and molt stress
Treatment and doses are decided by an avian vet after an exam; Zajel does not publish doses.
Other diseases
- Face and leg mites (scaly face/leg mange)
- Red mites (poultry red mite)
- Feather lice and feather mites
- Coccidiosis (bloody/intestinal diarrhea)
- Atoxoplasmosis (black spot disease / enlarged liver)
- Trichomoniasis (ulcer/canker)
- Cochlosomosis
- Giardiasis