Red Mites On Baby Canaries

[Sheather]

MiaCarter Sally Others?

I found about twelve red biting mites on and within the nest of my baby canaries this evening and am unsure where they came from. I immediately threw out their nest, thoroughly washed down the cage, and clipped up a new one with only a white felt pad as cushion before returning the chicks - the mother went right back to sit without noticing, she's a great mom. About five mites left the babies and crawled onto my hand and were washed down the sink, however others held tight and I was not able to remove all the mites off of the chicks without harming them as they are ony 3 and 4 days old. In the morning I plan to throw out the white felt and re-wash the nest and put in a new piece and try and get rid of the mites when they leave the birds in the morning. I'm certain if the babies have mites so does the mom and probably all the others. I've put an express order out for a bottle of concentrated Avian Insect Liquidator and plan to thoroughly empty all nests and nestboxes and spray everything in the room down as soon as it arrives, including as many of the birds as I can. Hopefully I can prevent this from becoming a real epidemic. I will have to take apart a few active nests of incubating eggs (spice and zebra) and am unsure if these parents will return to their nests after I clean them, but if they don't I know my societies will and these eggs will just have to be fostered. I need to ensure everything is fully sprayed. Does anyone else have any advice on how to ensure this doesn't flare into a bigger problem?

I'm unsure if the mites are in other nests or on other birds. Only the mother canary appears a bit itchy and this is the first night I have seen any mite activity. These were definitely red biting mites.

[Sally]

I've never had to deal with these, but I've heard they are buggers to get rid of. Here is what I found at finchinfo.com:

http://www.finchinfo.com/health/disease ... _mites.php

Scroll down this page for a section on red mites and the author's experience dealing with them:

http://beautyofbirds.com/mites.html

Good luck with it!

[Sheather]

Okay.

As the mites are nocturnal, several hours after having set the babies back, I just went back in and re-checked them, to momma birds' annoyance but acceptance. There were 11 more mites on the white felt all crawling away from the babies and... none, not one, on the chicks (they're so young and so unfeathered, I could be certain of this.)

I discarded the felt.

I checked the nest under it, wiped it clean. No mites.

I put new felt and set the babies back. I grabbed the mother and checked under her feathers as thoroughly as I could. I saw no mites. I put her back and closed her up in the cage with the chicks for now. It seems this nest is the epicenter for the mites. Maybe this won't be such a difficult problem to get rid of if I've caught it early enough.

[MiaCarter]

Oh what a nightmare!

Those mites are so difficult to eradicate. They get in the nooks and crannies so well. As you've discovered, the best time to clean is late at night or early in the AM when they're red and visible.

I'd just keep doing as you're doing until the liquidator arrives.

I think there's a good chance you'll need to treat every bird and wash every nest in bleach water. (Then let them soak in clean water to get rid of any traces of bleach).

Vacuuming is essential too in the areas around the nests, cages, etc.

I'm glad you discovered this when you did!
Those mites can kill the babies by causing anemia. I'd just keep doing as you're doing - trying to keep them as mite-free as possible for now. It should be pretty simple while they're bald.

I might even head to the pet store to see if you can find something similar to the liquidator spray. The sooner the better.

Sounds like Walter is the likely culprit, huh. He's your newest and it's his nest.
I would contact the breeder to let him know. I know I'd want to know!

[Sheather]

Maybe my daily vacuuming has helped prevent them from spreading too severely. I'm unsure where they came from but there were none yesterday.

[lovezebs]

Sheather

I hope you caught it in time, before it spread to your other birds. Where in heavens' name did these darn things come from? From what I read about them, they come from wild birds, that come in contact with your birds or nests or cages.

Nasty critters.

Good luck Dylan.

~Elana~

[MiaCarter]

Sheather - Remember that they're essentially invisible during the day. Only visible at night or first thing in the AM, which is what makes them so tough to discover.

So it's possible they came with Walter and it only now, after a few generations of mites, they've reached a population size that's noticeable.

When cleaning the environment, I'd try to do it at night or around 4-5 am, while they're still red and visible.

Ugh, I don't envy you on this one, Dylan. Mites just plain suck. I think I've dealt with every type of mite and parasite over the years in birds and cats/dogs. I think red mites are the third most awful parasite to get due to the pervasiveness and difficulty to eradicate.
For the record, I think the first most awful parasite is sarcoptic mange/scabies due to the fact that it's so difficult to diagnose early since the mites live in the skin, not on the surface. My husband and I got it too and it was so expensive to treat everyone. The second most awful is heartworms due to the complexity and potential complications. Then there's red mites in third! They're tough, but hopefully you caught them early!

Oh, if you have any cages where there's a cage on a plastic base, pay special attention to the ledge where the cage sits on the base. All the little nooks and crannies like that are where they like to hide.

[Sheather]

I just checked Walter and didn't find any on him. Grabbing whom I could, I also checked Sydney and a few societies and they were all clean. The society's nests also appear completely mite-free.

[Colt]

I'd probably Scatt all the birds as a precaution. Or you could use S76 as well and offer it in bath water.

The AIL is great for spraying the cages, nests, and birds with.

[lovezebs]

Sheather

Any news on the mite situation?

~Elana~

[Sheather]

The younger baby passed away during the night. I removed four more mites from under the felt this morning.

[Sally]

So sorry to hear this. Those mites suck blood, and so the babies are most at risk. Hope you get this under control. Remember, AIL is safe to use even on babies and in nests.

[Ginene]

I am so very sorry that you are going through this. AIL is the way to go and the safest product to use on your birds and their homes. I recently had a problem with Scaley Leg mites, and used AIL on all of my cages. I pulled each individual finch for their Ivermectin treatment and when the cages were bird free, spayed them down with AIL. I soaked their wood perches, pedi perches and swings in bleach & water and dishwashed/sanitized all feeders, treat cups and water tubes. I also threw out all cuttle bones and silk plants/vines. I put in plastic perches because they're easy to wipe down and new feeders, water tubes and treat cups. They still have their temporary treatment set-up, as Scaley Leg treatment takes about 2 months. I hate how sterile their flights are, but hopefully soon I will be able to get everything back to normal. Also...be careful with your vacuum... If it is bagless, wash it thoroughly. If it has a bag, you will need to keep replacing it. Many mites can live a long time off of a host. You don't want these critters escaping into your home! Best of luck to you.

[Sheather]

There have been no mites today, they officially have nowhere to hide now at least so far as getting to the remaining baby. I completely washed down the cage and sanitized everything, removing all greens and the wicker nest and putting back only food bowls, two dowel perches, and a metal food cup nest with a felt liner for the remaining chick, who is growing strong and being fed well. I couldn't find a single mite on Steve, the mom, last night.

I'm sure the mites aren't gone but I couldn't find any sign of them outside of this nest, so hopefully once I can treat the room and the birds with the AIL they won't return.

The deceased baby was very small compared to the bigger chick, I think she may have simply been smothered and starved by him getting all the food, she had no food in her crop and looked to have gone thin. I don't think there were near enough mites to kill her, only a total of 20 or so between both babies including those found hiding in the felt, some of which hadn't fed. She was 2 days younger but hasn't grown at all in her three days of life. I think her big brother outcompeted her. : (

[delray]

Sheather sorry this is all going on. That's crazy. I hope you get to the bottom of the whole situation.