Feather lice and feather mites in canaries and finches
Other names: Lice، Feather mite، Fash
Symptoms
- Eaten feathers or small holes in them
- Extra scratching and preening
- Dull feathers and a generally poor appearance
How it spreads
By direct contact and in nests.
Diagnosis
Examine the feathers against the light and with a magnifying glass.
Treatment
Sprays or powders made for birds (permethrin) or ivermectin as directed by the vet. Treat the environment too. [Update 3] Merck (pet birds): permethrin sprays, or carbaryl 5% powder (also mixed into the nest box bedding), or ivermectin 0.2 mg/kg orally or intramuscularly repeated after two weeks; wooden nest boxes are discarded and replaced, and the cage is cleaned thoroughly. The red mite (Dermanyssus) lives in nest boxes in open aviaries. (All under veterinary supervision.)
Prevention
A clean bath, treating new birds, and clean nests.
Season
More in summer
Treatment and doses are decided by an avian vet after an exam; Zajel does not publish doses.
Other diseases
- Air sac mites (tracheal mites)
- Face and leg mites (scaly face/leg mange)
- Red mites (poultry red mite)
- Coccidiosis (bloody/intestinal diarrhea)
- Atoxoplasmosis (black spot disease / enlarged liver)
- Trichomoniasis (ulcer/canker)
- Cochlosomosis
- Giardiasis