FINCHforum

I found MITES on a nest full of canaries! What do I do!!

Scat!!! or Ivermectin, or S76.... but get them treated ASAP. And if you have other birds, quarantine the ones with mites, in another room. I guess those little "buggers" can get to other cages close by!!! Good luck.
Btw the S76, and Ivermectin are water treatments, Scat you have to pick the bird up and physically treat his body, so I'm not sure which one would be better for you, but I would try the one you actually treat the skin.... just MO, But wait and ask the other members here, as they are FAR more experienced than I. However, you do want to order those things, as they are all mail order (where I am anyway, I can't find anything like that in Pet Stores) because they are mail order it will be a few days before it gets here so get it ordered ASAP. But good luck!!!

Spray with a mite spray like AIL (Avian Insect Liquidator) or any mite spray you can get in a store with a Permethrin base

I assume since you are seeing them they are feather and/or red mites and not air sac mites. ASM need to be treated with S76 or Scatt

The bird store does not open until ten. So for the next few hours I sit and wonder. I have never had bird mites ever. This is just making me sick!

Hmm, did you bring in new birds lately? Are they exposed to any outside birds?
It's nothing that a good mite spray can't handle, try not to worry, it happens.

No new birds among my canaries. I got my last green singers in 2 weeks ago this Saturday. But they are in the aviary..not with my canaries. I looked over my other canaries and found nothing. Yes I did wash my hands between each bird I grabbed.

Am I going to lose my birds?

I had a nest of canaries get infected with red bird mites in January, only a single nest with two hatchlings. I express ordered a bottle of Avian Insect Liquidator which arrived in days. It took one treatment of the nest and a precautionary spray of the room to eliminate the pests, but even nest-changes and wipe-downs of the chicks every few hours was not enough for my younger baby, who grew anemic and died from the pests before help could arrive. The older chick did survive.

Since spraying this product, I haven't had another mite in my bird room.

A really bad mite problem can kill the chicks, it happened to my father overnight they killed a nestful of canary chicks. HOWEVER, since you have caught the problem, it should be ok. temporarily you can at least clean out the nest and add tissues and soft paper towels, anything white, that can be switched out every day. Last year I had a mite problem and my canary chicks survived by my cleaning out the nest every day. Use the AIL spray to kill them...or any bird mite spray you can get. If the chicks are too weak to beg properly, you might have to supplement a little until they are strong enough to beg from their parents. That happened to my guys, they got weak and then I realized they were being sucked dry but with intervention they all survived.

That is how I found the mites. I looked in the cage and saw one dead chick. When I picked it up that is when I found the mites. Checked the rest and they have it too. But no one else.

Acky wrote: Am I going to lose my birds?

Not at all! Mites are easily taken care of with mite spray. I wouldn't wait to order the AIL online though, instead I'd just run to a pet store and get a spray asap

Ok birds are treated Hope it all goes well

Acky
I had a scare last summer. I wrote about it in another thread. In my case, I believe the mites were in a small bag of seed a friend gave me. I confirmed with the vet this can happen. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as just putting the seed in the freezer to kill them. They overwinter very well in the cold and can lead to a population explosion in the summer. Obviously, I have no idea if this applies to your situation but it is possible and I thought I would let you know. BTW - the mites were contained to one bird and cage and I was able to get rid of them quickly. Try and stay calm. If you accept the fact that mites happen and then keep a sharp eye out for them, they can be eliminated. They do not have to be the horror story some people on the net have written about.

Best wishes for the babies!

Acky good luck!