I've been looking online to see if I can find out what scaly face looks like and the pictures I have found have not really depicted it very well. I'm sure if you've had experience with scaly face the picture is obvious, but for a newbie like me, all I see is a beak.
If anyone has a picture of what scaly face looks like, could you please post it for me and tell me what I'm looking for??
Greatly appreciated!
Jeannette
Scaly Face
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Hilary
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Scaly Face
Can I add scaly feet to the request as well? My nun has the funkiest feet, and I haven't been able to find any good pictures on the web. I'm not sure if it's old scarring from an old case of mites - may be a vet trip in our future.....
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Crystal
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hope these help some.
In a budgie:
http://ocw.tufts.edu/courses/5/content/ ... C12117.jpg photo showing how a severe infestation in a beak can cause the beak to become malformed
http://www.lbah.com/avian/facemites.htm more photos
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/acaro ... 000150.pdf scientific article with some good descriptions (but no photos)
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/fw/diseases/f ... ly_leg.pdf
info sheet with a picture of scaley leg
When it happens in canaries, the most common location you'll see the lesion is on the bottom of the feet (the part that grips the perch). Many "spiny" projections will be present, which is why the condition was given the name "tassel foot"--it looks just like gluing a tassel to the bottom of a canary's foot.
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If you are in doubt, you can always take your bird to get a skin scraping done to look for the presence of the mite. I had a finch with really funky feet (I'll post a picture if I can find one), but he was mite negative on a skin scrape of the legs. The individual scales on his legs were overgrown but he did not have a tassel appearance or crusting between the scales. The vet thought it could be a nutritional problem, since conditions like hypovitaminosis A (vitamin A deficiency) can also cause hyperkeratosis. Although a nutritional problem is possible, the diet I had him on (pellet based and substituted) should not have resulted in vitamin A deficiency, so it may have been a different problem. Regardless, it may be a good idea for those of us with "scaly legged birds" to add finely shredded carrots to the egg food we feed our birds.
THIS is a bird I purchased (as is) at a bird fair. I have a bad habit of picking up birds with weird problems because I want to try to figure out how to fix the problems (to see what works) so I can pass on good advice.
I took him to a vet to see if the lesion was of any significance (note especially the lump on his lower jaw). The yellow and white "crusting" and proliferations seen on the entire beak (which resulted in deformity and overgrowth) are typical signs of hyperkeratosis. This is how a finch could present if it had scaly face mite. This bird was also negative for the mite on scraping and again the vet thought it could be hypovitaminosis A. This was a much more likely culprit considering the bird was PURCHASED this way from a person who may have not fed an adequate diet. I cleaned this bird's beak up by carefully cutting away that overgrowth and gently filing the entire beak with a VERY FINE emery board (used to "buff" nails), and that little lump on the bottom part of the jaw began to ooze a little. I placed him on a pellet based diet and fed egg mixed with finely shredded carrots and the damaged parts of his beak grew out. Today his beak looks like new and he looks like the picture of health. He might have another problem (perhaps the predisposing factor that allowed his beak to become so ugly), but that is another story.
If you suspect mites, you can always treat with SCATT (or get ivermectin from your avian vet--ivermectin is the treatment of choice but DO NOT try to purchase it yourself!!! Your vet has the correct formulation and dilution; the ivermectin sold through farm stores, etc. is MUCH TOO STRONG and can kill your birds!), thoroughly wash and disinfect the cage (anything wooden should be replaced), and consider lightly dusting the bird with 5% carbaryl powder.
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I guess the take home message of my reply is that the scaly leg/face mite often presents AS hyperkeratosis (overgrowth and crusting), so if you have a bird with signs of hyperkeratosis, you should consider ALL of the potential causes: scaly face and leg mite, hypovitaminosis A, fungal or bacterial infections, bone tumor, etc. Of course some are more common than others (hypovitaminosis A and scaly face/leg mite being the most probable in the species we keep).
http://ocw.tufts.edu/courses/5/content/ ... C12117.jpg photo showing how a severe infestation in a beak can cause the beak to become malformed
http://www.lbah.com/avian/facemites.htm more photos
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/acaro ... 000150.pdf scientific article with some good descriptions (but no photos)
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/fw/diseases/f ... ly_leg.pdf
info sheet with a picture of scaley leg
When it happens in canaries, the most common location you'll see the lesion is on the bottom of the feet (the part that grips the perch). Many "spiny" projections will be present, which is why the condition was given the name "tassel foot"--it looks just like gluing a tassel to the bottom of a canary's foot.
