Air Sac Mites

Is your finch sick or not well? Find out why.
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venetta
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Joined: 10 Nov 2011, 12:05
Location: Huntingdale, WA

Cheers Fincho.

I'm thinking I will get some isopropyl alcohol tomorrow from work.
Will have to catch everyone up, cos I dont think the moxidectin has worked so well.

I'll wait a week to dose with ivomec though.
Venetta and Kylie
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Fincho162
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Joined: 11 Jan 2011, 13:38
Location: Hobart

No worries!!
Ctdectin is good for keepign at bay but we've always found if you get birds in with ASM then the alcohol treatment is needed to completely remove it.
Hoepfully it'll do the deed for you too!
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JEWEL
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Location: MtGambier S.A

E Orix wrote: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.

Finally !! I have the answer i was looking for!! " Air Sac Mite is one of the major reasons canaries stop whistling" - I purchased a couple pair Red Factor Canaries from Melbourne a few months ago, and when they got here i noticed in one pair, the female was always wiping her beak etc, and she sounded like she had bad asthma; and the male never sang. I asked my vet, who said the female most likely had a respiratory disease and told me to use Sulphur 3. Didnt help one bit. After a bit of research on the net, i was convinced they had air sac mite. Since then i have been given some cydectin / moxydectin ( ? ) to treat them with - i am now waiting for results. But this would explain why that particular male has never sang since being here.
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Dizzy
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Location: Para Hills West Adelaide South Australia

Should Moxidectin be given while they are laying eggs or have young to feed, if I detect Airsac mites ?
If so will this effect the young birds If I detect airsac mites and treat them with Moxidectin while they are nesting will the eggs be fertile?
while being feed or any other problems that may stop them from breeding.

If I detect airsac mites and treat them with Moxidectin while they are nesting will the eggs be fertile?
Last edited by Dizzy on 28 Jan 2012, 13:11, edited 1 time in total.
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Diane
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Location: Northern 'burbs of Adelaide

I use moxidectin and I rang and checked with the people at Australian pigeon and they said the young should be feeding themselves before worming.

Having said that I have accidentally dosed a cock bird that was feeding young, the young were ten days old at the time. Everything was ok.....I suffered though, worried until they fledged

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=3307&p=16760&hilit=+pigeon#p16760" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Diane
The difference between Genius and Stupidity is, Genius has it’s limits
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Fincho162
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Have used Cydectin/Cydectin Plus in the water for years even while chicks in the nest without mishap as we use a regular 'dated' worming regime...........but others may have found differently.........
If Cydectin affected egg fertility we'd possibly never get a fertile egg so I think u can be "destressed' over that concern................

Have zero faith in VF's Scatts ability to remove stubborn ASM and have only found repeated treatments with Ivomec & Alcohol (iso-propyl a&/or absolute ethanol) are required to remove stubborn vestiges of it so that our regular Cydectin worming can keep it under control - or hopefully remove it completely!!
The alcohol gives u excellent delivery properties which straight water cannot!!.......just need to be very careful of the dose!!
Why dont we use Cydectin in alcohol??................because no smart person vet wise has come up with a properly research dose rate for that form of delivery..........yet!!!!!

Also if your finch still "clicks" a little after treatment it is possibly because of the damage done by the ASM to the finches system and may remain with it throughout the rest of its life.............mind u it hasn't , IMHExperience, effected the bird's abiltiy to breed and/or feed youngsters.
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E Orix
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Location: Howlong on NSW/Vic Border 30km from Albury
Location: Howlong NSW

I had a person here on the weekend and he informed me you can get Scatt on line from the USA
Why I push Scatt is because I class it as idiot proof.I have nearly drowned Sparrows and Zebras in it to
see if an over dose will cause harm all they got was an internal dose while cleaning their feathers as they were saturated.
There is a secondary benifit,I seem to get it on my fingers when giving the dose and guess what I don't have worms either
at least I don't think I do.
The birds I find that seem to get it more often are Canaries,Gouldians Cordons and Fires.
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Fincho162
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It may be idiot proof as u say................but lets just say our research found it "wanting"........and leave it there sir!

Often the better treatments require a little more thought and input..........but without that this hobby is as good as dead...........evolution is a wonderful thing!!
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E Orix
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Location: Howlong on NSW/Vic Border 30km from Albury
Location: Howlong NSW

I hear what you are saying but you are missing one major relevent point.
Experience people have no problems,the ones looking for help are inexperienced so I use the old motto
KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID
I a'm not being rude or disrespectful just working on the premise that I would rather see something that is relatively safe
working at say 80% effective than more efficient medication that needs some experience or skill in dose rates etc.
Personally I find it easy to use,safe and seems to control the mites.The people that come here with their wheezing coughing birds that
should have been dosed a month or so earlier return the next week for the second dose with a bird that is virtually free of the symptoms.
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Fincho162
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Not sure how to reply to that statement in reality.............suspect I'm missing nought ..........even as a novice I wanted the best for my finches regardless of the extra yards required hence I'd rather present another finch breeder with options based on that.........how they choose - up to them.

Anyway, give me a fish or teach me how to fish.......................2 options are better then 1??..............whatever
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