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Bird Lice!!!


Makena

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Ahhhh :ohmy: ... so we are freaking out because it looks like Makena has lice!! We started noticing these little brown bugs and called the vet right away. He said it sounded like lice and to go to the pet store, buy the lice spray and start treatment right away.

 

Have any of your birds ever had lice?!? I have been trying to do research on it but am having a hard time finding anything. Is the type of louse a bird gets the same as a human louse? Can they live in your house like mites or bedbugs?!?! Are we going to have a huge infestation on our hands or is this something that will go away when the bird is treated?!?!?

 

We have an appt. with the vet of Friday and will hopefully get more info then... but for right now we are going crazy trying to find more information! Thanks so much!!

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Hold off treatment. More research needed. I am not familiar at all with parrots getting lice. I also would want to do some thorough research on proper treatment for birds of such pests if, in fact, that is what they are.

 

Where do you see the bugs? Little brown bugs can be in the food and perhaps you are just seeing them crawl on Makena. Lets see what we can find out. I am sure you want to act, but I do not think its an emergency...<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/08/23 00:35

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We noticed while holding him and one would crawl up our arm :sick:

 

I caught one and put it in a ziploc... I wish I had a way to take a picture of it to show you but it is just too small!

 

I examined his food very carefully and don't see anything there.

 

Thank you dblhelix for the article... that looks exactly like what they are. We are calling around right now and my fiance is at the pet store talking to the owner and trying to figure out the best solution. :unsure:

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Guest briansmum

oh dear makena. he needs to have been in contact with another bird to have gotten these, if they are indeed lice you need to contact the breeder or store you bought him from becuase chances are the other birds have them too.

 

i would wait till you have seen a vet before treating them, even if you can't visit a queslified avian vet maybe you could find a number of one and give them a call, or request that your vet consult with an avian specialist. if his interest is in avian care, then he must be getting his knowlage from somewhere, in other words, he must know someone who knows more about birds than him.

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Ok so we called or emailed everyone we could... The pet store owner said lice are pretty common amongst birds in Hawaii due to all the wild pigeons, doves, mynas, roosters and sparrows. They said the find a lot of the breeders in Hawaii have lice problems :( . We purchased this lice spray;

 

http://www.petco.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=113719&cm_ven=SortPrice&cm_cat=72&cm_pla=113719&cm_ite=113719

 

We are going to take it with us on Friday to the vet and make sure it is ok before we use it. Plus we figure it will help if he shows us how to use it correctly.

 

We also emailed the breeder and let him know. Makena has not been in contact with any other animals since we got him so we are pretty sure that is where they came from. I am sure the breeder is going to get defensive but we assured him we were only letting him know for the sake of his other birds.

 

Luckily it looks like this type of lice doesn't affect humans... I can't stop itching though.. But I think it is 90% psychological and 10% mosquitos! :pinch:<br><br>Post edited by: Makena, at: 2007/08/23 03:53

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Thanks, Makena, for getting back to us with an update. I am sure you are very concerned about the safety of the treatment and the pests themselves.

 

Don't let the breeder give you a hard time, that is where she obviously got them from.

 

Glad to hear these kind don't affect humans but I understand your reaction, I would be doing the same thing.

 

Keep us informed of what transpires in the next few days and we will keep our fingers crossed that she is free of them soon.

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Guest briansmum

oooh yeah, i'd be itchy all over too! poor makena, focus on the positive, good job your found them now before makena started taking action himself. they should be pretty easy to get rid of once you know how and he won't get them again... unless he's playing with pigeons!

 

like judy said don't take any nonsense from the breeder, they need to accept this is their problem and it needs sorting.

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Eck... Poor you guys! I just hate bugs. My little yorkie ran in a goat shed once and got infested with fleas, it looked like her total body weight again in fleas. The worst was giving her the flea bath and they all ran up her head and jumped on me. Funny now but not funny then I can tell you. I hope you get it sorted good luck! It makes me all itchy just thinking about it.:ohmy:

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Yep it was lice... MAJOR LICE! The poor guy is covered with them. The vet said he has never seen a domesticated bird with lice that bad before. Luckily he said the spray we got should clear it up. He taught us how to use it and said it is very safe when used correctly. It should take almost a month for them to completely clear up as you have to wait for the eggs to hatch. He said to come back in a month with a feather and he will put it under a microscope to check the progress. If there are still lice at that point there is an oral treatment they can give... but that would be a worse case scenario. He didn't want to give it right off the bat since Makena is a baby and didn't know the side effects. Hopefully they clear up with the spray! Die lice DIE!! :angry:

 

And we have been assured that these lice do not like humans... so once we are rid of them on Makena they should be gone for good. Phew.... I guess I can stop my itching now.

 

On the other hand... Makena is doing great!!! :P We had them do a gram stain which came back completely normal. He said Makena is huge (420 grams) and his massive food intake is fine for a birdy this age! He isn't fat... just big boned :lol: He said we are going to have a very large grey!

 

He gave Makena a very thorough exam and everything was normal... His inside organs sounded great as well as everything on the outside looked wonderful. He said besides the lice the bird is extremely healthy and one of the best looking greys he has seen in a long time! :blush: Plus he said we were very knowledgeable for first time grey parents... I attribute that to all of you guys!!! ;)

 

So mom and dad feel a little better now... We will be happy once the lice is gone.. and I will keep you guys posted on the progress!

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Good news, though some work ahead for you and Makena! B) Is there anything special you need to do to disinfect the cage, home or anything? Since the lice are parasites they probably cannot really live unless on a host (eg Makena), but I am curious for future reference if there are any other disinfecting steps recommended. Thanks for the update, and glad to hear the overall positive state!! :)

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You are absolutely right dblhelix... Without a warm little bird body the lice will die. Although we are going to make sure to clean the cage very well over the next few weeks just in case. I don't want to take any chances that they could come back! The vet did say mites are a worse problem to have because they can live anywhere and are hard to spot with the naked eye. Lucky we don't have those as they can live in your carpets, furniture, etc. and are really hard to get rid of.

 

Well I guess this is something new for the forums. Everyone should check their new birds that come from a place where there are many other birds around. They are so small and tend to stay hidden in the bird. We never would have known if it weren't for the fact we saw a couple crawl up our arm :sick:. I guess you live and learn!

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Guest briansmum

so glad to hear all is well.. or going to be well. you really do have a happy healthy bird! clever mummy and daddy you are. let us know how the live treating goes and hopefully you'll be rid of those little devils soon enough.

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Hi ya, I just felt inspired to weigh Ying Mo...Oh my God he is 460 grams! What is the deal with that! He doesn't seem fat, he is eating lots but he is out of his cage and flying lots too... umm I will ask my vet about that.

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