Dr. Rob Marshall products

[kouma]

Thanks for all the replies.

I agree that there is a difference between treatment and prevention. And I understand that one applies on the bird, whereas the other goes in the water. At the moment, I have birds that are breathing heavily and coughing as well as getting all fluffy and lazy, in other words have heavy infestation of ASM. I can't take a chance with something that may or may not work. I will continue my treatment with S76 until my order for SCATT arrives in the mail, and then i will treat again the ones with heavy infestation with SCATT.

BCAMP: LGF are including a free applicator with SCATT if you purchase from them now, which makes it easy to apply.

Frinch Fry: I purchased the 250ML bottle and paid $43 to have it shipped. This cost me close to $70 wasted. I also asked my sister to get me Iverlux from Canada ($50 CDN) also wasted. And now I ordered SCATT. I should have read other threads than the "Air Sac Mites" thread.

Sally: I got introduced to H2O from this forum and this is why I was reading his thread, because he faced similar problems like I do having purchased from the same suppliers.

[debbie276]

Scatt is moxidectin 1000ug/ml
Iverlux and S76 are both ivermectin .8g/L and slippery elm

Found a couple of interesting articles while I was searching about air sac mites, thought you'd be interested:
http://www.aaawebmaster.com/canary/disease.htm
http://www.birds2grow.com/art-airsac.html
http://www.geocities.com/canarytales_li ... search.htm
The complete life cycle of the Air Sac Mite is approximately fourteen to twenty one days. As mentioned earlier this takes place along the surface of the respiratory tract of affected birds. One interesting aspect of the Air Sac Mite life cycle, is that the female is Larviparous, this means that the Nymph stage occurs within the adult female Air Sac Mite, thus the female "gives birth" to Larvae which soon go on to mature into adults.
Transmission of Air Mite occurs through direct contact via the oral route, from one bird to another. By far, the most common method of Air Sac Mite transmission occurs when infested adult birds feed regurgitated food to young nestlings. Another method of mite transmission occurs during courtship behavior when male canaries can be observed feeding females. Transmission can also occur by drinking water from contaminated water bottles in flight cages.
http://canaryclassics.mysite.wanadoo-me ... mites.html

[debbie276]

Sorry about the 2 dead links, I had them bookmarked, should have made sure they were still online. They all said basically the same thing though, I just have a thing about wanting more then one source when I'm researching something.
Sorry

[CandoAviary]

Unfortunately the products that you think are not working or are a waste probably has to do with the condition of your birds. Ivermectin does work...... has been for years and was once the only chemical available to kill ASM. Due to the fact that your birds are so heavily infected may mean that as the mites are dieing they are causing so much infection or actually clogging the airways , suffacating the birds.
Kind of like a smoker developing emphysema and then they quit smoking..... The damage is done.... not treatment will reverse chronic damage. Even when you get your scatt with yet another chemical, it may just be too long and too much for these little creatures. With heavy infestation their bodies have been stress with iritation, lack of sleep, poor organ function due to lack of oxygen(this is why they can only sit, fluff, and dose) I hope this is not the case and some(the ones that you have been treating already with S76) will pull through. Also I hope mixing the product stronger than what was recommended will not do even more damage.
Don't blame the medications, the mail.......
First take responsibility yourself. Educate yourself on possible ailments. It was I who suggested that they probably had ASM, you had no idea. Also you should educate yourselg about buying from responsible breeders and equip yorself with the knowledge of how to spot a healthy bird. You should also be prepared for your birds care in case troubles arise. Meaning you have common medications on hand or a vet close by.
I am sorry if I come across as judgemental. This is not my intentions. Actually I have been trying to offer help and advice from the beginning. Please take responsibility for these birds and quit blaming everything else for this outcome. Good husbandry comes from knowledgable, responsible keepers.
We all learn from our mistakes, experiences, etc. But we don't have to place blame on proven products, the mail system, for our failures. Better luck in the future, no doubt you now know enough now that you will never have troubles with ASM again. Now read the articles about other finch ailments so you might be prepared in case something else may arise. These birds are counting on you.

[kouma]

I am educating myself. Thats why I joined this forum, thats why I asked questions, and that why I purchased S76. However, as I educated myself more, I found that S76 might not be as good as what others have claimed. I have also read that Dr. Rob products might cause more damage than good. According to this, yes I do blame the medication for making false claims especially when I need to wait 10 days to have something shipped to me while my birds are suffering. We here do not have the privilege of buying from reputable breeders. I am taking the responsibility, thats why I am purchasing medications like antibiotics, probotics, RonivetS, CocciCARE, Scatt and have them on standby in case something happens in the future. If i didn't take responsibility, like many people who purchase pets because they are cute, I would have simply purchased the birds, didn't bother learn about them, and if they died simply buy more (definitely cheaper than what I spent on meds) - but thats not me.

[kouma]

I thank everyone for their help, I feel a lot more knowledgeable now after reading all your suggestions and great links. I will continue my S76 treatment and by the time my Scatt shipment comes, if I don't notice any improvements I will give them a second round of Scatt treatment followed by antibiotics, then probotics.

I will keep everyone posted.

[CandoAviary]

Sounds like you will become a real asset to the finch community. I have many years at animal husbandry and have lost many along the way in the process of learning There is so much good information out there via the web that I wish I had it around 20 years ago, I could of been much more equipped with information and would have most information at my fingertips. Maybe you will become one of those reputable breeders in Dubai Remember to always quarantine new birds before adding to the mix.