FINCHforum

I had two red stars (a male and a female) that had air sac mites. I got something from Vetafarm (the makers of that Scatt stuff) and they gave us something in a bottle... 50ml of it, I don't think they can sell Scatt here, so maybe it was just something on par, or Scatt in a different bottle. But we put it on them last Monday the 16th.... my male I figure had it pretty bad... but while he's eating and drinking and not making that coughing noise, he's not really "singing" yet... or so I've heard... I have another red and yellow male star in there as well... so I don't know but I'm pretty sure he hasn't sung as of yet, is that normal?

Also, I notice that my male red star and my male yellow star have totally different songs, is that normal? Also would a yellow male and a red female be able to actually properly breed? Or does the red have to breed with another red and vice versa?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Sara,

I don't have star finches, so I can't comment on their song.

As for the Air Sac Mites, I would continue to give it more time before I would be concerned. If you bird(s) had a severe case, than I know Vetafarm recommends a second application 21 days after the first for the Scatt. Did they recommend that for the product they gave you?

Also, when a bird has a bad case of air sac mites, there can sometimes be a secondary bacterial infection. This may be the case with your birds. If so, they will need an antibiotic for that as well.

Well, he seems to tweet but it's much quieter, but it thankfully doesn't sound anything like coughing and thankfully he no longer does that gasping for air type movement he does with his mouth.

I think we talked to the owner of Vetafarm, and he just said to reapply it to all my birds *just in case* in 3 months time and everything...

How would I know if he has that bacterial infection and everything so I can be sure to look out for it.

Thanks so much!

I did a little further research on the air sac mites regarding your bird not singing and loss of voice is one of the symptoms. But I couldn't find anything that stated when you could expect the voice to return.

If the bird does not continue to improve after treatment and continues to show sypmtoms, then I would suspect a secondary infection.

In a heavy infestation of air sac mites, the airways can become clogged with dead mites after treatment. This could be the case.

But if he isn't singing in a few more days, then I would suspect a 2ndary infection.

So could I just treat him again in a few days with that stuff for Air Sac Mite? Or would I need something different?

For the Scatt, it states to re-treat in 21 days if necessary and that it may take up to 6 weeks for the effects of the treatment to be noticeable.

I'm not sure if your product is the same as Scatt, so I would verify first when a second treatment should be applied if necessary.

If it's a secondary infection, more mite treatment won't help. Read the directions on the package, don't use it again before they say to.

By "secondary infection" we mean something else going on besides the mites. Could be a bacterial infection, in which case antibiotics are needed. Or could be aspergillosis (sp?) in which case antifungal medicine is required. Or it could be a protozoa, or . . . oh, there's so many things that can go wrong with our little darlings.

You could see if there's a vet in your area who can treat small birds.

i use S76

Hi Sarah,

I am from Western Australia. How do you obtain Scatt? I have inquired with the pet shop owners here and they say an equivalent is only available via prescription.

thanks
Robin

Hi Sarah,

Even though Scatt is manufactured in Australia by Vetafarm - it is not for sale there. You can contact Vetafarm and I believe they will offer you a smiliar product, as you mentioned, by prescription.

Here is there website:

www.vetafarm.com.au

Hi Tammy

thanks for the tip, will give them a call for their Scatt liquid.

robin

I had to call all the vets around the area, one finally told us to call vetafarm directly and I think we talked to a guy called.... Tim maybe? And usually you have to be a member or whatever, but he just gave us a small bit of something I don't know what it is... for like 20 or so bucks plus postage.... its in a small 30ml container thing and you needed your own dropper with a little white label that just said our name and a vets name on it, not exactly what it was or anything... so yeah maybe just try vetafarm by calling and seeing what you can do from there...

Hi - firstly please excuse my ignorance as I'm no 'Finch Keeper'!

However, for the last week or two my father-in-law has been trying to cure what he believes to be an 'infestation' of air-sac mites. He's contacted his local avian vet, who as yet hasn't been able to help him (says he's waiting for a reply to an email regarding treatment - poss Vetafarm??).

He's read about S76, but the vet has told him that it's not available in the UK. Do you , or can anybody, know of a suitable treatment for this ailment that's readily available over here in good ol' sunny England?

He keeps Gouldian's mainly.

Thanks in advance for your assistance

I can't remember if Scatt is available in the UK? Main active ingredient is moxidectine.

Hilary