# Treatment for quill mites



## Dezirrae (Oct 6, 2007)

*Treatment for quill mites??*

Last Thursday Juliet and Noel had their first check-up with the vet -- passed with "flying" colors (couldn't resist  ) except for one little issue... the vet found a few dead quill mites on both their feathers - maybe 4 on Juliet and about 3 on Noel. She recommended dusting them with a flea powder that is safe for kittens and/or puppies. I did some looking around on the Web and found a few places that recommended Sevin Dust (5 percent). And searching here on PT I only found two threads about quill mites. Sooooo... figured I'd tap into the great minds & experience here and see what experience dictates  The vet recommended treatment with the flea powder once a week for four weeks than a maintenance treatment every other week. Does this sound right?

Oh, and she also tested for clamidia - should have the results back Monday or Tuesday. I asked her about PMV or any other recommended vaccinations for ringneck doves and she said she wasn't aware of any recommended one's (especially since they are kept indoors) - but was going to research it more and will call me on Wednesday. Any thoughts on that subject are appreciated too.

Thanks!!


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Dezirrae, we had a little sparrow with that problem and the vet recommended one drop of Ivermectin at the neck and a repeat dose in 10 days.

This is a pretty good link on the subject.

http://www.federmilben.de/en/control.html

They can be extremely hard to eradicate and we had to do a repeat dose on the sparrow - I believe about one month after the last drop of Ivermectin.


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## Dezirrae (Oct 6, 2007)

Thanks Maggie  So funny that you posted that link... as I was surfing for info. that's where I wound up and what prompted me to ask here since the recommendation on the federmilben site was a bit different than the vet's recommendation. I'm off to the store now so I'll look around for Ivermectin -- if the store doesn't have it (since it seems to maybe be perscription??) I'll call the vet about it. Appreciate the recommendation Maggie.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Dezirrae, you can probably get Scalex at any pet store and that is pretty good stuff too. We use the spray for mites, in general.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Since doves generally like to take baths, it might be a good idea to put the Ivermectin in the water. We use Ivomec from Foy's, but there's also Ivermec at Tractor Supply. It's all the same thing, just the stuff at TS is for sheep and whatnot so you'd have to use a smaller dose (not sure what it is though). If you let them take baths in it enough, it should keep feather mites/lice off, and if you let them drink the Ivomec in their water, it'll kill any other parasites that suck the blood. My directions say to give 3cc's per gallon for one day, then repeat in 10 days. You can also pour the drench on the feed too.

As for the powdering thing, Sevin Dust should be fine. I found a few little lice on one of our YB's about a week ago and used the same stuff. It was just aggrivating because I'd powder him all over except his head so I wouldn't get it in his eyes and up his nose....and then the next day all of the living lice had migrated to his face  I honestly think getting stuff to put in the water is a lot easier and probably is a bit more effective. Not to mention, dust doesn't seem too great anyways...they fly and it goes everywhere...
I do like to use it to dust the breeding cages though. I sprinkle it over the floors and in the big loft, I put it down before and after I put fresh shavings in. It makes me feel a little better about the bugs.


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

Another product that comes very highly recomended is Moxidectin Plus. It is made by the Australian Pigeon Company. This is the company that was founded and is run by Dr. Collin Walker. He wrote a fabulous book called The Flying Vet's Pegeon Health and Management. This guy is not only a well known avian vet in Australia, but is also an accomplished racer.

Anyway, Moxidectin Plus is a combination of Moxidectin and Praziquantel and is effective against all internall worms as well as tape worms. It also controls all external parasites that feed off of body fluids including mites and flies. I use many of his products including this and am very pleased with them. The link to his site is:

www.auspigeonco.com.au

His products are also available through Siegel's.

Hope this helps.

Dan


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## Dezirrae (Oct 6, 2007)

Lady Tarheel said:


> Dezirrae, you can probably get Scalex at any pet store and that is pretty good stuff too. We use the spray for mites, in general.


