# what is THE safest, best way to get rid of Mites???



## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Oye!


Well, I kind of sort of realized it for some time now, but was not quite accepting it...

Little Butter Cup, my Latino Cockateil...snif...well, she has "MITES"...


I thought I was seeing the odd 'paper mite' or Dust Mite on my desk, and that is nothing new.

But she has 'em, and they also migrate onto surrounding areas, and are very VERY small...but when I squished one it left a little 'red' streak...so...

I have never dealt with Mites but for some Sparrow Babys years ago...so...

what is THE best, safest way to get rid of them?


And ( this is funny, but terrible too!) I have had a housegues lately, who is one of my old pals, and his wife was driving him nuts, so I said "heck, you can stay here for a while till things cool off..."

And something had been biting the hell out of him...leaving pretty big bumps like Mosquitos would, only there are no Mosquitos...there are no biteing insects here of any kind ( well, some Black widows but they never bother anyone) and finally, we figured out it was these darned little Mites, and the only Mites here, are around little Butter Cup's Nest, and or that she really likes to perch on his shoulder and so on when he is over here reading or working on his computer...so...

Whats your advice for me?

How can I solve this?

Now I am worried about the other Birds here too, what if they also are getting Mites?

Even I am starting to feel 'antsy' about it...although nothing ever seems to bite me...



Thanks!

Phil
Las Vegas


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, I never had any problems with any of the <scratch!> bugs that my pigeons <skritch! skritch!> get so I don't know what you're <SKRITCH! SCRATCH!> talking about, Phil.

The safest stuff is the Pyrethrin based pump sprays like this one:

http://www.petdiscounters.com/product.php?productid=1046138&cat=310&page=1

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

<SKRITCH! SCRATCH! SKRITCH!>

I CAN'T STAND IT ANY LONGER!!!

AUUUUUGHGHGH!!!


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

You could dust the bird Or use a spray I started dippiung as it is so fast and works great. For a cocketiel Use malithion about 1 table spoon to a gallon of water. Hold it by the wing opened wings hold the head at the base dip the bird in warm dip up to its neck kind swirl it around a second and set it out to dry. Should work great But then spray you cage and the area around it so no new ones get on the bird agin.


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Yep, Phil, dipping is the fastest and most effective way I've found. The only problem is, how are you going to hold your friend while you swirl him around in the water?!?


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

TerriB said:


> Yep, Phil, dipping is the fastest and most effective way I've found. The only problem is, how are you going to hold your friend while you swirl him around in the water?!?



Terri! 

LOLOL  Good one!

Linda


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Couldn't resist.


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Well, golly...

If the Malathian is considered the best regimen...I guess I will do it.

When I was three, we lived in Palmdale, California, and in those days it had Canals all over the place, and at night these huge ancient White and REO and other really cool Trucks would drive slow with huge wands arrayed off their sides, spraying Malathian to kill off the endless swarms of Mosquitos.

I used to stand at the screen door, waiting anxiously for the moment my mom would let me back out...Lol...and of course one was supposed to stay IN...

I always loved the smell of Malathian...


I guess I can try some practice 'dips' with just tepid Water so she does not think it is somehting too novel when we do the deed.

She does not have a Cage, but I will clean off my desk and wipe it all down...and as for the rest, heck, I do not know what I could to, other than mop the floors or something with it.

If it were not for her nesting on my desk here, where there are lots of white papers and so on, I would hardly have ever seen any of them...they are VERY small indeed, about like a pin point just touched to paper or so...but when larger, they are engorged appearently.

I have been checking her, and once in a while I do see one on her Feathers.

When she sees them on the papers, she eats them!

Lol...

Anyway, does anyone know, can these live 'on' people for any length of time?

Thanks!


