Scaly feet in canary or hypochondria in owner?

[CricketandI]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, and I'm sorry that I haven't properly introduced myself before posting a question. I am Johnnie, and I have had a red factor canary named Cricket for a year. We got him when he was 7 months old. He is my first canary, but my husband used to raise Gouldians, so we aren't completely new to keeping birds. I spend a lot of time with him, and he is completely finger trained and very sociable. He has never been much of a singer, although he chirps when we turn on the faucet. His diet is Ecotrition Canary Blend and lots of greens, carrot, melon, apple, orange, etc. In the last few months we have also added Quiko Red Egg Food as he was losing his color. He lives in a large cage with a variety of perches and a reptile hot rock, which he loves. So that's a brief history of us.

I am posting because I have noticed lately that Cricket's feet look really dry and scaly. I looked it up online and found an article about Scaly Face Mites, which sometimes affect the feet and legs, but all of the photographs of birds that had them were really extreme, with what looked like growths on the feet. Cricket's feet don't look like that at all, but I can't find another explanation for the dryness. I read several suggestions that petroleum jelly helped, so I have been rubbing some on his feet, but it makes him really greasy and he acts like he hates it, and I started worrying that if he was preening himself, he might ingest some, which can't be healthy. I also read that SCATT is very effective in getting rid of air sac and scaly face mites, but I don't want to treat him for something I'm not sure he has.
We don't have a local avian vet, and I would rather not put him through the stress of traveling if I don't have to. I have attached a photo that I took of him a few days ago. Can anyone tell me whether we really have a case of mites? I know how fragile these guys are, and I'm really worried about him. I appreciate any advice you can give.

[L in Ontario]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do!

I treat all my new birds with Scatt (including the pair of Gloster Canaries I brought home two weeks ago). Scatt shouldn't harm your Canary when applied according to the instructions. I also agree with applying a "thin layer" of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to the Canary's feet and legs. If it is a thin layer he won't be ingesting much, if any, of it and it should sooth his feet. The petroleum jelly will suffocate any mites and it doesn't take overly long to do the job.

Cricket looks just adorable!! Again welcome.

Well look at that - this is my 10,000th posting!

[B CAMP]

Welcome to the forum

[CricketandI]

Thank you both (and happy 10,000th).
I will continue with the vaseline treatment and order some SCATT. Do you think that he probably does have mites then, or is this sort of a preventative measure?
I do appreciate the help. All of my other children have fur, not feathers, so I'm still learning a lot.

[MLaRue]

Hi and welcome

His feet do look sore and red to me but from mites I can't say?

I would use neosporin on his feet to see if it helps with the redness.

We do have an avian Vet in Atlanta and there are a few others spread out in the state - what part of Georgia are in?

Laraine at www.ladygouldian.com has Canaries and could help with Cricket.

[CricketandI]

Thanks. I will try the neosporen until the SCATT arrives.
We're in the Macon area. There is an avian vet in Gray, about an hour away, which is not impossible, but if I can prevent a traumatic experience for him by treating him at home, I'd rather not take him out. We definitely will if there isn't an improvement from these other remedies.
Thank you again for the advice.

[lea]

scaly feets in canaries shows her age, so how old they are, then their feets become more and more scaly. i hope you understand what i mean.
and i think there is no need to treat, unless it looks very sickly

[CricketandI]

I put off ordering the SCATT to see if using Neosporin would help as a less invasive treatment. Since there was no change in Cricket's feet, I did order SCATT, and it arrived today. We bought a dropper and administered the single-drop dose according to directions. I checked on him twice in the next twenty minutes, and he seemed fluffed up but was perched next to his salad bowl, so I thought he was okay. We left the house for less than an hour, and when we came back, he was dead on the bottom of the cage and full rigor mortis had already set in. Apparently it took just over half an hour for the SCATT to kill him.

I'm posting this as a warning to anyone who might use SCATT as a preventative treatment. I would never have used it if I had realized that, even with proper usage, it could be fatal.

Cricket was our only bird, and I think that after this experience, I am not going to try to raise another. Hand-taming a finch is such a long and tedious and personal process that I don't think that I could do it again.

[franny]

I'm so sorry to hear about Cricket. But I doubt that the Scatt was the culprit. Many, many folks on here have used Scatt, on much smaller birds, with no harmful results. It's been in use for many years as an effective treatment for mites.

I honestly believe that he likely had other problems, besides scaly mites. Birds are so good at hiding when they are not feeling well. And it could have simply been that he was getting old and that's why his feet were scaly. The treatment would not kill a healthy bird who's only problem was scaly mites, in my opinion.

So don't feel too bad... it was not likely anything to do with the treatment with Scatt, and would probably have happened soon in any case.

[L in Ontario]

Aww that is a terrible shame that Cricket pass on like that. I'm sure it was not the Scatt as I've used it as mentioned on, not only my Canaries (2 drops), but also on every one of my finches (1 drop) when they first arrived.

I'm so sorry for your loss and hope it doesn't deter you from getting another finch someday. RIP Cricket.

[CricketandI]

I am afraid that I have to disagree about the SCATT. Other than the possibility of mites (which I'm not sure about), he was very healthy, even singing more than usual. I've since talked to a friend and breeder who confirmed that she had also had birds who had died from the use of it and that her avian vet only recommends it as a last resort because of the rare but tragic cases like this one. I am obviously not saying that all birds will die from the use of SCATT. It would be foolishness on my part, however, not to assume that his death was caused by medicine that he had been given half an hour before. To think that it was coincidence is simply not logical.
Please don't interpret my post as trying to place blame on anyone who recommended it. I am sure, and my friend agrees, that SCATT doesn't harm most of the birds it is used on, and if it has been working for others, I'm very glad.
I just want for others to know what happened to my bird so that they can make informed decisions about their birds.

[CandoAviary]

So sorry for your loss. The rough legs looked that of an old canary. Canaries many times show their health through the legs. They are one bird that can suffer from gout and sore feet. Cricket may have had a liver problem that aged him very quickly. The Scatt could of contributed to his demise if the liver was not functioning properly. But if his liver was diseased it was probably a matter of time, either way. Not that that helps with the grief of the loss any. So sorry.

[CricketandI]

Thank you for your condolences. It's nice to be surrounded by people who understand that it wasn't just a bird.

By the way, he was a year and eight months old, so it could not have been an issue of old age.
I'm told that some birds just have a lower tolerance for SCATT or no tolerance at all. Naturally, it all seems clearer in hindsight.

[G8love4finches]

So sorry to hear your story....My heart goes out to you....Sorry for such a sudden loss

[pupDr]

So sorry for your loss! I'm new to birds so I've been doing a lot of research on how to care for them. I have access to a veterinarian only forum (VIN) and the avian vets on there do not have good things to say about Scatt. They call it a poorly produced bootlegged product from Australia that kills lots of birds due to overdosage.

The active ingredient is moxidectin which is the same thing as ProHeart 6 (injectable heartworm prevention). ProHeart 6 was taken off the market for several years in the USA due to multiple reported side effects. They put more research into it to ensure safety and it has been back on the market since mid-2008 with FDA approval. I'm sure no where near as much research was put into the making of Scatt so it's "buyer beware" when using the product. Moxidectin does work when used at the correct dose but you have no way of knowing if you are giving the correct amount with the way Scatt is formulated.