Mites on Poor Wiggens

Poor guy. That looks very uncomfortable.

How would one treat for mites being so close to the eyes?
Dust powders and sprays warn against getting the stuff in or near the face.

Fancyfeathers wrote:

Poor guy. That looks very uncomfortable.

How would one treat for mites being so close to the eyes?
Dust powders and sprays warn against getting the stuff in or near the face.

He was given ivermectin and some antibiotic drops in his eyes. The ivermectin will need to be repeated in 10 days and the loft will need to be cleaned, sprayed for mites and all the other Pigeons treated with ivermectin. All smooth legged Pigeons had their legs vaselined and then the vaseline rubbed off. If any mites have burrowed into the legs or try top crawl up the legs they will be smothered.

I appreciate the explanation.

Usually it takes to three days for Ivermectin to clear them up. A bit of Lysterine in the bath water helps skin by reducing swelling.

plamenh wrote:

Usually it takes to three days for Ivermectin to clear them up.
A bit of Lysterine in the bath water helps skin by reducing swelling.

Yet another nifty tip.
Plamenh.

Charis, there is another possibility to treat birds against all kinds of ectoparasites:

diatomaceous earth. My sister treated her parrots and her cats with it.
A link with more information:

Diatomaceous Earth

That is a good tip, plamenh. How much listerine per gallon do you think?

I also want to add, vaseline is not the fist choice of products to grease the legs but rather oilive oil. If you are in a pinch and vaseline is what you have....

pigeonwriter wrote:

Charis, there is another possibility to treat birds against all kinds of ectoparasites:

diatomaceous earth. My sister treated her parrots and her cats with it.
A link with more information:

Diatomaceous Earth

Thank you Petra for the recommendation. I do use it under nest boxes but have found it to work well as a preventative. With severe mite infestations, which seem to happen this time of year, diatomaceous earth alone is not enough as everything needs to be sprayed where the mites can hide. Mites are naturally in the environment and love to hide in straw which many use as nesting material.

Sometime back, plamenh recommeded a spray called Avian Insect Liquidator, by Vetafarm, and it works very well. The other spray that works is called Sevin.

Just a little background on Wiggins...he is now living in Washington State in Landy's loft. He is 4 years old and came to me when he was about 10 days old. He had one of the worst splay legs I have ever seen. Even my wildlife veterinarian friend didn't think he would ever be able to perch normally. Fortunately,he did great and one would never know he had been a baby with splay leg.

Teaspoon of Lysterine to gallon will do.

Thanks...I'll let Landy know that.