Leg mites

[Sandra]

My canary's legs became this way, looking like a old canary's feet but he's only 2-3 years old!

Is this leg mites? He doesn't nip at his feet at all but I saw him pulling something from under his foot and eating it....and it wasn't even food!

What is this? And what do I do?

[Sam007]

Seems like air sac mites. Treat your canaries with Scatt.

[adoumski]

Hi Sandra

It looks like those are scally mites.
To get rid of them, you need to treat your bird with either scatt, s76 or invermictin.
You can also apply some vaseline, baby oil or olive oil, for maybe a week. They will suffocate the mites and also soften the scales and will peal off.
Try to feed your bird veggies rich in vitamin A and help build up his immune system.

[Sandra]

How ar those products used, rubbing on his legs and toes? I never had this before. Im gonna start by rubbing olive oil until I order one of those products.

[MiaCarter]

Sandra - That's definitely leg mites. You can see the "tassles" starting to form on the back toe and near the tip (underside) of the top toe.

S76 is my preferred remedy.

You put a bit of the liquid on a cotton ball and just dab it onto the legs. You can also use a q-tip to dab it onto the beak too as the mites often spread to the beak.

You do this daily. I believe it's for 3 weeks, if I recall, and then conclude with an oral dosage.

S76 can be applied topically and taken orally. Orally kills all of the mites that are in the live skin/tissues, but that doesn't kill the mites in the tassles and other areas of dry skin. (That dead skin isn't perfused by a blood supply, so it's not saturated with oral medication.) So that's why you need to apply topically, followed by orally.

I wouldn't use the petroleum jelly remedy. It's very inefficient and you risk mucking up his feathers.

But keeping some olive oil on his legs until the medication arrives is a good idea. It will keep them soft and it will prevent the painful cracking that can occur. The faster those tassles and areas of dry skin come off, the better, as they're just filled with mites. Keeping them soft with the olive oil will help in that regard.

I know in an off-forum note, you mentioned he bathed frequently.
You'll want to remove that bath so he doesn't rinse off the medication.

[Sandra]

Yeah he loves to bathe. Often is 2-3 times a day. He will miss it for sure.

im trying to find the s76 in Canada to avoid delays in time. I hope its not hurting Buddy. I never thought of mites as he always sings and figured hed stop singing.

will he have smoother skin after?

[adoumski]

Sandra his legs will be smooth again yes
Dont worry if the feathers get matted from what ever you use, with frequent bathing it will work out.
I think you can offer him a bath in the morning daily before you apply the meds. That way he can still enjoy it and the meds wont rinse off.

[Ginene]

Treatment for Scaley Leg Mites is 1 drop of Ivermectin to the skin (on the back on the birds neck), once every other week, for 6 weeks (total of 3 applications). I just finished treating my flock for this exact same thing. I used a glass dropper to administer the dose. My avian vet does not recommend treating the feet...she said the Ivermectin treatment will eradicate the mites. You also have to treat any birds that have come into direct contact with your infected bird. Give your cage a thorough cleaning too. Best of luck!

[Sandra]

Oh really, I didnt know. I just ordered s76 this pm.

I was suggested to use s76

[Sally]

S76 is ivermectin, so you are OK. Some also use Scatt, which is moxidectin.

[Sandra]

OH!! lol. Thanks Sally!!

As you can tell ...I'm really not familiar with these thing.

My canary still sings his little heart out .... his feet seem to not be disturbing him... I think he got the leg mites from the breeder. His feet looked so great when I got him, but from what I understood it can take months to show up. I got him back in July.

[cindy]

I had a very candid conversation with the avian vet our daughter works with about scaly leg/beak.... putting ivermectin in the water is not reliable, it does not mix well with the water and it is not accurate for dosing birds with since certain species drink more or less than others.

Scatt, the vet reviewed and said it was also very good to use.

One of the most effective methods of treating scaly face, ASM and feather mites is Ivermectin 1% topically applied to the back of the neck as Ginene mentions above. 3 treatments 14 days apart to break the cycle. People often make the mistake of only treating one time thinking they are safe.

Scaly leg/beak mites can also be on the bird 6 months to 1 yr before you visibly see any signs on the bird.... the tassel feet are a good indication the bird has had this for over I would say 8 months to a yr and a half.

Any new bird that comes in goes into quarantine for 6 to 8 weeks and gets a round of ivermectin... once the course of treatments are done the bird is technically clear of parasites, even ASM according to our avian vet.

Forget about all the salves and ointments, she said not to do them... you need to use the ivermectin topically. It is blood absorbed and works more efficiently in ridding the birds of the parasites. Scaly mites burrow deep/live in the skin, feather mites live right on the feather.

AIL (Avian Insect Liquidator) is effective in environment control not feather mites, can be used on cages, nest, the birds as well.

[MiaCarter]

....just realized I repeated what was already said!

So yeah, what ^^they^^ said! LOL

[Sandra]

is Iverlux the same as Ivermectin?

The place is out of Ivermectin and see they have Iverlux for airsac mite and scaley face infections. For now I have a S76 on its way.

Should I start using the s76 or wait for either Iverlux or Ivermectin?

[debbie276]

S76, ivermectin and iverlux are all the same thing under different names. So if you have S76 coming your covered, no need to buy another.