mites

[MissHellfire]

how do you know if your bird has mites

[captwest]

You need to know your bird,is he scratching alot more than normal ? Has he beeen around other birds or wild birds ? Have you ?

[MissHellfire]

we've been around my fiance's gcc and budgie .. and i went to the flea market last weekend but i took a shower before i messed with him because i was around ducks,chickens, and other birds/animals but he has this little bald area right above his tail feathers under his big feathers like he's plucked i believe they are called his down feathers and same under his armpits not big spots but tiny but u can see his skin is pinkish red

[patdbunny]

Several hours after dark (cage dark) go look at the cage liner with a flashlight and see if you can see any little red/dark periods crawling around.

Alternatively, cover the cage at night with a white sheet. Several hours after dark (cage dark) go pull up the sheet and see if you see anything crawling around. Looking for the creepy crawlies can also be done first thing in the morning, too.

Or you can sprinkle Sevin dust under the cage liner and kill any kreepy krawlies just in case. Or you can use a pyrethrin spray on the cage and bird (I've used a product called Camicide).

Also - How often do you bath your bird? A really good soaking bath? Sometimes it's dry skin. Especially in the winter if you're in an area that's cold enough to use a lot of winter heating.

[Margaret]

Roz, as ugly as it sounds, at least I'll know what to look for if I have doubts. Thanks!

[patdbunny]

Hate to admit it, but I've had cooties. Once when I got a nestbox from a bird store and didn't hose it down w/ insecticide before using it; second time chicken mites. No idea how the chicken mites got on the cockatiels inside the house. I know the tiels didn't originally have mites.

[captwest]

Back in the olden days i used moth balls to get rid of mites, worked great.