One easy way to find out if your bird is infested with mites is by covering the cage in the night with a white cloth. If the bird has red mites, tiny brown or red specks (each, the size of a grain of pepper) are seen on the sheet. Red mites Health Care After they have drawn out enough blood from your pet, the red mites crawl back into the cracks in the cage, or into the perches, nest boxes, etc. They can also get into furniture, woodworks, etc., where they lay their eggs. Leave it to the vet to decide what's best for your parakeet. Your parakeet may become anemic because of the loss of blood, and though it is not very likely to happen, other diseases could be transmitted to the parakeet, as well. Mites can make your parakeet very irritable, and edgy. They can also interfere with the normal sleeping patterns. Birds that are breeding are particularly vulnerable to mites. Reason, they spend most of their days, and of course, nights, inside the nest box. Birds could also indulge in feather plucking because of irritation. The numbers of mites rises quickly in warmer climatic conditions. In fact, the birds can also survive without feeding in small numbers in cages and nest boxes, until the next breeding season. You need to disinfect the cage, and all the components within and outside it, and everything else your parakeet has come in contact Health Care with, in order to prevent reinfestation. It takes more than a few air sac mites, to trouble a parakeet. As their number increases, infestation becomes much more serious, and this gradually weakens the bird. The air sac mites then begin to occupy the lungs and air passages of the bird. They prevent proper breathing, and lower the amount of oxygen, available to the blood. When the illness reaches this point, a characteristic dry raspy clicking sound can be heard. This is not a very loud sound, and you've got to keep your ears close to the beak, if you want to hear it. There could be other reasons for this clicking sound as well, and these usually are one of the following: a) Lung infection, bacterial or viral b) Lack of vitamin A in the diet that causes excessive production of mucus in the lungs and air passages c) Scars remaining from earlier air sac mite infestation With so many reasons for the clicking sound, a clear diagnosis obviously needs to be made, before proceeding with the treatment. Air sac mites Health Care There has to be a substantial number of mites in the bird's body, for the clicking sound to be heard. The presence of air sac mites is verified by using a small shining focused light, above the windpipe, or behind and below the eyes. In case of air sac mite infestation, small pepper-sized grains can be observed, within the windpipe, and under the skin, behind and below the eyes. And if these grains are observed for a long time, they can be seen moving. Since the clicking sound is produced by various factors, depending on that alone is not enough to diagnose the mites. Take your pet to the vet, who will then completely examine your bird, and decide on the course of treatment. Air sac mites are supposed to be transmitted from one bird to another during feeding, or when one infected bird rubs the beak along a perch (and the other does it as well), and also from parents to offspring. |