Birds and Mites

[Whispering Winds]

Our son is presently living with us, and has his 10 year old son every other week-end. DGS has a skin condition anyway, but now that he sleeps in the bedroom where my aviary is, along with a big cage of 6 cocktiels, he has broken out in a terrible itching condition. Started out as hives, the first time, and then has just went to big itchy bite like things. His mom took him to the doctor Monday and he has according to them, an allergic reaction to fleas or mites. We don't have fleas, I know, but even with hanging those round metal parasite killers (and I have a lot of them, because these are big cages) what else can I do to kill anything else. I feel terrible about it, makes me feel like I am not cleaning like I should; but none of the rest of the family, including our 10 year old DS who sleeps in the same room has any issues . . .any suggestions? Something cheap and safe would sure be nice. I clean the cages faithfully ever week; but you can't use anything caustic because they chew and knaw on stuff and I love them and want to keep them safe too.

One other thing I should mention, is our 10 year old had strep throat twice this year, and he broke out on his arms and other areas with welts and then they itched to the point where he had small scabs . . . so off to the doctor we went and I told the PA, who is VERY good, about having the birds in the room with him, and she said no, that wasn't caused by birds. . .she even had the MD come in and take a look and said it was acute dermititis and gave us a steroid cream to use and its fine now . . .only had to use it four times and it cleared completely up. I thought the itch/rash might have been from strep, because you don't have to have a sore throat to still have it, so wanted to make sure.

 

[Nambroth]

I would personally get rid of the metal mite preventative things.. they are gimmicky and probably cause more harm than good. Having them around does not prevent mites but it does spread toxins.

Here is a good article to get you started:
http://www.pigeonangels.com/t202-article-from-avian-web-on-mites

The bottom line is that there are many species of mite that could be a problem. Your best course of action would be to take your parrots an avian vet to determine what type of mite your birds have. It's possible that they don't have mites at all and that the mites are coming from a different source or even something else entirely. If you have chickens they are more likely to have mites than your parrots. If you treat your cockatiels for mites 'blindly' and they have a different type (or none at all) you could be causing them harm.

If you can't get to an avian vet (and I do understand), you should probably attempt to examine your cockatiels and their perches yourself to see if you can find any signs of mites. Mites are tiny.. some are very tiny, but any surface dwelling mites are visible to keen eyes. When examining the cockatiels, you can try toweling them with a bright white cloth so that if any mites fall off you can see them more easily. Look at the bases of feathers, especially around the tail, preen gland, vent, ears, eyes, and under the wings. Examine cracks and crevices in the cage, toys, especially wooden perches and toy parts if any. You can try tapping them onto a sheet of white paper and see if any mites fall out. Another trick is to temporarily line the cage with bright white paper (I know this is expensive, but with hope you should only have to do it once or twice). Mites are most active at night, and it might be worth leaving the lights off for a while, then coming in to examine the paper to see if you see any tiny specks moving.

It seems strange that no one else has had a problem with mites. There are two things I should mention: 1. Some people seem to be favored by mites for unknown reasons, and sometimes mites will 'attack' one person and not another, so you can't rule out mites, but also 2. People have had allergic reactions and problems that closely resemble mite problems, when it is actually something else. Some folks can even have an extreme reaction to dust mites, and it can develop at different points in life.

I hope you can pinpoint the problem so that a solution is easier to figure out!

Best wishes!

 

[KYChickenlady]

Diatomaceous Earth is a wonderful solution for any internal or external parasite. No chemical so they can never become immune to it and my babies just love their dust bath. Check into it and if you need more info just pm me.

 

[Whispering Winds]

Quote:
This is the best tip yet; this I can do. I have to find a local supplier, but I think I can do that. I put white paper towels in the bottom of the finch/parakeet aviary at night (read this as a tip to identify) and next morning there was ONE teeny tiny black speck but that could have been from the paper towel itself and poop. That was it. Tipsters said as they sleep and groom, the mites will fall off. I slept in there last night with GD and NOTHING on me this morning. Mites affect me like head lice. Talk about them and my head itches!!

Our grandson that visits every other week-end (didn't make it this week-end, hmmmmmmmmmmm) also has eczema, so I wonder if he got into something outside because he is an outdoors kid and plays and plays in the grass and stuff . . .with everything blooming right now, its very easy to get into something you don't agree with. The other kid had them on his face and arm, but just a few and they were getting better. . . .and he ALSO was outside at our house playing . . .Our DS had a spell with the itching but doctor said that was extreme dermatitis and the creme they gave us cleared it right up . . .this has honestly been one of the most stressful things I have had to deal with, and I so enjoy these little birds I don't want to think about having to get rid of them~~~thanks for all the help!!

I didn't realize this topic posted, I looked for it when I thought I had submitted but couldn't find it, so sorry I double posted.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

We got our Diatomaceous Earth (DE) on-line; I can't remember where, but try a search.

It sounds like your grandson is very sensitive to allergens and it can be really difficult to identify the source for sure unless they do allergy tests. I understand it can be very frustrating especially if there is a chance it could limit your grandson from visiting. If he has a reaction again I' d even go so far as to have a slumber party with him in the living room to see if that makes any difference.