Phil
Las Vegas


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Phil,

You might also try to the Scatt for blood sucking mites as well as air-sac mites. If your Cockatiel seems infested, they may be internal also.

http://www.pets-megastore.com.au/pr...id=13&osCsid=6e4678fcd15b8922eae915bca2159aeb

I myself would not use the malathion as it is very toxic. The permetrin based sprays specially made for the little birds are best.

I have never been overrun by the critters, but I sure would do some cleaning if I was concerned about the mites affecting humans.


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## JoyfulSongTree (Apr 7, 2006)

Phil, sorry about your creepy critters...yuckers!

Anyway, I had this in my files...

Dermanyssus gallinae (red mite) normally doesn't live on the bird but in cracks and crevices of the aviary (nestboxes etc.) comes out at night to feed on the blood of the birds. Very difficult to detect during the day. Although nighttime flight, irritation at night, stress, lack of sleep are symptoms of red mites.
If you suspect you may have mites place a bunched up white handkerchief above perch overnight. Mites come out to feed at night and then retreat to dark crevices at daylight. In the morning, carefully unfold the handkerchief and look for the mites. They will appear as small black or red dots (look carefully to see if they move) on the fabric...

Red mite is known to survive for months outside the bird's body (in nooks and crannies) and is virtually impossible to eradicate without extensive cleaning and disinfecting with pesticides...

.09% pyrethrum and is safe for use on birds. Make sure to spread out the wings and get underneath the wings. 

Sunshine's biological Bird Cage Spray is for treating cages, aviary bottoms etc. Pyrethrins: 0.075% not for spraying on birds. 

L&M Mite and Lice Spray for birds Pyrethrins 0.030%, 8 in 1 Mite and Lice Spray. Both of these are safe for use on the birds.

Red mites can live for months without a blood meal. So introducing unaffected birds only to find them affected later is not uncommon.


Kitty


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## LondonPigeon (May 10, 2005)

Im worried to hear about this (generally)

is it common that pigeons will get mites or flies on their bodies?

its something that makes me feel very uneasy, and could be a factor that would make me not want to get a pigeon as a pet


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

LondonPigeon said:


> Im worried to hear about this (generally)
> is it common that pigeons will get mites or flies on their bodies?
> its something that makes me feel very uneasy, and could be a factor that would make me not want to get a pigeon as a pet



Hi LP,

It is VERY uncommon for pigeons (including mine- 50 of them) to get any kind of bugs. First of all, they have acces to bathing and are healthy. Birds in rehab care usually present themselves with lice,mites, as they are run down and can't prune and pick as well as a healthy bird, and have no access to a good shower until they are in someone's care.

Just imagine how smelly and dirty a person would be if they couldn't wash up everyday! WHEW


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## LondonPigeon (May 10, 2005)

Trees Gray said:


> Hi LP,
> 
> It is VERY uncommon for pigeons (including mine- 50 of them) to get any kind of bugs. First of all, they have acces to bathing and are healthy. Birds in rehab care usually present themselves with lice,mites, as they are run down and can't prune and pick as well as a healthy bird, and have no access to a good shower until they are in someone's care.
> 
> Just imagine how smelly and dirty a person would be if they couldn't wash up everyday! WHEW


thats good to hear,

if I hypethically had a pigeon that was healthy with access to water to bathe and could preen (peck) itself, it shouldnt have a problem with bugs


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Yahhhhhhhh...I have almost never seen any evidence of Mites or other Bugs on Pigeons.

Once in a great great while, I used to see a Pigeon Fly or Hippoboscidae, but if I have seen one in the last ten years, I would be surprised.

I used to see Mites on Baby Sparrows in like 1979-1980, but have not seen this since.

What I used to do 'then', was set a heating pad with white cloth on it next TO the Sparrow, or to confine the Sparrow to be close to the Cage side with the Heating Pad outside the Cage, and thousands of Mites would migrate over on to ythe cloth on the Heating Pad, where I would dispose of them...doing a few rounds of this, seemd to really make a huge difference. I had no Vet or anyone to ask about sprays and so on then.


