# Young budgie with possible feather mites



## violetskyblue (Jun 6, 2015)

After my beloved Cory passed away and seeing that Melody was left out by the other two boys, I've decided to take another budgie (roughly 2 months old) to keep her company and refrain her nesting behaviour. After the quarantine and the tests for psittacosis and polyoma resulting negative, I've introduced him to the others. However, now that I'm on holidays I have spent days in the room with them and noticed that the new one (named Dumbo) has sneeze fits once and sometimes twice a day, which sometimes result is a regurgitation of one of two seeds. Also, he has some feather missing and the primary feathers of his wings are not yet formed. I thought it might have been malnutrition but after a month of an abundance of food, I do not think that is the case any longer. He tries to fly but ends up jumping around which is why he was named Dumbo :yes:










What I've noticed is that the sneezing fits come after eating seeds. Now that he is with the others, he seems to get most of the food from Nuvolino's crop, but when he does eat seeds on his own, the sneezing fits appear, although not all the time.

Video of sneezing here

I've been weighing him twice a day constantly since day one and his weight is stable, he is chirping, active and jumping all along (although most of his energy is spent flirting with Nuvolino, preening and exchanging food...so cute! I feel sorry for Melody though as now the number of budgies who don't care about her is 3 T_T) but I am still worried about any potential disease.










I've asked advice to a breeder who, after seeing the pictures, told me he could have quill mites, explaining why some of his feathers are dark inside and suggested to take them out and make them grow again but it seems drastic and I would like to know what you think about this.



















The closest avian vet is 2hrs away by train-bus which has never stopped me from getting them visited, however, I think it would be very stressful to take such a long journey for such a young budgie. My other option is the local vet which is not an avian one but could do a crop wash if necessary. Don't think she would be able to do anything more than that, to be honest.

Any suggestions?


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I would definitely NOT recommend removing the feathers to "make them grow again" and find it quite hard to understand why a breeder would even recommend such an action. 

You can treat quill mites using Ivermectin or Scatt just like you do any other type of mites.

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-disease-illness/340426-common-avian-parasites.html

Budgies do not get "colds" like humans. 
Dumbo may be sneezing due to dust particles going into his nares when he hulls the seeds as you indicate it only happens when he eats on his own.
Are you using a warm mist humidifier in the room with the budgies?
Warm moist air helps dust settle to the floor rather than floating about in the air. The moisture in the air also helps keep the budgie's airways clear making it easier for them to breathe.*


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## violetskyblue (Jun 6, 2015)

FaeryBee said:


> *I would definitely NOT recommend removing the feathers to "make them grow again" and find it quite hard to understand why a breeder would even recommend such an action.
> 
> You can treat quill mites using Ivermectin or Scatt just like you do any other type of mites.
> 
> ...


Thanks Deb, I'm glad we agree on this as it sounded pretty drastic and painful. The breeder I've mentioned said he used this method to 'cure' many in this situation before O_O

I'm not using a warm mist humidifier in the room as I've never had problems of this nature before, but I'll search for one right now.

I've read the link you posted and looked for the products you have recommended online. I've found Ivermectin 0.1 and as for Scatt, there's no indication of that in the link so I wonder if I should purchase and apply both or the Ivermectin alone is enough?


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## philw (Aug 22, 2014)

I'd never pull out any blood feathers, unless they are broken off and bleeding. Also, new feathers growing is are darker or lighter based on what color of the feather is. Dark blue feathers would be dark, yellow/white feathers would be pale pink. The sneezing seems more, as has been said by others, related to eating and swallowing. There maybe a throat problem going on from the breeder using improper feeding of chicks. Was he hand-fed?


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## violetskyblue (Jun 6, 2015)

philw said:


> I'd never pull out any blood feathers, unless they are broken off and bleeding. Also, new feathers growing is are darker or lighter based on what color of the feather is. Dark blue feathers would be dark, yellow/white feathers would be pale pink. The sneezing seems more, as has been said by others, related to eating and swallowing. There maybe a throat problem going on from the breeder using improper feeding of chicks. Was he hand-fed?


Thank you for your reply.

When I got him he was already on seeds and wasn't hand reared, in fact, he doesn't show any interest in interacting with humans. The only thing that makes easy the handling is the fact that his primary feathers are not yet formed, which is worrying me  Other than that he is very active and jumping all around, singing, eating and even bathing in his water bowl (I took off the bath as I don't think it's wise for him to follow the others there as a lot of feathers are missing and he might get cold).