---------------------------------------------------------
If you are in doubt, you can always take your bird to get a skin scraping done to look for the presence of the mite. I had a finch with really funky feet (I'll post a picture if I can find one), but he was mite negative on a skin scrape of the legs. The individual scales on his legs were overgrown but he did not have a tassel appearance or crusting between the scales. The vet thought it could be a nutritional problem, since conditions like hypovitaminosis A (vitamin A deficiency) can also cause hyperkeratosis. Although a nutritional problem is possible, the diet I had him on (pellet based and substituted) should not have resulted in vitamin A deficiency, so it may have been a different problem. Regardless, it may be a good idea for those of us with "scaly legged birds" to add finely shredded carrots to the egg food we feed our birds.
THIS is a bird I purchased (as is) at a bird fair. I have a bad habit of picking up birds with weird problems because I want to try to figure out how to fix the problems (to see what works) so I can pass on good advice.
I took him to a vet to see if the lesion was of any significance (note especially the lump on his lower jaw). The yellow and white "crusting" and proliferations seen on the entire beak (which resulted in deformity and overgrowth) are typical signs of hyperkeratosis. This is how a finch could present if it had scaly face mite. This bird was also negative for the mite on scraping and again the vet thought it could be hypovitaminosis A. This was a much more likely culprit considering the bird was PURCHASED this way from a person who may have not fed an adequate diet. I cleaned this bird's beak up by carefully cutting away that overgrowth and gently filing the entire beak with a VERY FINE emery board (used to "buff" nails), and that little lump on the bottom part of the jaw began to ooze a little. I placed him on a pellet based diet and fed egg mixed with finely shredded carrots and the damaged parts of his beak grew out. Today his beak looks like new and he looks like the picture of health. He might have another problem (perhaps the predisposing factor that allowed his beak to become so ugly), but that is another story.
If you suspect mites, you can always treat with SCATT (or get ivermectin from your avian vet--ivermectin is the treatment of choice but DO NOT try to purchase it yourself!!! Your vet has the correct formulation and dilution; the ivermectin sold through farm stores, etc. is MUCH TOO STRONG and can kill your birds!), thoroughly wash and disinfect the cage (anything wooden should be replaced), and consider lightly dusting the bird with 5% carbaryl powder.
--------------------------
I guess the take home message of my reply is that the scaly leg/face mite often presents AS hyperkeratosis (overgrowth and crusting), so if you have a bird with signs of hyperkeratosis, you should consider ALL of the potential causes: scaly face and leg mite, hypovitaminosis A, fungal or bacterial infections, bone tumor, etc. Of course some are more common than others (hypovitaminosis A and scaly face/leg mite being the most probable in the species we keep).
Last edited by Crystal on Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:34 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Hilary
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Thanks - yick!
Crystal -
Thanks so much! My nun's feet & legs aren't at all crusty like the pictures. When I first saw him I just thought he was really scaly and just older - it was only when I brought him home and clipped his nails that I saw just how bad it was. Legs look like somebody spread wax over them - there's a little leg in there, with excess skin (?). Same with the feet, which have more of a tassle-y appearance. Since he came from a pet store who knows what he'd been fed. I'll try to get him to eat the carrot (no luck so far, though I was grinding rather than shredding). Thanks! Jeannette - hope yours isn't really scaly face - that looks nasty!
Thanks so much! My nun's feet & legs aren't at all crusty like the pictures. When I first saw him I just thought he was really scaly and just older - it was only when I brought him home and clipped his nails that I saw just how bad it was. Legs look like somebody spread wax over them - there's a little leg in there, with excess skin (?). Same with the feet, which have more of a tassle-y appearance. Since he came from a pet store who knows what he'd been fed. I'll try to get him to eat the carrot (no luck so far, though I was grinding rather than shredding). Thanks! Jeannette - hope yours isn't really scaly face - that looks nasty!
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Crystal
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Grinding the carrots is fine, too--just as long as they are such tiny pieces they can easily be eaten. The *key* is to mix the carrot in with mashed boiled egg (or something else the bird *loves* to eat), so that it will be gobbled up. If you can house him with another finch that already likes to eat egg and/or carrot, your bird will learn by example that egg is good to eat. The most important thing (aside from trying to make the carrot tasty by mixing it with egg) is to keep providing it daily. Birds are often weary of new foods, but the more often you offer it, the more likely the bird is to become curious enough to get over the fear of "new" and try it out.
