Okay, two questions...

 

How do I know if my bird has lice? She seems really healthy... If she does, how do I treat it?

 

Secondly, can birds give lice to people? I have been really itchy on my head and neck since around the same time I got Minx... I had her cage next to my bed where my head is, and mum thought she may have given me lice :S

Okay, two questions...

 

How do I know if my bird has lice? She seems really healthy... If she does, how do I treat it?

 

Secondly, can birds give lice to people? I have been really itchy on my head and neck since around the same time I got Minx... I had her cage next to my bed where my head is, and mum thought she may have given me lice :S

 

 

You can hold the bird up to the light and spread the wings. The lice may show as spects on the white feathers. But the best way is with a Microscope. You can treat it with Ivomec (Yes Kaz I am converted )

 

Yes you can get Lice from birds.

i havent had lice problems before so i dont think i could help much in this matter, although daz preety much hit it right on the head with his answer as for catching lice, they could be getting into your hair in the night while you sleep.

I've moved the bird over to the other side of the room in case that is what happened.

 

Mum and I are both treating ourselves for nits, so if that fixes it can I assume the bird doesn't have lice?

It was my understanding that lice are pretty host specific, even between species of birds, unless they are highly infested and are in close constant contact all day. I supppose it could happen in this case.

As for treating nits, these are lice as well, so they would probably be susceptible to the same chemicals.

One way to find lice is to spread the wing feathers under the light. You can see them as small specks amongst the feathers .

Edited June 2, 200915 yr by Chrysocome

Lice are host specific. They might crawl onto you but they will not survive off their host for too long.

 

Host specific means bird lice live on birds, people lice live on people, sheep lice live on sheep, cattle lice live on cattle and so forth but they don't swap hosts.

Edited June 2, 200915 yr by nubbly5

I've moved the bird over to the other side of the room in case that is what happened.

 

Mum and I are both treating ourselves for nits, so if that fixes it can I assume the bird doesn't have lice?

It's just a good idea to treat your bird regularly with lice and mite treatment, I do all of mine once a month.

Hmmm, thats what I thought, my horses have caught lice before but it didn't transfer on to us.

 

So should I treat Minx just as a precaution? Is it Ivermectin that I use?

Hmmm, thats what I thought, my horses have caught lice before but it didn't transfer on to us.

 

So should I treat Minx just as a precaution? Is it Ivermectin that I use?

 

Oral ivermectin will not treat feather lice as it requires that the lice feed on blood or body fluids (in which the ivermectin is present) and lice only feed on feather particles. The spot-on Ivermectin contacts them directly and kills them that way. Your best bet (seeing as you already have the oral ivermectin) is to use Avial Insect Liquidator (vetafarm) or a similar synthetic pyrethroid spray treatment for birds. This will treat lice and blood mites on the birds. You just spray it all over the bird.

I don't have any ivermectin, I have just heard that through this forum, and I know it's used on cattle and horses, lol.

 

Where would I buy Avial Insect Liquidator?

I don't have any ivermectin, I have just heard that through this forum, and I know it's used on cattle and horses, lol.

 

Where would I buy Avial Insect Liquidator?

 

A.I.L. is made by vetafarm and I think you can buy it directly from them....... on-line or by phone. Or some pet shops sell AIL or similar.

 

Oh and I made a typo it's aviaN Insect Liquidator not aviaL - sorry.....

Edited June 3, 200915 yr by nubbly5

Oh and I made a typo it's aviaN Insect Liquidator not aviaL - sorry.....

 

 

glad I'm not the only bad typer

Oh and I made a typo it's aviaN Insect Liquidator not aviaL - sorry.....

 

 

glad I'm not the only bad typer