question about airsack mites

[poweranni]

Hi .. I am new. I came to this forum from keyword search on various finch topics. The Yahoo search engine routed me to this site, and I thought that i would join.

A while back we got this zebra finch with this odd habit of "panting" -- I thought it was cute .. But then another finch, (a monster-sized "English" Zebra finch) panted and squeaked too. He squeaks as he pants ... This woman in the local finch society here had discussed air sack mites, and it literally "clicked."

What are the chances that these birds have air-sack mites? It is this a mite, or is this just an odd quirk?

Also, how contagious are these mites? Do I need to treat the entire flock, with the drinking water? How do you control the dose, if it is in the drinking water? Or should I separate out the ones who are panting ... Do they only have it, when they are showing symptoms?

Also, my "iverlux" expired in 2007 ... is that hopelessly dead?

Thank you.

[DanteD716]

I'm not too educated on them, but yes, seperate them right away! The sell treatments, and I would treat the entire flock to stay on the safe side, and it may be the water, not sure.