a bit confused about mites,,,,,

[CommaHolly]

I'm hoping for some advice,,,,

currently, I have two zebra finch males who seem very healthy and happy,,,,,they both sing and chirp away, and I have no worries,,,

but I've been reading a lot about mites on this board,,,,,,,there seem to be different kinds??

Air sac mites seem to be very dangerous, and must be treated with Scatt or S76,,,,,,

other mites seem to be treated with a spray like Avian Insect Liquidator.

Should I treat my two finches every 3-4 months for air sac mites, even if they are healthy as a preventative?????

how often should I use the Avian Insect Liquidator to prevent mites? or do you only use this if there ARE mites??

Are these the only preventatives I should need, or are there others????

[Corkysgirl]

I don't believe in preventative treatments. To me, the birds either are sick or they're not sick and you treat them for the illnesses as necessary. If your birds are healthy and happy, there's probably no worry. Air Sac mites have definite symptoms and bringing a new bird into your home without quarantining them might be a way to introduce it. Another mite is scaly mites. There are also indicators for this scaly feet, beak, etc. If your bird isn't having symptoms, no worries. If they are then there is a protocol to treat them. I know it's a scary thing. The thought of mites, but I wouldn't worry about it unless you see an issue come up.

[debbie276]

Absolutely agree with Corkysgirl!

ASM can be treated for in quarantine and is transferred bird to bird so if you don't let it into your flock they don't just appear.
There is no preventative for ASM only treatments so you would constantly be treating your birds with medications they don't need.

AIL is a spray and not medicine so if you suspect other mites such as red mites and feather mites you could spray without a worry.

[Sally]

One thing to keep in mind when reading a forum like this is that it may seem like there are lots of problems with keeping finches. The reality is that many members only post when they have a problem and need some help, and so the problem posts may outnumber the 'look at my baby bird' posts.

IMO air sac mites aren't nearly as prevalent as it would seem from reading posts. I think when we are new to keeping any kind of pet, we tend to be almost compulsive in our desire to do the right thing, and so we sometimes see problems when they don't exist. As we become more confident in our own abilities and more familiar with the normal actions of a healthy finch, we can relax and not worry as much.

[CommaHolly]

One thing to keep in mind when reading a forum like this is that it may seem like there are lots of problems with keeping finches. The reality is that many members only post when they have a problem and need some help, and so the problem posts may outnumber the 'look at my baby bird' posts.

IMO air sac mites aren't nearly as prevalent as it would seem from reading posts. I think when we are new to keeping any kind of pet, we tend to be almost compulsive in our desire to do the right thing, and so we sometimes see problems when they don't exist. As we become more confident in our own abilities and more familiar with the normal actions of a healthy finch, we can relax and not worry as much.

this I was the same way with my pug when I got her,,,,,,,,terrified of every known pug illness,,,,,she hasn't had a one of them and she's 7 LOL.

thanks for the help with it

[MiaCarter]

this I was the same way with my pug when I got her,,,,,,,,terrified of every known pug illness,,,,,she hasn't had a one of them and she's 7 LOL.

Haha -- me too! I could give you an hour long seminar on Pug Dog Encephalitis, but 13 years (14 years in August) down the road, we've not seen any of the awful pug diseases I've read about.

The same goes for birds.
I don't treat proactively unless there's a good possibility of a problem. So unless your birds are showing symptoms or they've been exposed, I wouldn't worry about it.

The one exception is new birds from an unknown location (like a pet shop). I treat them proactively. But not for birds from a trusted breeder.

[CommaHolly]

this I was the same way with my pug when I got her,,,,,,,,terrified of every known pug illness,,,,,she hasn't had a one of them and she's 7 LOL.

Haha -- me too! I could give you an hour long seminar on Pug Dog Encephalitis, but 13 years (14 years in August) down the road, we've not seen any of the awful pug diseases I've read about.

The same goes for birds.
I don't treat proactively unless there's a good possibility of a problem. So unless your birds are showing symptoms or they've been exposed, I wouldn't worry about it.

The one exception is new birds from an unknown location (like a pet shop). I treat them proactively. But not for birds from a trusted breeder.

too funny

hummmmmmmm, I will say that I got mine from a pet store (they all did seem very clean and healthy looking,,,,,no cruddy eyes or dirty cages, etc,,,,,,I'm certainly no expert though,,,,,)

[debbie276]

Personally I would quarantine and treat all birds the same whether they are coming from a pet store OR private breeder.

[wildbird]

I wouldn't give medications to a bird that wasn't sick.

[wilkifam]

Personally I would quarantine and treat all birds the same whether they are coming from a pet store OR private breeder.

Totally agree with Debbie276! Always quarantine new birds.

[sgolds]

I have wondered this also. Great info here, thanks.