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mites!
The mites usually attack the birds at
night, then retire to cracks and crevises during the day. Mites keep the birds
restless at night, running about the skin and feathers and sucking blood. Some
hens are known to abandon their nests and babies because of the mites.
You can sometimes check for mites by placing a white cloth over the cage at
night and in the morning you may see tiny spots on the underside of the cloth.
Note: These are very small and unless you have excellent eyesight, you may need
a magnifying glass to see them. if you think your bird has a case of scaly face
Cure or Prevention
A cure for a severe mite problem is IVERTMECTIN available at most vets or some
pet supply stores. Dettol disnfectant can be used for mild cases of mites on the
legs and cere and for disinfecting cage utensils. Some oils such as mineral oil
or baby oil can also be used as the oil willl kill the mites and soften the
skin. In time the dry crusty area will come off.
The only way to prevent mites from re-occurring if they do, is to disinfect the
entire cage, food utensils, toys, etc. If more than one bird is present you must
treat them all even if only one seems affected. Some pet shops carry items you
can hang in the cage that is supposed to get rid of mites but we have never
tried these and doubt their effectiveness. Dettol is a good disinfectant to
clean the cage and dishes. Perches and toys should be boiled or soaked in bleach
and rinsed clean with fresh water and let dry before placing back in cage.
A number of parasites can infest nest boxes. Mites, moths and fly larvae. Fly
larvae are most common in summer, when they develop easily in the wet droppings
in nest boxes, where the flies lay their eggs. The larvae do not seem to bother
the birds directly, but it doesn't require much imagination to realise that they
don't do the birds any good. An infested box soon gets to be a messy place. So,
in summer, take special care to see that the wet droppings are removed as
speedily as possible. Scrape them off the floor and disinfect. Spread a fresh,
thin layer of sawdust before replacing the eggs or young in the nest. The
so-called "red louse (mite)" or "bird louse" is harder to eliminate. It is
really a type of mite that some believe to be related to the supposed causative
agent of French molt. It isn't really red either---more nearly grey. But once it
has sucked its fill of blood, its body swells and the ingested blood shines red
through the thin skin. During the day, the louse remains in the cracks of nest
boxes. At night, it stages raids on the young and even the older birds sleeping
on their perches. These raids are most damaging, largely from loss of blood.
Affected birds lose their zest for life and look so depressed that you can tell
at a glance their is trouble. This parasite, also can be fought by cleaning and
disinfecting nest boxes and using antiseptics and insecticides. Nest boxes
should be cleaned in boiling water, disinfected, and whitewashed with natural
chalk. Prevention is better than cure. Taking preventive measures keeps the
louse or mite from gaining a foothold. The feather or quill mite is similar to
the red mite although it can lay its eggs on the bird making it easier to
control.
Treatments of the birds alone is useless. The mites can live away from the hosts
for weeks or months. Boiling of the nest boxes in water is recommended for
Breeders and then washing with a disinfectant. Some mites are barley visible but
can become more visible to the eye by placing a white cloth over the cage or
nest box at night. In the morning the mites will be attached to the underside of
the cloth making them more visible to the human eye. This may be a good choice
if you are unsure if you have mites or not.
We clean our nest boxes in hot water and pinesol disinfectant about once every 2
months. We let them soak in this in a laundry size tub for a few hours and then
scrub them with a brush while rinsing them off. A good rinsing is essential if
you are using a cleaning fluid. The cleaning frequency just depends on whether
the parents have eggs or babies. We have extra nest boxes, so as we remove one
to be cleaned we place a clean one in its place so their is not a long period
for the parents to be without their nest box.
Be very careful to only use what other breeders have proven is safe and works
for them, or by using cleaners and disinfectants recommended by pet shops or
vetrinarians for the health and safety of your birds. Most bird owners today say
to use IVERTMECTIN for severe mite problems. It can be found at most vets, some
pet supply stores and farm supply depots or stores. If this is not available you
can look for Malathion, Gamma Benzene Hexachloride or Derris Root. Just ask for
an acaracide that is safe for birds to treat mites.
OVER GROWN CLAWS AND BEAKS
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feather pluckers!