P.S. Here is a photo of the "crusty beaked gouldian" after several weeks on a better diet:
P.P.S. I could not find the picture of the scaly feet, but next time I see a bird with a similar problem, I will be sure to take a picture. In the meantime, feel free to take pictures of your birds' feet for the gallery's "possible health concerns," if you would like. :)
P.S. Here is a photo of the "crusty beaked gouldian" after several weeks on a better diet:
P.P.S. I could not find the picture of the scaly feet, but next time I see a bird with a similar problem, I will be sure to take a picture. In the meantime, feel free to take pictures of your birds' feet for the gallery's "possible health concerns," if you would like. :)
Last edited by Crystal on Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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JeannetteD
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Thank you!
Thanks, Crystal!
Those are by far the best pictures I have seen on the net of scaly face (and I'd never even heard of scaly feet!)
Given the red lesions on those birdsin the pictures, I believe that our male indigo probably has scaly face. We treated him with Scatt and the lesions have dried up and have reduced in size, so we'll wait until we can give one more application of the scatt and see if it gets rid of it completely. He seems to be getting better and better each day.
All the birds that were in with him have also been treated with Scatt and he has been put into a separate cage for observation.
Thanks again!
Jeannette
Those are by far the best pictures I have seen on the net of scaly face (and I'd never even heard of scaly feet!)
Given the red lesions on those birdsin the pictures, I believe that our male indigo probably has scaly face. We treated him with Scatt and the lesions have dried up and have reduced in size, so we'll wait until we can give one more application of the scatt and see if it gets rid of it completely. He seems to be getting better and better each day.
All the birds that were in with him have also been treated with Scatt and he has been put into a separate cage for observation.
Thanks again!
Jeannette
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JeannetteD
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It looks like scaly face
Hi Hilary!
Thank you for your concern, but I think it might be scaly face, as it had lesions like the one in the picture, only much smaller. One above each eye, one alongside the beak, and one on the crest of the wing. I treated him with scaly face the day of my initial post, and the lesions have been going down and drying up. Also, I treated the birds that were in the aviary with him, as one's beak looked like it had whitish residue on it. That has cleared up as well.
Hopefully we go it in time, as I hear that not catching it in time, can lead to scarring of the bird.
He looks much better though! So it's promising!
Jeannette
Thank you for your concern, but I think it might be scaly face, as it had lesions like the one in the picture, only much smaller. One above each eye, one alongside the beak, and one on the crest of the wing. I treated him with scaly face the day of my initial post, and the lesions have been going down and drying up. Also, I treated the birds that were in the aviary with him, as one's beak looked like it had whitish residue on it. That has cleared up as well.
Hopefully we go it in time, as I hear that not catching it in time, can lead to scarring of the bird.
He looks much better though! So it's promising!
Jeannette
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Marigold
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Hi Crystal,
Thanks for the pictures of the bird with the over growth on his beak.
I went to a Bird Fair this weekend and was given a Gouldian hen because of her beak. Once I got her home I trimmed her beak and nails. Then I treated her with Scatt. I put Guardian Angel in her water and gave her millet and Herb Salad. She seems to be doing OK so far.
Marigold
Thanks for the pictures of the bird with the over growth on his beak.
I went to a Bird Fair this weekend and was given a Gouldian hen because of her beak. Once I got her home I trimmed her beak and nails. Then I treated her with Scatt. I put Guardian Angel in her water and gave her millet and Herb Salad. She seems to be doing OK so far.
Marigold
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JeannetteD
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Hilary
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JeannetteD
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Hi Hilary!
I actually found a link online about some sort of growth on finch faces and it looked exactly like the kind my bird had. It recommended pulling off the scabby thing and sprinkling sodium bicarbonate on it. (baking soda).
I did, and it's been gone since. I should have posted this sooner. My bad.
Jeannette
I actually found a link online about some sort of growth on finch faces and it looked exactly like the kind my bird had. It recommended pulling off the scabby thing and sprinkling sodium bicarbonate on it. (baking soda).
I did, and it's been gone since. I should have posted this sooner. My bad.
Jeannette