# Red Mites, Need advice



## Kate (Sep 15, 2007)

Hello, I recently got a new budgie a few days ago. 

We got him Christmas Eve, he was in our side flat until our boys went to sleep. Then I bought him inside our house. After a little while I noticed he had little black things crawling all over him, and then on further inspection they were crawling all over the cage, I squashed one and it was full of blood. So gross. Did a google and they are red mites? I was so upset and then freaking out our house was going to get infested. So I put his cage outside on our porch. Did the whole surprise reveal to my son the next morning for christmas, he was absolutely ecstatic, but then was short lived when I said he couldn't come inside yet.
Are red mites common? I'm so upset about it. I told the breeder I needed to take him back as I was freaking out about it after reading they're hard to get rid of and can infest your house. But then last night I kept checking on him and I saw none, none on him and none crawling on the cage and I checked multiple times. I've checked tonight and can't see any again. He's so skittish too, when I first picked him up from the breeder he had him ready in a small cage and he had no tail feather. So it must have been an intense scuffle when he grabbed him from the aviary, he seems really really scared. I'm just feeling really deflated and don't know what to do? It was a really really humid night when I saw them. I read they only come out at night and only visible then. But I haven't seen any the last 2 nights and it's been a little cooler so I don't know if that means anything. Anyway, has anyone dealt with red mites???
Thanks for listening.
Kate


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## lbeckman (Jun 26, 2016)

Here's a link to an article that includes a short section on red mites.

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

I did a search of this forum and didn't see anything else about them. You could take him to a vet or take him back to the breeder, but leaving him out on your porch doesn't seem like a good idea. It's not going to help him become less scared and it leaves him susceptible to additional creepy crawly things.


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## iHeartPieds (Jan 9, 2017)

I think it would be best to take him to an avian vet. Please don't leave him outside as he could be attacked by a cat or wild bird in his cage.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Your budgie should never be left outside unsupervised.

The budgie needs to be seen by an Avian Vet for proper treatment using ivermectin or Scatt.
Keep in mind that if one budgie from the breeder has mites, the rest have been exposed and need to be treated as well.*


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