Aussie Finch Forum

Air Sac Mites

Who it effects: Mainly found in finches, the Gouldian seems to be the bird that the symptoms are found in most often. Canaries would be the second most afflicted bird.

What to look out for(Symptoms): Coughing, wheezing, gasping for air, loss of condition, respiratory distress, open mouth breathing, clicking sound

How to diagnose: for the bird keeper this is done at first by knowing your birds and how they usually act

Treatment:
Ivermectin
Ivomec (Europe)
Scatt - used for individual birds or very small groups
S76 - for use in large aviaries or when you have a lot of birds to treat
Iverlux
Moxidectin Plus

Where to Obtain product to treat with:
Vetafarm
Birds r us
Avian Vets
Auspigeonco

What else can be done after treatment to help your bird recover: try to keep the bird from getting to much exercise for a few days after treating it. the less strenuous activity the easier the bird will breath.


If I have missed anything that you consider to be necessary for treating air sac mites please tell us about it.

You think it'll be okay to give you finches air mites medicine even though they dont have it. It's always good to be on the safe side right?

only answer I can give here is to follow the instructions you get with whichever treatment you use.

You can worm also with ivermectin and eprinex.Which would also be treating for airsack mites at the same time.

but ivermecton doesnt treat all worms, gets rid of most of them .usally if they die after being treated with ivermecton they had a bad dose of worms aswell, dont cordons suffer from airsac mite problems aswell ...pete

from what I read when getting info for this topic all finches are susceptible to air sac mites, gouldians are the worst affected though. thats why it is best to treat the whole aviary.

Air Sac Mite can easily be treated but there are several steps that need to be done.
Dose ALL birds that come into contact with an effected one.
Scrub or clean to your best ability all perches.
Dose your birds and then do it again the following week to ten days

It is important to clean the perches as you will see an infected bird continually wipeing it's beak from side to side on the perch. It is actaually trying to wipe away the excess live mites

Medication, over the years I have seen and used some dangerous chemicals and seen some disasterous results.
Today it is easy, Veta Farm make a product called SCATT,simply put a couple of drops on the nape of the kneck or the bare kin under the wing and let the bird go back into its cage/flight.
In have tested this product on Zebra finches by nearly drowning them in it without any ill effects. From memory it is based on Moxydectin
AirSac Mite is one of the major reasons why canaries stop whistling.

Hi I was just looking to buy some scatt but find it is not for sale in aus just for export only, whats the go with that, cheers Bob

S76 has been discussed elsewhere on the forum, here is a link to the relevant post
viewtopic.php?f=71&t=2333

Buying Scatt
I think you can purchase Scatt direct from Vetafarm if you join the Vetafarm club?? Contactthem in Wagga and they will assist.
I am able to buy it overseas,the bigger pet places seem to carry it. Strange you have to buy an Australian made product outside the country.
It is by far the safest form you can use.
Earlier it was mentioned; should you medicate a bird that is not ill.
Remember Airsac Mite is a parasite not an illness and a lot of our birds carry these little pests, for some reason stress on a bird will at times create a situation where the mites become a terrible infliction to the bird.