FINCHforum

I worm my birds once a year and treat them for ASM every other month. That's it!

The preventative care during quarantine is an individual owner thing. Some have a watch and wait and others use preventative.

For me I consider where the birds come from, where they kept outside in an aviary, imports, from a broker, from a breeder that is cautious, from a store or if I am unsure of the origin...etc. If I know the breeder and know their practices I may be more conservative but still quarantine.

I use ronex 12% or Ronivet 12%
Wormaway
Coccicare

I keep, amoxicillin, tetratex, Nystatin, calcium plus on hand.

Preventative care has changed but lie I said..for me it depends on where the birds come from

I have used the Amoxitex, the Tetratex once. The Amoxitex can be mixed with the Ronex as you know, the Tetratex no.

Here is the page for Tetratex
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/product_tetratex.php

the page for Amoxitex
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/product_amoxitex.php

Paradise Aviary wrote:

dfcauley wrote:I worm my birds once a year and treat them for ASM every other month. That's it!

Donna, do you treat all of them for ASM or just the Gouldian???

I treat the whole flock.....

Rancel, any meds or treatments you buy keep in the fridge....it extends the life of them by about 6 months.

Rancel,
As Cindy suggested, I use Cocci Care, Worm Away, Ronivet 12% and Iverlux/Scatt. I keep Amoxitex, Endomyacin, Trimethoprin Sulfate, and Quick Gel on hand for sick finches. I follow up treatments with Probiotic to restabilize the gut flora. Otherwise, they get filtered water daily and Calcium Plus, prior to breeding or if needed. I administer the Cocci Care, Worm Away and Iverlux about every 3-4 months and the Ronivet 12% once twice a year, prior to breeding and following fledging. My quarantine regimen is Ronivet 12%, Cocci Care, Worm Away, Scatt, followed by Probiotic. This regimen takes about 3-4 weeks. Then, if they appear healthy and no symptoms etc, they can join the flock. I have four finches in quarantine right now and one that just joined the flock. All are doing well so far.

You can't prevent disease.... only treat it
I treat only if the bird has symptoms of a disease, parasite, infection, etc. Which I am glad to say is rarely
I don't medicate for any other ailment unless there is a need. Giving the medications "as a prevenative" won't work. once you stop the meds the bird can then come into contact with worms, protozoan, bacteria and then all that prevenative medixcation is all for not...you will need to treat for what the bird has
Giving meds when not needed is a waste of money and hard on a birds delicate system. If you really want to improve your bird's health then feed it well...give it sunshine, fresh air, uncrowded conditions, bee pollen, spirulina, herbs, minerals and all kinds of other natural stuff like wild birds have. This is key to building a strong immune system... this is the finches best preventative health defense. A good strong immunity with few toxins in the diet and air
I urge people to put their money towards organic foods and herbs . Of course you should have medications on hand in case you do need them... but hopefully your birds will be so healthy from the foods, space, light and air you provide that those meds will just sit in the refrigerator and expire

I should add... if you do have an outdoor aviary and have had worms then you may have to repeat treatments periodically. It is hard to clear the ground of them. Also if you have had air sac mites then if you don't sanitize the perches, nest, feed cups, etc. your birds will reinfest themselves... so the need to continually treat for them becomes necessary. Though better health for your bird to get rid of the mites from the enviroment than to dose your bird with a pesticide regularly.

I have only treated all my birds with ronivet-s and s76 when they were quarantined (i also follow with probiotics after each medication) - otherwise i agree with CandoAviary i dont do treatments at all besides the quarantine procedure - i would only medicate if the birds were ill

Same here, once out of quarantine no more treatments/meds unless a bird falls ill. Once in a while when I have it I add Breeders Blend to the eggfood but most of the time pellets, eggfoods and veggies along with seed.

The biggest thing you need to stay up on are clean conditions and a good diet.

Candace wrote
"I should add... if you do have an outdoor aviary and have had worms then you may have to repeat treatments periodically. It is hard to clear the ground of them. Also if you have had air sac mites then if you don't sanitize the perches, nest, feed cups, etc. your birds will reinfest themselves... so the need to continually treat for them becomes necessary. Though better health for your bird to get rid of the mites from the enviroment than to dose your bird with a pesticide regularly.[/quote]

This is were it is vital to clean completely with any type of worm, parasites or ASM during treatment. I see that members routinely treat for ASM as a prevention monthly, every few months or twice a year. I have never had issue with ASM but often wondered why people treat so often. It is like with any mite or parasite the whole cage and all accessories need to be cleaned and disinfected properly to assure there is no reinfestation. It is like de-fleaing the dog, house and yard all at the same time.

cindy wrote: I see that members routinely treat for ASM as a prevention monthly, every few months or twice a year. I have never had issue with ASM but often wondered why people treat so often. It is like with any mite or parasite the whole cage and all accessories need to be cleaned and disinfected properly to assure there is no reinfestation. It is like de-fleaing the dog, house and yard all at the same time.

I don't think this is true.... air sac mites can live in a gouldian for all their life if they are ever infected. It is when they are stressed that they merge. . But... I did have it in my aviary with a few of my goudlains at one time. I have never lost one due to it, but I do treat 3-4 times yearly for it.


Laraine's article.....

Air-sac mites live in the respiratory tract (trachea, air-sacs, bronchi and lungs) of birds. The 2 species that are most susceptible to these mites are Lady Gouldian Finches and Canaries. Studies have found that the pregnant adult female mite produces eggs that hatch within the female and are then born alive as nymphs. Laboratory experiments with the air-sac mite indicate that the life cycle (from egg to adult) can take place in 6 days. However this nymph stage does not always mature immediately and can remain in dormancy within the respiratory tract for extended periods of time. Their maturity and activity is triggered by high temperatures and stressful periods for the birds. For more information on air sac mites

So treating every other month or every 6 months is more of a prevention then.

The same with parasites...a bird can carry it, not show signs until stressed, breeding or raising young. Often the birds will pass it onto the young which due to their immature immune systems can not ward it off so they succumb to it either dying in the nest, fledging and going thin then passing away. Birds in otherwise good health (looking well) can hold the parasite back and pass it to others through droppings in drinking water and food.

One of the reasons I use some of the treatments in quarantine is to prevent this from occurring if I plan to breed the birds soon after especially if their previous environment is in question.

In the last year all birds get removed from their cages and the cages is disinfected and changed out...I have done this at least 3 times this year with twice a week cleanings and paper changes.

cindy wrote:So treating every other month or every 6 months is more of a prevention then.

For me it is...... That and worming is all I do preventively.....(this is what has worked for me)

Donna, I think we as care takers have to do what works for our birds and what we are comfortable with. The goal is healthy happy birds.

cindy wrote:Donna, I think we as care takers have to do what works for our birds and what we are comfortable with. The goal is healthy happy birds.

Agree... but the less pesticides/medications the better in my opinion. The key is lower stress levels.... as this seems to be what everyone agrees makes a bird susceptible to any infection/infestation to begin with.
Strengthen your bird's immunity system with foods, sunshine, herbs, and fresh air. It works for the birds in the wild
Unfortunalely this is hard to acheive in indoor facitlities where light, air pollution, chemical water, artificial climates, etc. are the norm