Hey BirdVet....Worms

[captwest]

Small time breeder,mostly Amazons,i also do rescure birds,rehomes, and buy unwanted pets as possible breeders. I'm careful and usually pretty good about quarantining new birds. I havn't seen any evidence of worms but was wondering if an occasional worming was OK, if so how often and could you reccomend a product. Thanks Richard

[birdvet]

Hey Richard
I'd suggest submitting some faeces to your local avian vet, they should be able to pick up if you have any worms in your collection. Will be good to get a baseline for what is going on. If your birds are in outdoor aviaries they probably do have worms. De-wormers depend on the type of worm usually (hence submitting the faeces). If your birds have tapeworms then they'll need praziquantal. If roundworms are a problem (such as capillaria) then Moxidectin is usually good however Capillaria are quite resistant to drugs and can be a nightmare to get rid of. Ascarids usually require a 5 day course of fenbendazole. For routine worming every three months is usually recommended and usually with Moxidectin however, you won't kill tapeworms and if ascarids are a big problem than moxidectin can do more harm than good. Moxi kills the worms off quickly and as ascarids are very big this can result in intestinal impactions and perforations. This is why fenbendazole is recommended as it kills the worms slower and over a longer period of time to give the bird a chance to compensate.
Not as simple as it seems, huh
My recommendation to my clients is to submit a pooled faecal from aviaries every three months to see what they need to deworm with. This is the safest and should be easy if you have an avian vet nearby.

[captwest]

Thank You, for taking the time to submit such a thorough response.when you say "pooled faecal" should i take a sample from all the cages or will a representitive sample from a couple of cages do. I realize i couyld ask my local vet but it's so nice to be able to get imput from other sources, Once again thank you for your time, Richard PS there are many of us on here who really apreciate a professional taking the time to educate /inlighten the igorant.

[Shani]

there are many of us on here who really apreciate a professional taking the time to educate /inlighten the igorant.

Pretty much this <3 thanks Birdvet

[Roger P]

Wholeheartedly agree, your expertise is invaluable.

[birdvet]

Thanks guys, I enjoy helping out fellow bird-crazy peeps whenever I can

And Richard, sorry for the late response, I've been on leave and starting my new job, and visiting my family overseas which all = not much time spent online. A pooled faecal from a few of your aviaries should give you a good idea of what is floating around your property.

Cheers