Just when you think you have
everything under control, for no apparent rhyme or reason, your bird starts to
feather pluck. This is an owner's nightmare and one of the most frustrating
problems with which a bird lover may have to contend. Exactly why a bird goes
into self-destruct mode is a question that bird lovers have wrestled with ever
since the first person thought it would be a nifty idea to keep a bird in a
cage.
dont stress:)
If your bird has lost some of its feathers, don't react as though it has just
contracted a social disease -- stay calm! Here are a few clues to help you solve
the mystery of why your bird is acting abnormally. First, let's define feather
plucking as the behavior of a bird that intentionally pulls out or mutilates its
own feathers. Do not confuse feather plucking with a molt. Birds naturally renew
their feathers at least once a year. In the wild, this enables the bird not only
to shed its own feathers, but also to rid itself of nasty pests such as feather
mites. Although birds are now kept in clean, relatively pest-free environments,
they have not lost the need to renew their feathers. With some birds, the
molting process is so gradual that you hardly notice it except for the odd
feathers on the cage bottom. For others, it can be so drastic that your bird
will seem to lose almost all of its body covering (a good time to place a heat
lamp near your bird's cage).
Having said this, an excessive molt can lead to feather plucking by an overly
ambitious preener of incoming feathers. A plucked bird does not necessarily mean
its condition is self-inflicted; the culprit may be another bird. A sure
indication of a bird being picked by another is a plucked head, since a bird
cannot pluck its own head feathers. A bird may pluck another if it is sexually
frustrated because one bird wants to mate and the other is not prepared to do
so, or it may be due to an overly aggressive mating ritual. Birds plucking the
feathers of other birds may mean you have too many birds in too small an
enclosure; birds need their own space. Once you have determined that your bird
is not molting, is not under attack by another bird and that it is indeed
feather plucking itself, then you must consider the two main reasons -- medical
and non-medical -- for feather plucking. To eliminate the medical possibilities,
have your bird evaluated by an avian veterinarian.
Although we will not detail the medical reasons why a bird will feather pluck,
we will say that this syndrome can be caused by any number of medical reasons,
including an injury; an infection; an allergic reaction; internal (worms or
Giardia) or external (mites) parasites; or viruses, such as psittacine beak and
feather disease. If the cause of the feather picking is medical, you and your
vet can work together to solve the problem. If the cause is non-medical, read on
to learn how you can help your bird.
make the bird happy and comfort him/her
While awaiting the results of your bird's medical examination, you can do a few
things to make it more comfortable. Shine a full-spectrum light into your bird's
cage, and sprinkle a vitamin supplement that promotes feather growth on your
bird's soft-food mix. If your bird is semi-nude, it is a good idea to supplement
the full-spectrum light with a heat lamp or at least a light bulb placed close
to the cage. Make sure that your bird can get as close or as far away from the
heat source as it wants. Keep the heat source available until your pet has made
a complete recovery. To distract your bird from plucking itself, provide a toy
it can chew on. We find that a bird rope or rope dog bone with a hard fiber
center works well. Our birds amuse themselves for hours tearing the rope apart
and crunching the center. Choose a rope that is made of natural, undyed fiber
such as 100-percent cotton.
It is also a good idea to offer a bird bath to your nudist friend. Providing the
bath in the morning will allow your bird the rest of the day to dry off. The
bath will help the bird if it has been suffering from itchy skin caused by a dry
environment. At the very least, spray-mist the little guy daily, because dry,
itchy skin can induce feather plucking. Dry skin itch may also occur if your
bird has not been receiving enough oil in its diet. This is usually not a
concern if you supply a balanced diet that includes some seed. It may be a
problem, however, if your bird is on a pelleted diet. A small dish of seed
offered daily shouldn't hurt your bird even if you are a pelleted diet purist.
its not a job for the vets
When your avian veterinarian tells you that he or she cannot find a medical
reason for your bird to be plucking itself, you may be tempted to throw up your
hands in disgust or defeat. Before you abandon all hope, though, you should
investigate a number of other possible causes for your bird's behavior. If your
bird is not being treated for a medical problem, then the feather plucking may
be caused by a psychological problem, usually stress. At first glance, the cause
of the bird's stress may not be obvious; you may have to do some sleuthing to
determine it.
Environment:
Just because we have learned to adjust readily to change, we believe that our
feathered friends can do the same. Wrong! More often than not they react
adversely to changes in their environment. A bird must feel secure in its
environment before it can relax, chatter, sing, perch on one foot and tuck its
head back to sleep. From the moment a bird hatches, it is adjusting to its
environment. Baby birds rarely leave the security of the nest without first
exploring the branches that they can reach with their beaks. Even after they
have left the nest, they are in constant contact with their parents for
security, feeding and training. Very slowly, they extend their knowledge of the
world by moving further into their environment while establishing familiar
landmarks. When those landmarks change, the bird reacts by fleeing to more
familiar ground or to the safety of a parent. No doubt this instinctive reaction
has helped preserve avian species, so it is little wonder that a captive bird
becomes stressed when it cannot flee from an unfamiliar environment. To help a
new bird adjust to its surroundings, cover the bird's cage before bringing it
into your home, and leave the cage covered after you put it in place. Little by
little, the cage is uncovered, allowing the bird to become slowly familiar with
its new environment. Finally, when the bird appears to be well adjusted to its
home, its owner relaxes. But if the owner becomes complacent, he or she may soon
end up with a feather plucker.
