Lice? human shampoo??? *help please!*

[Mitzi&I]

Hello! I just recently bought a beautiful Silkie, but she seems to have what I think is lice. Yellowy, long, fast moving bugs all over her feather, but not close to the skin. about 1 - 3 mm in length (many different sizes)

Before I took her home, and before I even noticed the lice, she got Ivomec and something sprayed on her bum. The next day when I saw them I had nothing on me so I bathed her in dog flea shampoo...which got HUNDREDS off and seemed to really work, she perked up a bit afterward, until the next morning when I discovered tons of new baby ones. There is always dead ones falling off of her, if she sits a long time and I move her there are a bunch underneath her dead...is this a sign of treatment working, or is that just what happens when they get lice?

Not sure if it is her temperament or if the lice are making her this way, but she is very lethargic, doesn't move, barely eats, barely drinks and has only pooed about 3 times. Although she seems to be getting slightly more active (maybe stress from moving?)


I searched EVERYWHERE for sevin with no luck. I even searched every pet store I could find for bird lice killer, again with no luck.

So in desperation I picked up something called "Resultz" it is human lice shampoo. I read a few people saying head lice shampoo really worked for their chickens, but I imagine the chemicals can't be safe...so I am scared to use it. But at the same time I want this lice gone asap! for both her and my sake.

It's ingredients are purely isopropyl myristate and cyclomethicone. Anyone know if this is tooo dangerous for birds?

Anyway what do you think?

thanks,

Christina

 

[bryan99705]

Go on line and order Sevin

 

[welasharon]

I can buy seven 5% dust at walmart, ace hardware or any of the feed and seed stores. Have you tried there? It is actually more of a garden product.
sharon

 

[poseygrace]

I don't know where you live, but I found Sevin in Wal Mart, Home Depot, and Tractor Supply Co. There are many threads on here that will tell you how to treat lice and mites. Here's a link to a great article by Univ. of California, describing the pests, showing pics, and telling you what treatments are available. Good luck!

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf

 

[shelleyd2008]

You can give the bird a bath with dog flea shampoo, put a few drops of ivermectin pour-on cattle wormer on the back of her neck, or dust her with Sevin Dust. Any of those would work.

 

[Mitzi&I]

I am in Canada, and even though on the web these stores advertise having sevin, they don't in Canada apparently

I haven't tried Walmart yet though, I will give that a shot.


If not though, I don't want to wait for it to ship, I am terrified of her dying of anemia..she doesn't look to good.

I poured cattle ivermectin on her 2 days ago....when is it safe to reapply?

What can I feed her to make her feel better?

Thanks,

Christina

 

[dianaross77]

These are the top ten iron rich foods:
Red meat
Egg yolks
Dark, leafy greens (spinach, collards)
Dried fruit (prunes, raisins)
Iron-enriched cereals and grains (check the labels)
Mollusks (oysters, clams, scallops)
Turkey or chicken giblets
Beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans
Liver
Artichokes

I got a product for my chickens that is called garden and poultry dust. It contains permethrin. So anything with that as an active ingredient would work. Canadian tire carries liquid sevin but I couldn't tell if it was the same ingredient as the dust. The active ingredient in sevin dust is carbaryl. The active ingredient in human lice treatment and many dog flea shampoos is pyrethrum/pyrethrin. So be sure to check the labels of things. You might be able to find a brand in canada that we don't have here that will work.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

You can also give her a bath in Dawn dish soap. Soap her up well, and let her sit for a few minutes. Rinse her well - double rinse is not bad.


Yes, she is lethargic because the bugs are sucking the life out of her.



Thank you for working so hard to help her.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Yes, you can use human lice shampoo on her. Follow the directions. Not sure why the first treatment with dog shampoo did not work--did you let it set for about 10 minutes before rinsing it off? You will need to keep treating her at least weekly to eliminate nits as they hatch out, and break that cycle, If you can find a dog flea/tick shampoo that contains an insect growth regulator, it will help as it prevents nits from maturing; thus they do not lay eggs to hatch more nits.

You also need to clean and treat her coop.

 

[Mitzi&I]

Thanks for the reply, I am trying the shampoo right now. It says to apply it to dry hair?? I don't even know if that will work with her and all her fluf? I think I will wet her feathers first then apply.


I will let you know how it turned out.

Cleaning her coop wont be hard....since I have brought her home (2 days ago) shes just been placed un-caged on newspaper and she hasn't stepped off of it in 3 days, she never moves. haha


I have changed the paper after every poo, each time the newspaper has been filled with dead lice too...

Anyway I will go do it now.

Christina