FINCHforum

Am i missing anything?

not in order:
general deep clean of housing
de-worm gel
spray for feather mites
scatt
ronivet

What is all this?

That's my usual for quarantine (though I often use S76 instead of Scatt - it's easier).

I assme these are all medications...where can they be purchased and how do you administer them? My Finches nearly have a heart attack if I stick my hand in the cage.

Thanks Hilary. I only have a few finches so scatt works fine, I can put it on them when I clip their nails.

Missi - yes it takes a lot of effort to catch the little guys. It's not so bad in the small little quarantine cage i have, but in the flights I may have to break down and get a net. I usually ask my husband to catch them

I had four get loose in the house today (I wasn't paying attention and left the cage door open for the SECOND time in about 4 days - what's wrong with me???!). Now THAT's fun!

All are meds that can be bought online. I personally use Wormout (for worms, obviously), AIL (Avian Insect Liquidator - for mites), Scatt or S76 (air sac mites), and Ronivet (for protozoal infections). Wormout, S76 and Ronivet are added to their water (I also add a little strawberry syrup with the Wormout to make it a little more palatable). AIL is a spray, and Scatt is applied as a single drop to the back or under a wing.

Why all that? Why not just use ivermectin?

What website do you purchase these from?

Can ivermectin be purchased with out a prescription?

Ivermectin is not effective against tapeworm, while Wormout gel is. I use the AIL to get any external critters that may not stick around on the new bird long enough to be killed by the Scatt or S76. And ronivet treats an entirely different potential problem.

Missi, you can find any of these on www.justbirdstuff.com. The S76 is found on www.ladygouldianfinch.com. To apply Scatt you have to catch the bird and apply a drop directly to the skin, possibly retreating in 21 days. The S76 is added to their water for two days in a row, repeated for 3 weeks (total of 6 day). It's easier for a large number of birds.

Great! And, what do you use to clean the cage after treating for mites to get the rest out? Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE)?

The AIL can be sprayed on the perches and such. So I usually clean with vinegar water and then spray the birds/perches liberally (removing water and food).

Plus my finches are so afraid of the spray i usually end up just spraing the cage anyways

Another question guys...

can I treat all the birds (including my budgies) with SCATT and these meds even if they aren't showing symptoms? What is I apply the SCATT on the back of everyone's neck and then they preen each other, ingesting the SCATT???

While the instructions on Scatt state to put one drop on the back on the neck, I usually put it under the wing in the birds "armpit". The Scatt needs to be absorbed through the skin to be effective. Getting it on the skin can be somewhat difficult on the back of the neck.

I treat all new birds as a preventative with Scatt and treat all birds in my aviary once per year - again as a preventative. I usually do it when I trim nails before setting them up to breed - same as another poster mentioned.