If you should find yourself in this situation, consider the following:
Has the furniture in the bird room been rearranged? This changes the bird's
landmarks and disorients it. Our lovebirds go into fits of loud squawking
whenever we make the slightest change in the furniture arrangement in their
room.
Has the position of your pet's cage been changed? Even turning the cage sideways
can cause an adverse reaction.
Has anything else been changed; perhaps there is a new cage cover? We know of an
instance where a new jungleprint cage cover, with fierce-looking animals peering
into the cage, frightened the cage inhabitants. We once had a bird react
adversely (and this is an understatement) to a photograph of a face printed on
newspaper in the cage bottom.
Can your bird see a larger or more aggressive bird than itself?. This view may
intimidate your little de-feathering friend. the key is not to worry!
Has your bird been moved to a position above your eye level or into a cage with
perches higher than those of your other birds? Your little pal may now be going
through the trauma of having to assume the top-dog position in the bird
hierarchy, a responsibility forced upon it by its high perch. Or has your
dominant bird been moved to a lower perch than the others in your collection?
This causes it to lose its status in the pecking order. We know of a dominant
African Grey that was cured of feather plucking by placing its cage above the
rest of the flock.
Has a bird been added to the cage? Any addition to the bird community requires a
re-establishment of each bird's position in the avian hierarchy. After
quarantine, always place a new bird in a separate cage beside the cage it will
eventually inhabit. Place its perches at the same level as its neighbors so that
the new bird can slowly make the acquaintance of the established birds (and vice
versa). Once they all appear comfortable, introduce the new bird into its new
home and monitor the introduction carefully.
Have you moved your bird into a smaller cage? It may be claustrophobic.
Has your bird's mate been removed? Many birds grieve over the loss of a mate.
Has a new person or pet been added to the household? Introduce either of these
to your bird slowly. Any
addition to the household requires a bird to adjust its place in the hierarchy
of its extended family.
Has a nest box recently been added to your bird's cage? This can cause a
"now-you-have-to-mate" stress. Or has the nest box recently been removed?
Perhaps your bird was preparing for another clutch when you disrupted its plans.
Is more traffic passing by your bird's cage? An increase in activity can be very
disruptive to a bird that is used to having privacy.
Is your bird's cage receiving more sun than it used to? Too much direct sunlight
can cause your bird to overheat. Always give it a shady place in its cage.
Is your bird's cage constantly in deep shade? Your bird may be frustrated living
in the dark. Full-spectrum lights work wonders to keep birds in good health and
prime feather condition.
Can your bird see a reflection of itself?. We say a reflection rather than a
mirror image because other surfaces reflect, and some are not always obvious to
us - for example, windows, glass cabinet panels and even television screens. Our
male Pionus parrot reacts to such reflections as if an intruder is present.
Is your bird getting enough sleep? Late-night loud sounds and light can disturb
birds and cause them to lose their beauty sleep. A tired bird is a stressed
bird.
Has the interior of your pet's cage been altered? Has anything new, such as a
toy or swing, been added? This item may be frightening your bird.
Before cleaning your bird's cage, ideally you should have an identical, clean
cage set up with all the same accessories (swings, toys, cuttlebone, perches) in
the same configuration as in the dirty cage. Don't rely on memory; your bird
will remember better than you. And be sure to stand the clean cage in the same
location as the dirty cage.
Routine:
Because a bird lives for routines, stress occurs when its routine is disrupted.
A bird likes to know what to expect, when to expect it and from whom to expect
it. Change anything in its daily routine and your parrot may start feather
plucking. For instance, a bird may be accustomed to a certain amount of regular
time outside its cage either with you or on a stand or a play cage. If you
change the regular length of its play- time once it has become a routine, your
bird may begin to feather pluck from frustration. A reduction in the amount of
attention you normally devote to your feathered friend can also lead to feather
plucking. This is especially true of cockatoos that are used to a lot of
attention.
