Scaly Beak- NEED HELP

[PrettyHate]

I just noticed the other day that my newest budgie Chimera has scaley beak/feet. It is very mild right now- but I want to get this under control. She is the only one out of my three showing visible symptoms- but Im worried that Griffin and Pheonix also have it.

Currently I have her in her own cage in my room away from the others. I started treating her yesturday with OrnaScale.

My question is this- do I take all THREE Of them to the vet? Will the vet treat the ones that dont show any signs of it. What have you found to work the BEST for treatment? Do I need to throw out ALL of the perches in their cage? or is soaking in boiling water good enough (I have alot of expensive natural wood perches/swings).

Im terrified for my birds.

Griffins flight feathers have started to grow back in and look tattered. I dont know if that is a coincidence, or something to do with scaly face. I spoke to someone from the parrot club here, and they said not to worry about his feathers as long as he is acting fine and isnt losing lots of them.

Ive been feeding everyone lots of greens and fresh foods like eggs.

Please someone help. This is my worst nightmare coming true. These birds (especially Griffin) are my babies. :( :( :(

[PrettyHate]

Im going to call the vet on Monday to make an appointment to get all of them treated and looked at. Thank goodness for my emergency fund bank account!

Do you guys think there is any point in keeping Chimera seperate until monday? Or just put them back in together since they are going to all get treated anyways? I figure any damage has already been done...but also figured it wouldnt hurt..

[Jessika]

If it's still in the early stages you don't have to worry about your babies, you got a vet appointment, often one treatment will take care of it great. You did good for calling the vet right away. Also, I wouldn't use any medication that you buy in pet shops as they rarely do any good.

[pal0m1n0]

If you have already separated them, another day or so won't matter. You could use the time for some one on one bonding. What happens will depend on the vet. Mine did not treat all my birds even though two had it. Some vets will say that it spreads really easily and mine says it is not that easy. Another source says birds get it in the nest and it lies dormant until they are stressed, like breeding for example.

Anyway, don't panic, it is easily treatable. :)

[PrettyHate]

They should be treated with Ivomectin, correct?

I want to find out as much as I can about proper treatment. I only discovered it last night, and started reading up about it today- that is when I realized how serious it can be- and that a vet appointment would be much more suitable than the over the counter stuff Im using right now.

I'll stop putting that stuff on them. I was just doing it because I wanted to do SOMETHING to help. They hate it anyways...

[Budgiekin]

Yes, ivermectin is the treatment of choice for scaley face. This medication should be calculated based on your budgies' body weight; this is critical to getting the correct dosage. Your vet should be able to do this quite easily. Once it is measure, it is applied directly onto the skin on the back of the neck. That way, the medication gets into the bloodstream which is how this one does its work.

Normally the treatment is given 2-3 times, but 10-14 days apart for each treatment. How you determine the number of treatments is based on noticing improvement with your budgies' condition. Severe cases of course would require more treatments than mild ones.

Apparently scaley face cannot survive unless it has a host (i.e. your budgie). Having said that, while it is still recommended that you disinfect all perches, cages, food cups, toys etc. that your budgie has come into contact with. When my budgie Skyla had scaley face, all of my birds were treated and we had to disinfect everything after each treatment.

It sounds like you caught the condition early enough not to have long term effects, so that is great! Take care and let us know how the vet visit goes! ;)

[PrettyHate]

I called the vet early this morning and the earliest opening they have is this Thursday at 4. So, all three of my babies have a date with Dr. Davidson this Thurs :)

[SushiGURL]

That's good! :) The vet will give some good advice and medicine to nurse your budgie back to health!

[PrettyHate]

Took my babies to the vet today- I am so proud of them. Griffin and Phoenix were SO well behaved. I took them out of their carrying cage and they sat on my shoulder. Phoenix flew off once- but Griffin just hung out with me. :) :) :)

Chimera...well she is still young lol She flew all over.

All three were treated for scaly face- Chimera does indeed have it.

I go back in two weeks for a follow up treatment. They were treated orally with Ivomectin. The entire thing only cost me $58. $43.75 for the examination for Chimera, and then $4 each for the meds. He didnt change me an examination fee for the other two, or for the skin scraping. I LOVE my vet!

On a totally different note- I want to get them some branches to play on in my room. We have ***** willow trees on a trail by our house- I read willow is safe. Will ***** will be as well?

[star-24]

i found this safe list

http://www.exoticbird.com/gillian/perch.html

hope it helps