Thanks again Maggie  I did see that in the store, but wound up getting the 8 in 1 version instead -- I checked the ingrediant list and it was the same(Active Ingredients: Pyrethrins 0.03%, Piperonyl Butoxide, Technical* 0.30% ) for a little bit less $$. Hopefully it will work. Otherwise will look on Foy's and / or Siegel's




MaryOfExeter said:


> Since doves generally like to take baths, it might be a good idea to put the Ivermectin in the water. We use Ivomec from Foy's....
> As for the powdering thing, Sevin Dust should be fine. I found a few little lice on one of our YB's about a week ago and used the same stuff. It was just aggrivating because I'd powder him all over except his head so I wouldn't get it in his eyes and up his nose....and then the next day all of the living lice had migrated to his face  ...they fly and it goes everywhere...
> I do like to use it to dust the breeding cages though. I sprinkle it over the floors and in the big loft, I put it down before and after I put fresh shavings in. It makes me feel a little better about the bugs.


Thanks Becky -- I was picturing the same thing you described about the dust. But using it on the cage after cleaning is something I hadn't thought of - I will try that. 



learning said:


> Another product that comes very highly recomended is Moxidectin Plus. It is made by the Australian Pigeon Company.


Thanks for the recommendation Dan - I'll check it out too.

Luckily the Vet did say that the few mites she found were dead - but of course there was no way she could check for any eggs  So I'll give it a go with the spray I picked up this afternoon and look into ordering the Ivocmec or Moxidectin Plus.


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## kingsley hannah (Jan 9, 2008)

*ivermec*

hi this is an interesting thred, i just today put 2 drops of ivormec onto the neck of each of my birds, on bird had noticable amounts of a long (2-3 mm) thin parasite the bird is white so they were more apparent but extesive serches didnt detect any parisites on any of the other birds, the afected bird was also lacing a bit of condition!
the guy who recomended the ivermec told me that it would enter the bird thew the skin and from there would kill worms and all other parasites.

let me know what you think?


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## amoonswirl (Nov 14, 2006)

kingsley hannah said:


> hi this is an interesting thred, i just today put 2 drops of ivormec onto the neck of each of my birds, on bird had noticable amounts of a long (2-3 mm) thin parasite the bird is white so they were more apparent but extesive serches didnt detect any parisites on any of the other birds, the afected bird was also lacing a bit of condition!
> the guy who recomended the ivermec told me that it would enter the bird thew the skin and from there would kill worms and all other parasites.
> 
> let me know what you think?


Those sound like quill mites all right - rotten little buggers!
Ivermectin gets absorbed into the bloodstream via the skin, and often does kill other parasites as well as the mites. Quill mites mainly feed on the feathers and bloom, so if your bird is heavily infested he may look a bit ragged as far as feather condition.

I would be pretty surprised if none of your other birds had them though. Probably a good idea to treat the whole flock at once to avoid re-infestation.


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## pigeedoodle (Dec 11, 2007)

Hi Guys,
This is why I love this list -- answers at our fingertips and not a lot of wait! I just wanted to mention if you have a lot of birds many of these meds are the same for horse/cattle/sheep wormers. You can get them at any sort of feed store or on line. They might be a bit more economical in the larger amounts.
Constance
p.s. concerning the Moxidectin in horses we are warned to be very careful with the dosing it doesn't have a huge margin of safety like safeguard (panacur).


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## kingsley hannah (Jan 9, 2008)

MaryOfExeter said:


> Since doves generally like to take baths, it might be a good idea to put the Ivermectin in the water. We use Ivomec from Foy's, but there's also Ivermec at Tractor Supply. It's all the same thing, just the stuff at TS is for sheep and whatnot so you'd have to use a smaller dose (not sure what it is though). If you let them take baths in it enough, it should keep feather mites/lice off, and if you let them drink the Ivomec in their water, it'll kill any other parasites that suck the blood. My directions say to give 3cc's per gallon for one day, then repeat in 10 days. You can also pour the drench on the feed too.
> .


hey this sounds a lot easer than catching each bird and using an eydropper to drip 2 drops on there neck, and having to rember which birds you have done and which you havent!

i am woundering how oftin i should be treating the birds?
and i might try it in the bath water this time


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

pigeedoodle said:


> Hi Guys,
> This is why I love this list -- answers at our fingertips and not a lot of wait! I just wanted to mention if you have a lot of birds many of these meds are the same for horse/cattle/sheep wormers. You can get them at any sort of feed store or on line. They might be a bit more economical in the larger amounts.
> Constance
> p.s. concerning the Moxidectin in horses we are warned to be very careful with the dosing it doesn't have a huge margin of safety like safeguard (panacur).


The doseage on the Moxidectin Plus from APC says to dilute 5ml per litre of water for a 24 hour period. It claims to have a wide safety margin, whatever that means.

Dan


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