FINCHforum

Hi, ive noticed my two finches have been breathing with their beaks open for a while now but lately they've been doing it more frequently and I'm starting to become concerned. I noticed a high pitched squeaking coming from my male while I was cleaning the cage but he would stop and close his beak everytime I looked at him. Other than breathing with their beaks open they've both been acting the same as usual, very active and eating and playing. Should I still buy medicine for them just in case it is air sack mites or should I wait and watch them longer?

heavy breathing, gasping is not always ASM... take the birds and put them to your ear.. listen for a distinct ticking sound... that could be asm.... if wet sticky or a huffy puffing sound it could be a secondary respiratory due to various other issues ranging from protozoa to internal parasites to bacteria, fungal... heavy breathing and difficulty breathing can also be due to fatty liver.... turn the bird over look at the underside under the feather... if you see yellow meringue like build up under the skin that is fat.... it can show on the lower belly and chest areas.

I am a new owner of a Lady Gouldian, first time bird owner, and I purchased her during evacuation pre-hurricane Irma (long story).
She began with symptoms of sneezing, left nostril discharge and fluffing up. I took her to two veterinarians, the first one (not “avian specialist”) diagnosed with staph (throat culture) and put her on antibiotics, but no real change from original symptoms, then Last week I heard slight clicking, sneezing was more frequent and Sunday night I noticed that she was falling asleep breathing through her beak, and the other nostril appeared to have some discharge as well. I forgot to mention, when I first got her she would chirp, but that stopped. I had called the veterinarian back on Friday but never heard back from him, so Monday morning I called and I was told that they could give the bird a shot but to understand that many birds die after being given a shot for air sac mites because of allergic reaction. Yesterday I found an avian specialist and got an appointment this morning. They Took a stool sample and found a parasite, but no mites. However, the doctor decided to treat her with ivermectin 0.10, 10 mg, milliliter which I was to squirt in 1 L of drinking water and use that water for three consecutive days. She also gave me medication for the parasite and also for a respiratory infection. She explained a respiratory infection could be secondary to the maid however, the doctor decided to treat her with ivermectin 0.10, 10 mg, milliliter which I was to squared in 1 L of drinking water and use that water for three consecutive days. I could’ve sworn somewhere I read that it is one time a week for three weeks?She also gave me medication for the parasite and also for a respiratory infection. ( I told her that was a lot of medicine and I did not want to overwhelm the bird, but she said the medicine is being completely different it would not). She explained a respiratory infection could be secondary to the mites, But that her symptoms represented both air sac might potential and respiratory. I’m looking for any help anyone can give me, or guidance I should say, in this regard. I’m trying very hard to get this bird healthy. But her organic feed today as well.
Thank you

ivermectin if used topically to the back of the next it is one drop to the back of the neck once a week, repeat once a week for three weeks total of three treatments.

internal parasites (in the GI tract) can travel up into the sinus...example protozoal sinus infection.

Scaly mites and ASM can also get into the sinus, causing irritation and infection.

If she found parasites not mites in the droppings the bird needs an anti parasitic and an antibiotic (treat the secondary bacteria), Ronidazole typically treats internal parasites... some vets use baytril for the secondary bacteria... what ones did she give you. Sounds like she her treatment plan is reasonable.

We usually recommend either ronivet 12% or ronex 12% combined with tri sulfa by med pet.... powder of each to one part water (both of these are very gentle and do not disturb the gut flora and even safe enough to use on chicks and combined safely)... treat for two weeks, no charcoal, no grit, no soft food or veggies during treatment (veggies and boiled egg is a bit rougher to digest if the bird has a compromised GI tract)

Keep the diet dry... millet, dried egg food, seed and pellets if you use them... if not using pellets dust the dried egg food with a good multi vitamin, mineral amino acid supplement like AviVita Gold.

also add a heat lamp to one side of the cage for her to go to as needed.

our avian vet does not prescribe oral ivermectin 1% in water... she uses the topical to the back of the neck as mentioned above for the three treatments, one drop a week for a total of three weeks/doses.

Forgot to mention... tri sulfa that I mentioned above treats bacteria and cocci.... did she identify the internal parasite?

JAX

Personally, I would follow the advice of the avian vet and not change the protocol in the midst of treating her. Your vet may have a reason for you to dilute the ivermectin and give it in the water for three days. She has seen the bird, we have not. It is extremely difficult to diagnose over the internet, and a bird can be harmed by being given the wrong medicine. Please keep us posted.

Thank you for reaching out. For hours i’ve been scouring information. It says to only give 24 hours of the water with the medication in it, and then again 14 days later, and some articles say one more lthird dose, again 14 days later, but to not give it any closer together as birds can die from OD.
I think I will call the office tomorrow before 12:30 PM which is when I would need to give the 2nd dose. The doctor went in and out of the room, and, maybe she was looking things up and wrote down the three day part and thought it was three days in a row, I don’t know. But, every human makes mistakes. So, I think I will call and discuss my concerns. Thank you again for reaching out. I My lil girl.

Ivermectin is only active for a few hours so I would not worry about an overdose. That is the reason for multiple applications.
Of course consult your vet with any concerns but I also would follow the vets advice.

Pay close attention to whether the birds are drinking enough, drinking less of the water with the ivermectin in it, it can cause irritation to the throat and GI tract, some birds are put off by adding anything to the water... if you feel they are not drinking enough to be beneficial then contact the avian vet... it sounds like she is very thorough... good luck hope the birds recover.

