# Advice on parasite



## Ferallife (Apr 26, 2020)

Yesterday I noticed this on the pigeon. It has lots of them. I bathed it with Palmolive dishwashing liquid under lukewarm water and then used a hairdryer to dry it. It was very stressed and fatigued after I did that. Several of them are still there today. What should I do? 
The day I got him was the day I released another baby pigeon. I put him in the same cage I had kept the previous pigeon. She used to scratch herself a lot. Could this one have gotten the bug from the cage or its nest? 
Also, what am I dealing with? Lice? Mite? Will they run around my house or get in the food I give to many ferals? Also, how do I treat him of these parasites? I have no experience with this. These things stick like glue into feathers. I barely got one or two out with my hand.
I only spotted these on him because of his white feathers. I have never checked rescue pigeons in the past for these.


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## Frank2620 (Feb 7, 2017)

Looks like lice . Dust him with sevin dust , under his wings and tail . The lice will not bother with people .

Best of luck to you ,

Frank


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## Frank2620 (Feb 7, 2017)

You can also dust his cage .


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## paloma101 (Sep 20, 2018)

*Ferals with lice*

Dealing with the same thing right now. It's stressing me out! A flock of ferals that I feed, have them. Not sure how many, but i did noticed them on the white feather pigeons because they're shredded. If it wasn't for the most recent one I treated I wouldn't have noticed the lice. Was bandaging up the wing and saw something crawling!  I also used the same cage from a previous pigeon I treated for sour crop, and I think that one had lice because that's the one that I started noticing the shredded wings after a week of releasing it. 

Grabbing each feral and treating seems impossible! I don't want them to die.


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## Frank2620 (Feb 7, 2017)

20 mule team borax , 1 tbsp per gallon in pigeon bath water . They can drink it and it won't hurt the pigeons . But will kill the lice . If you can put about a 5" deep pan or something for them to take a bath in . They will love it .

Best of luck to you ,

Frank


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## Frank2620 (Feb 7, 2017)

If you saw something crawling , it may have been a fly . Let them have the bath and think that should take care of them too .


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## paloma101 (Sep 20, 2018)

Frank2620 said:


> 20 mule team borax , 1 tbsp per gallon in pigeon bath water . They can drink it and it won't hurt the pigeons . But will kill the lice . If you can put about a 5" deep pan or something for them to take a bath in . They will love it .
> 
> Best of luck to you ,
> 
> Frank


Thank you so much for that advice! I will definitely try the borax method. Will keep everyone updated on this. And hopefully I can capture the pigeons that have lost their wings due to the lice. They look shredded and there's new feathers growing. They are flying low too. I noticed the pigeons with the shredded wings are light colored, meaning the wings are white. They are all related too!

Thank you so much again, I really appreciated!


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## paloma101 (Sep 20, 2018)

Frank2620 said:


> If you saw something crawling , it may have been a fly . Let them have the bath and think that should take care of them too .


The only reason I know it was lice was because the pigeon I treated for a droopy wing had one & i picked it, and I took a photo of it. Once I looked it up I knew. Then I started watching all the ferals in the morning preening in the sun. One of the youngest with the white wings, was doing it more than ever! That worried me. I'm also thinking of sprinkling some diatomaceous earth all over the dirt. Not sure if I should do it on the roof where they sleep too...... I clean and wash the roof weekly. 

I also chopped of some garlic to throw with their food. Not sure if that helps. The original plan was to give them diatomaceous earth with their food. But I reckon it's not good for the pigeons to eat.


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