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## philw (Aug 22, 2014)

Saying that, I'd probably take him (won't mind being in a dark secure box on your lap) to your avian vet. I'm leaning now toward French molt, which there's not a lot of understanding of this disease but the fact that he's very young and at this time should have all
of his wing and tail feathers already grown makes me suspicious.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Ally,

Just use the Ivermectin. 
You would never double up and use both the Ivermectin and Scatt.

The dosage is one drop applied on the back of his neck (between the wings) between the feathers onto the skin. 
If there is not significant improvement after two FULL weeks time (14 days) then you may apply a second treatment of one drop the same as indicated above.

Please be sure to let us know how little Dumbo is doing.
If the sneezing continues after using the warm mist humidifier for several days, then you'll want to take Dumbo to the Avian Vet. 
The 2 hour trip won't be too stressful for him. 
My budgies made 7 1/2 hour trips from the breeder to my home with no issues.*


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## violetskyblue (Jun 6, 2015)

FaeryBee said:


> *Ally,
> 
> Just use the Ivermectin.
> You would never double up and use both the Ivermectin and Scatt.
> ...


Thank you again for your advice.

Updates:

Nuvolino, the budgie that is now living with Dumbo and acting as his dad/boyfriend feeding him and being next to him 24/7, has started to sneeze as well. I've called my avian vet explaining the sneezing fits+vomiting of both and he has told me to use Ivomec (which seems to be a different name of Ivermectin), one drop every 7 days up to 3 weeks as that is a broad spectrum medication used a prevention as well and if it's air-sac mites or any other type of internal or external mites it should kill them. If after 3 weeks I see no improvement they can try a CT Scan, although if it's a respiratory problem they will pretty much go for exclusions as there really isn't a specific test to do to find out what kind of respiratory problem it might be. The CT Scan is what was done to Cory to find the heart anomaly.

Then I also called another avian clinic (that was after calling mine but having found the vet unable to answer I decided to call someone else. My vet called me back hrs later to say what I posted above) that told me not to use Ivomec as I don't know what they actually have and has and told me that if I bring the regurgitated seeds they could test it.

So now I'm confused...there's really no exam available for a respiratory problem? Would testing regurgitated seeds bring to a diagnose? I mean my avian vet is the professor of Avian Medicine at the University, I believe he should know better than the second clinic, although he hasn't mentioned the test of regurgitated seeds as an option, neither he did tell not to use Ivomec, he actually recommended it!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Ally,

I'd recommend you call your Avian Vet back and discuss the Ivomec in further detail.

From what I can see on-line. It looks like the same thing as the Ivermectin .01% which is what is recommended for budgies.

**However -- the dosage should only be one drop as I indicated - and then it should not be applied again until a full 14 days pass.

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-disease-illness/104376-ivermectin-toxicity.html

I'd certainly want assurance from the Avian Vet that using it daily (?) isn't going to cause undue side-effects -- that just seems like overdoing things to me.

If the problem is not air-sac mites causing the sneezing and vomiting, then most Avian Vets would try a broad-spectrum antibiotic such as Baytril to be administered twice a day orally (not in the bird's water - that is not as effective).

Again, I suggest you call and discuss the issues with your Avian Vet before making any decision, but you should do so as quickly as possible as you do not want any infection lingering and taking it's toll on your birds.*


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## violetskyblue (Jun 6, 2015)

FaeryBee said:


> *Ally,
> 
> I'd recommend you call your Avian Vet back and discuss the Ivomec in further detail.
> 
> ...


Hi Deb,

Sorry I think I wrote it wrongly earlier, my avian vet (the avian medicine professor at uni) told me to use one drop every 7 days for 3 weeks (so not one drop a day but one drop weekly). The second avian vet I've never been to has said no to ivomec. I had the local vet prescribing Ivomec to me in association with my avian vet as they know each other and have co-worked for my other birds in the past towards prescriptions. As for respiratory problems that's what he said, as there is no such thing as an accurate test to find out they will just go to exclusion, possibly prescribing a broad-spectrum antibiotic just like they have prescribed a broad-spectrum anti-parasite like Ivomec. My question was if is this normal (the 'no specific test available for respiratory problems') or if things are different in the US?


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