I have a few questions regarding treating gouldians for air sac mites.
My gouldians came down with symptoms of air sac mites.. to the point where they didn't make a sound all day, little clicking noises, and opening their mouths a lot.
We ordered iverlux (ivermectin 0.8 ) and have been dropping on the back of their necks every day for 5 days. It seems to be helping because they are now tweeting and singing in the morning. But still make clicking noises a little bit and still pretty quiet. How long usually until the symptoms clear up?
We are now taking 2 days off as directed, but after the two days do we need to again put the iverlux on their necks (once a day for five days) or can we just add to water for the rest of the treatment. The birds get stressed when we have to catch them so would rather put it in the water from here on out, but if it still needs to be applied direct then we will.
Also our male had a red patch on his skin where we were treating him. Should we stop the treatment on his neck, another reason I would rather just add to water until the end of treatment.
Any tips and advice is much appreciated. Thanks

T

I got a new pair of canary in February. The male settled down easily and started singing on its 5th day here (sweet little melody). The female never quite seemed to be ok. She drank, ate, flied around, but she developed a puffy ruffled look. I put that on the account of stress at first (moving here, quarantine, then a new flight cage, then I had to move that cage).

Her condition has worsen in the last two weeks and today there was a loud clicking sound coming from her. Also, not sure if its related, but about two weeks ago, I noticed her feathers on the top of her head seems to "glue" together. I gently wash it with a wet q-tip, but it came back. I also realised the male has not sing in two weeks (when I was home at least).

From what I read in this topic, it might be air mites. My local bird store has Scatt and Iverlux. Which would you recommend more?

Also should I treat all my birds? If so, which of these two products is the most efficient for this situation. My bird room has 5 flight cages (#1 the sick pair of canary ; #2 old male canary ; #3 non-breeding pair of Java and a pair of Cutthroath ; #4 breeding pair of Star Finch (infertile eggs) ; #5 breeding pair of Gouldian (nest but no egg yet) + a breeding cage for my pair of Society Finch sitting on eggs that should hatch in the next few days. No other bird show signs of being sick and the sick pair is not in direct contact with the other birds, but definitely in close proximity.

Thank you in advance!

Little history, I was watching a friend's aviary while they were gone and a baby finch was tossed out the nest a few times. I put her back in because there was a full crop. The next day I found her tossed out again. I put her in a basket and left her on the bottom of the community cage. I tried to not handle it but I noticed the crop was no longer full the second day and that morning she was very very cold to the touch, in fact I thought she was dead until I noticed the slightest movement, Like when you press pizza dough and it springs back slowly. I warmed her with my breath and fed her a ground seed and water mixture after she finally was able to realize she was alive. I took her to work and bought some formula on break and some supplies to make a makeshift brooder and began feeding regularly. After that day I handfed. That was July 26, 2018 (the pic is a few hours after she bad been fed and was warm). Today she is a beautiful SPOILED fledgling who unfortunately prefers the company of humans over her "people". The next pic was 8/12/18 Her feathers started to grow in where someone was clearly pecking the heck out of her head!

Anyway, I had suspected air sac mites a while back but only noticed it after feeding and thought she was just making her post-food noises like usual, but now after flying it is very apparent that her breathing is labored and clicking. I assume she got it from the aviary because I have placed in there to get her to try to assimilate but always took her out at night She has gone in about 6-7 times total in that period. I have watched her bathe in a bowl that the others drank out of but never was she fed in my presence by the mother I doubt she did because the mother tried to get close once and my baby (her name is TP) still continues to fly off if another bird gets near. This last time she was there two days back to back (about 5 hours each) and it was very hot. She likes to hang out on the canary cage by the aviary door. And there is where she probably picked it up in my opinion. Or it was dormant and the heat got to her this last time.

I bought S76 yesterday and I do not think it will get here until Friday. I also bought Thrive. Is there an amount of time that I have before it gets too far gone and what are the odds of her getting choked with dead mites if I do treat. I am going to wait one day for Thrive and then treat with S76.

BTW she would still prefer to eat only with the syringe of Exact and whatever else i mix in there, seed, millet, calcium, etc. She doesn't care for eggfood unless it is thinned out with formula and handfed. I have left her alone at the house in her cage the last two days and have NOT been feeding all day like I did when I brought her to work. She made a mess in her seed and her poop had brown in it so I know she must at least be eating the millet,which she does in my presence. She attacks sprouted millet but not very successful in actually EATING it. It is quit comical. The nitrogen paste is thick and present so at least I THINK she is getting water,. Lie I said, she is spoiled and usually only prefers to be fed by syringe and she is well over 71 days old in my opinion.

Anyway, my longwinded question: Is there any trick to treating that can slow down the killing of the mites so she is not overwhelmed with the mite bodies and chokes? I know if I do not treat, she will die eventually. But I am heartbroken right now because I knew she as the runt and everyone can trying to persuade me to just place her in the aviary, over night even but she is a spoiled baby who will sleep in my hands for hours. If she dies, I feel as though it will be my fault. This was supposed to be temporary but I am in love with her. A cat owner! In love with a finch!

The last pic of her was from the other day.

BTW she is only clicking now with breathing, and I can see her underchin move. I can hear her from about 6 feet away. I try to keep her calm She is NOT sneezing but she is now just starting to lose little feathers. She cleans a lot and in one hour in my hand she lost 9 feathers! The little downy ones. NO flight feathers. Not sure if she is just getting rid of baby feathers or this is from feather mites or poor health, or I don't know. I have not yet been able to visually confirm air sac or feather mites. Activity seems normal, feeding behavior seems normal, although she has always flicked her head and formula flies out after a mouthful. I have tried everything from stopping plunging to let her continue to swallow before removing the syringe and everything She still does it, especially millet seed; poop output seems normal.