by Pajarita » Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:27 am
Mites don't cause enough pain for a bird to chew off anything - if anything, they make them itch...
Do you put your birds outside? Have you gotten a new bird recently? Have you used tree branches in their cages that had not been baked? Because the only way birds get mites is by being exposed to something that has them so, if they have not been outside or access to outside stuff and if there are no new birds that could have brought the infestation, it cannot be mites. But spraying feet and wings is not going to do it because red mites don't live on the bird [those are the ones that make them itch], feather mites don't even touch the bird itself, they feed on the protein in the feathers, air sac mites are internal and the only symptoms are labored breathing and a clicking noise in their chest and the only other common parasite to birds is scaly mites which affect beaks and feet [where there are no feathers] and produce something similar to scabs [it's also called bird mange].
You either need to take the bird to a vet and get a proper diagnosis and treatment OR you can try using ivermectin internally or Scatt topically [I have used Ivermectin in the past on my canaries and it's very safe and effective if you follow the instructions correctly]. The trick is to take away their water bowls at night and give them freshly medicated water in the morning and to do the treatment once a week for three consecutive weeks and always on the same day so, if you do it on a, say, Monday, you need to do it again the next two Mondays. Vets will tell you that two weeks is enough but some mites have a three week life cycle -if not lifespan- and it's best to do it three times in a row, just to make sure. But you also need to do the thorough cleaning and changing of everything not made out of metal [which needs to be scrubbed].