Parakeets, like other birds, can get mites. Mites are tiny parasites capable of causing damage to these precious birds, ranging from small lesions or scabs to irritations, anemia, deformities and even such respiratory distress. serious enough to cause death. The treatment must include an effective antiparasitic and, in many cases, the disinfection of the cage.
Keep reading this article on our site to learn more about mites in parakeets, their symptoms and treatment.
Types of mites in parakeets
Mites are parasitic arachnids of the arthropod group. They have eight small legs and survive by ingesting the blood of their hosts, in this case the parakeets, as well as the remains of feather or skin material. Parasitization by mites in parakeets is known as scabies and can be due mainly to three types:
- Scaly face mites.
- Red mites.
- Air sac mites.
Scaly face mites
This infestation is caused by Knemidocoptes spp., mites that tend to live in the zones without feathers of parakeets and canaries. They have a very strong jaw that allows them to dig into tissues and nest, leaving behind a thick, scaly-looking whitish or brownish crust made up of dead tissue and feces. These crusts are seen on the bill, legs, around the eyes, and sometimes around the vent or under the wings. The beak is one of his favorite areas, digging with greater emphasis and even deforming it.
Red mites
Mites that affect the skin and feathers are the least common, but can also be found on parakeets. They are red mites, so called because of their intense orange color and because of their eating habits, since they ingest blood, which is why they can cause anemia The main mite is Dermanyssus gallinae. It is activated at night, which makes the parakeet restless and sleep during the day to compensate.
Keep in mind that these mites are not constantly on the bird. They can hide in the cracks of the cage during the day and attack at night. It must be remembered that this mite has the potential to affect people. In this article you can read about this and other diseases transmitted by birds: 13 diseases that birds transmit to humans.
Air sac mites
The air sacs are characteristic structures of birds that empty and fill with air with respiration. Its function is to increase the lightness of the bird to help it fly, facilitate the breathing of the lungs and prevent the increase in temperature that they reach when flying. The mite Sternostoma tracheacolum is the one that parasitizes the air sacs of parakeets, although it also lodges in the trachea. This mite located in these structures makes birds have difficulty in flight and breathing, which can cause death.
Symptoms of mites in parakeets
The clinical signs that parakeets with mites will have will depend on the type of mite with which they are parasitized. We see them one by one.
Scaly Face Mite Symptoms
Budgies will show mild itching at the start of infestation. When it progresses, expanded crusts are formed that can even reach deep tissues, such as the one that makes the beak grow. This is what causes serious damage, itching, malformations and bad appearance due to large scabs.
With the affected beak the parakeet will show obvious discomfort, difficulty eating and, in general, using its beak. As the infection progresses, it can also affect the legs, causing deformities and difficulty walking with lameness and even nail loss
Symptoms of Red Mites
These mites are rare, but aggressive, as they irritate the skin and cause hair loss feathers and scratching If infestation is severe enough, they can ingest enough blood to cause anemia These parakeets will be weak.
Air sac mite symptoms
Parakeets affected by air sac mites will appear fatigued, even after only a short flight. They will begin to make screeching sounds that become increasingly hoarse until breathing becomes labored and rapid and is accompanied by a characteristic tail wag indicating breathing difficulty with constant exertion. Other symptoms that may appear are coughing, sneezing, head shaking and open beak. Some parakeets become so distressed that they refuse to eat, showing weakness, progressive weakness and weight loss
How to know if my parakeet has mites
These are the signs that can make you suspect that your parakeet is affected by these parasites:
- If you hear heavy breathing, screeching sounds, hissing or snoring, open beak breathing and feelwagging of the tail up and down, it may mean that it has difficulty breathing due to air sac mites.
- If you look at your parakeet's body surface and find scabs, deformities or lesions on the beak, around the eyes or on the paws and you see him scratching, you may suspect scaly face mites.
- If you detect irritated areas and notice that your parakeet is losing feathers, has skin lesions, is more active at night but sleeps during the day, suspects red mites.
In any case, the definitive diagnosis must be made by the veterinarian. To do this, he will take a sample of the lesions and observe them under a microscope to identify which mite is the cause and be able to apply the corresponding treatment.
How to cure parakeet mites
The only really effective treatment to kill these mites, especially those of the air sacs and those of the scaly face, is an antiparasitic called ivermectinThis product is administered in multiple applications for at least 10 days. moxidectin may also be used orally. Of course, all drugs must always be prescribed by the veterinarian.
For air sac mites, levamisol also seems to be effective, however, parakeets affected by these mites have higher rates of mortality. In addition, if beak deformation has occurred, it may need to be trimmed, and if secondary infections have developed, antibiotics should also be prescribed.
With regard to red mites, proceed to exhaustive disinfection of the cage, using a harmless disinfectant for parakeets, leaving nothing to go over and focusing, above all, on the cracks or bars where these mites usually hide. Subsequently, it should be cleaned with some frequency even if there are no longer mites to prevent.
In this article on the treatment of mites in birds you can read how to thoroughly clean the cage and the area in which it is located.
