FINCHforum

Hi everyone,
I urgently need your help. My lavenders, for the first time, hatched two babies. All went well until two days ago when I found one dead in the nest (at 16 days old) and the other one on the floor of my aviary. I put the surviving baby back in the nest, the parents resumed feeding, but by the end of the day he was on the floor again. I returned him to the nest once more but again, this morning, I found him on the floor. His crop was empty so I brought him in and decided to hand-raise him. While feeding him, I noticed some tiny black mites crawling on my hand.
I have liquid Ivomec that you dissolve in the drinking water. While treating everybody in the aviary, could I add some of the solution to his egg food mixture and treat him that way?
Does anybody have any advice/experience what to do in this situation?
He already is unbelievably cute and I'll do whatever it takes to save him.
Thanks, Isolde

isobea

Honey I am sorry I missed this. If he's feathered I believe he is old enough to Scatt. Have you treated him? How'd it go?

Babs - thanks for your concern. I did treat him but he died two days later anyway. For some reason he was much smaller than the one I had found dead in the nest. No idea what went wrong. But I sure felt bad for the little guy, thought he might have had a chance, just kept getting weaker. Maybe there was something else wrong with him.
My pair was amazing once the eggs were laid. They sat on them as if they had been super-glued to them and seemed to feed the chicks very reliably. With hope everything will go smoothly the next time.
Iso

isobea

OH no! Iso, I am military raised and can get called to DUTY when needed. Please forgive me.

Guys, Gals , Oldtimers..........please step up when I have to go out. This website is running ONLY ON MY DIME. I don't advertise, nor do I ask for donations. And this site costs me over $80 a month to maintain.

So when someone needs help. Take a load off Hillary and Sally and ME & HELP.

Iso. If you want my personal cellphone I can help in emergencies (I used to rehab wild insectivores), but those methods are still useful in emergencies. I can text when not on duty.

Dammit. I let you down, I am sorry. Message me.

isobea

This situation was TOTALLY avoidable. Needless death. And at no fault of isobea

Babs - no need to apologize, dear! I certainly appreciate all you do for us here on the forum, your time, advice and dedication!
I've been keeping and breeding finches since 1981 and have hand-raised a few over the years. But every now and then there is one that just, no matter what we do, won't make it. I was just thinking that somebody might have a suggestion that I had not thought of.
Thanks again, Iso

isobea Where it comes to mites, prevention is definitely better than the cure. I have covered the roofs of my aviaries completely, that wild birds can not infect my birds with mites. I also put karbodust in the nests to prevent mites from surviving in the nests.

MariusStegmann, what is the active ingredient in Korbodust? I don't believe we have that in the U.S.

thanks

MariusStegmann - Hi Marius, yes, the roof of my aviary is completely covered as well. I'm sure this has protected my birds from lots of nasties from the wild birds over the years. Not sure how the mites got in (I haven't added new birds in months). There are lots of wild birds in our area (19 different species that come to my bird bath) and sometimes some of the wild finches come to 'visit' my birds, hanging on the outside wire...

Dave - I googled Karbadust and found out that it is made and distributed in South Africa. The active ingredient is Carbaryl which you can buy in the US as Sevin Dust. I once used to use it in the 1980s (sprinkled it on the food to get rid of air sack mites) but somehow completely forgot about it.