Boredom:
Confinement to a cage without adequate mental stimuli (toys) or the interaction
of another bird can lead to boredom, which is another major cause of stress in
birds. The more intelligent the birds, the more susceptible they are to boredom.
Providing these birds with a variety of interesting toys, companionship and
plenty of attention will distract them from having to amuse themselves by
plucking their feathers. If you must leave your small parrot (lovebird size) in
its cage for long periods of time, we recommend attaching a small-animal plastic
treadmill (a hamster running wheel) to an inside wall of its cage. In addition
to relieving boredom, running in the wheel gives the bird exercise. Our
lovebirds and parrotlets relish racing around in or balancing on top of their
wheels. (We hope that some day someone will devise such a toy for medium and
large parrots to enjoy.) Some birds react positively to music. Our birds sing
and chatter along with the radio. We believe that silence can cause stress,
especially for a single bird left alone all day, and that the company of a
constant level of sound, such as a radio, can relieve this stress.
Diet:
Variety is the spice of life. This holds true for your bird's diet, but a
drastic change can be stressful to your bird. Changes in diet, such as
converting a bird from a seed mix to a pelleted diet, are best made over a
period of time so that your bird will learn to recognize and accept the new
foods. If your pet is forced into accepting a new diet (including a change of
pellet brands), it may begin to feather pluck.
Are You Stressing Your Bird?:
Birds are very empathetic creatures. They can pick up your vibes and mirror
them. Your stress becomes their stress, which can lead to a vicious circle if
you are becoming stressed out because your bird is stressed out and in
self-destruct mode. So relax! Sometimes we inadvertently intimidate our birds
with our body language and eye contact. A newly acquired bird can be intimidated
if you stare at it. Another way you may be stressing your bird is if you are
inconsistent in the way you reward and punish your bird's behavior. Always
reward a positive behavior and always punish a negative one, but remember to
never strike a bird. You must be clear in your mind as to how and for what
behavior you will reward or punish your bird. Be sure never to deviate from
this.
Old Habits Die Hard:
When all is said and done, feather picking is a difficult habit to break. Once a
bird begins to feather pluck, whether from stress or a medical reason, this
negative behavior can become a habit even though the cause of the problem has
been diagnosed and treated. Nevertheless, your understanding of some of the many
causes of bird stress will be beneficial to you and your bird. Once you know no
medical cause exists for the feather plucking and you have made your best
attempts to relieve your bird's stress, you should realize that your bird,
although perhaps not picture perfect in its appearance, will retain its
personality and continue to be a companion in the years to come. We hope these
suggestions will help you and your bird live a stress-free life together. It may
save you the trouble of having to pack up and relocate with your featherless
friend to the canopies of the tropical rain forest.
poop
poop is a major thing when it comes to budgies. I have had many a question about ''normal poop'' and i come the conclusion that i should put down what ''ISN'T'' normal poop, that way you can compair.
THE ABNORMAL POOP:
Once you've learned what your bird's dropping
normally looks like you can be on the lookout for problems.
Watery droppings: An increase in the amount of urine is often confused with diarrhea. The fecal matter will be the same, but there will be notably more fluid around the feces. A change in the color of the urine is also a warning. Excessive watery vegetables, poor quality or dirty water and even the stress from being moved to a new home can cause watery droppings.
Loose stool: Or true diarrhea, can show up in one or two droppings due to stress, but if you're seeing it constantly throughout the day it is cause for concern. The tubular formed feces will lose its shape and become mushy. Birds tend to make droppings often because they have such a high metabolism and eat often. A normal healthy bird should have anywhere up to 25 droppings. There are several reasons why a bird can have loose droppings. It is recommended that you should never drastically change your bird’s diet. If this has occurred it might cause diarrhea in your bird and should be taken to the vet immediately. Stress can also cause this condition in birds. It is rare for a bird to have constipation and if you find this happening in your pet bird you should consult a veterinarian.
Color changes The feces can change color from bright green or black and texture change to slimy is an indicator of trouble. Yellow or green stained urates is also a warning of trouble. This part of the dropping should always be white when dry.
Undigested seed or food in the droppings, pale or foamy droppings and a consistent change in the volume or number of droppings during the course of the day are also of concern.
Blood in droppings: Fresh blood in the faeces, or dark brownish-black or reddish-black droppings, indicating that blood has been digested, could be a symptom of enteritis or septicaemia or of poisoning.
Undigested seed: This will often be the first indication that there is some thing wrong with the bird's digestive system if the faeces contain undigested seed or other food,