Little Cockatiel Girl appearently (?) had them when brought to me, but if these are the kind who do not really live ON the Bird, that is good, and it will make it easier for me to get rid of them.


All my convelesent Birds tend to be on white or light colored Towells in their Cages, and this would let me see any creeping Mites, just about as well as I can see them creeping on the white or off-white papers on my desk where 'Butter Cup' made her Nest...and I have never seen any prior to this.

Now, I gather homes or clutter in old buildings such as this one, can have Mites even with no Birds being involved...but I am not at all clear about the propensities of these various kinds of Mites.

I know I have seen such tiny creatures all my life, here and there, and often used to see them in old Book Stores in San Francisco or other areas I had lived, and these of course were not associated with Birds.

I need to try some 'googles' again to see if I can learn more about various kinds of Mites.

This building, the Roof was leaking for quite a while, and now I have a new Roof on it, but the moisture in the walls and so on, while not making any Molds thank goodness, may well have made for some subtle eco-system niches which had encouraged Mites in some way that had nothing to do with Birds, for all I know, but which can opportune on Birds or others if they wish.

I will try and do some more reading, but the prior readings I tried, seemed to show that there was not really a great deal known about Mites.

But, I am confident that the Mites here have been doing some biteing, since if I crush the largest of them, there is a tiny 'red' streak.

And, of course my friend has been getting bitten by something, and when he looks there is never anything 'there', he has definite serious looking red bumps like from Mosquito bites, but there are no Mosquitos here...and these bites itch for days...so, likely showing some allergic or over-responsive reaction, to where this of course is hardly the quality of hospitality I would like to offer!

Nothing like this was going on with him before he was staying here...

And nothing like this has ever happenned with me, and I live here!

The only thing I can think of, is how Butter Cup likes to sit on his shoulder and was doing so from the onset of his staying here...so...

Lol...

I will stop at PetSmart today sometime, and see what sprays they have...and start useing the Spray on various surfaces...and on some of the Birds themselves...and maybe on my friend too...

Thanks so much everyone!


Best wishes!

Phil
Las Vegas


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Just to clarify, what I've used is permetrin dip. Foy's carries the concentrate (Permectrin II) which you dilute 1 tablespoon per gallon of water (or 5 cc per quart). Repeat in 10-12 days to break the mite life cycle and have happy birds.


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

pdpbison said:


> Well, golly...
> 
> If the Malathian is considered the best regimen...I guess I will do it.
> 
> ...


Yes, Phil, we had the same thing in our town in the summertime when I was a kid.

All of us kids, (myself included ) would follow directly behind the "Mosquito Man" on our bikes to ride through the "clouds."

Hard to believe now that we all know better...... 

Linda

PS....good luck eradicating your creepy crawlies


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Linda, 


I know...Lol...soon as those Trucks passed, my mom would let me go out again, and I would run out and run through the foggy mists also.

It never bothered me that I was aware of, and I have fond memories of it!

How odd, huh, that things could be like this?

I can only suppose that Malathian is somehow among the 'friendliest' deadly poisons around...

And far as I know, it really is, too...especially when compared to so many others...

Anyway, my whole day was busy and full and I have not got to Petsmart or other places yet to get anything for the Mite question...

To-morrow...


Phil
Las Vegas


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Don't which is worse, Phil, fleas or mites! You don't have any cats around, do you?

Perhaps your running through the clouds made you "immune"...however, maybe you are a "carrier."   Maybe your friend brought them when he arrived...he gave them to Buttercup and Buttercup returned the favor...OK, OK, I'm only teasin'....sure hope you can get rid of the "buggers!" May take awhile and some vigilence though.

Meanwhile, keep squashing and letting Buttercup enjoy her - ah - snacks!  

mmm, scratch, scratch...wonder why I feel "itchy" all of a sudden? SQUEAKS, come OVER here! CATS...LINE UP!


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