Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 11/7/2006

Question
Hi, I have an elderly friend who has two budgies.  When I visited recently I noticed that one of the budgies has something growing or infesting on and around the beak.  It seems to be around the cere and around the beak near her feathers.  It's a whitish colour and she and the other bird are picking at it.  The lady has been using mite spray.  Poor thing doesn't look to comfy.
Is it mites?  And whats the best treatment, also how to prevent this sort of thing from reoccurring.  
Thankyou
Rebecca
Brisbane, Australia

Answer
Hi, Rebecca.  Thanks for posting!

I'm thinking this might be scaly mites, but I don't recall whitish color in/around scaly mite infestations.  Scaly mites bury themselves in a bird's skin areas, usually on the feet/legs, around the beak, and around the cere.  Scaly mites look like warts.  

Mite spray should not be used.  The bird needs to be treated with Ivermectin...one or two drops in the mouth.  If the first dose doesn't wipe them out, a second one usually does.  This medicine is available without a prescription, but it's expensive, and you need to buy another medicine to mix with the Ivermectin in order for the Ivermec to work properly.  In some cases, it's cheaper to go to an avian veterinarian for the medicine than buy both meds outright yourself.  However, I don't know for sure if this is scaly mites.  

Scaly mites usually result from using undisinfected tree limbs from outside as perches.  The mites bury into the wood and when the wood is brought inside, the mites infect the birds.  Could also occur if you keep your birds outside or take them outside and they come into contact with something that contains them.  Birds that are kept inside and don't come into contact with items from outside, particularly wood, don't contract scaly mites.  Parrots in general don't usually get mites, fleas, etc.

http://birds2grow.com/art-scalyface.html
http://www.canaryadvisor.com/parakeet-mites.html
http://www3.sympatico.ca/davehansen/scaly.html

There's much information on the internet on scaly mites.  If these budgie's don't have scaly mites based on what you see in the above pictures, please come back and we'll go from there.

Chrys