Hi everyone. I posted about 6 weeks ago regarding my budgie who looked like he had scaly face mites. We received ivermectin from the vet (she said to spray his beak and feet) and began dosing him weekly per her instructions weekly. The first two weeks we didn't see any changes and then began including his vent during the spray. For a while his beak began to look better, but now I cannot tell that he is any better at all. His feet are still scaly and the edge of his beak is ragged. Its been about 6 weeks. We were going to take him in earlier this week but we had a family emergency and were gone for 2 days. When we came back he had developed black specks on his beak and had lost a toe nail which is now growing back. The vet is only in on Mondays and Tuesdays and I'm wondering what to do. Is it possible that the ivermectin we got was bad or we weren't applying it correctly? Is it something entirely different?

 

Thanks so much!

 

 

 

I dont know why you were given a spray. We use ivermectin spot on. One spot on the back of the head under the feathers. One spot is usually enough. You would notice a marked change in two weeks.

Your budgie still has scalyface mites. Waste of money for that vet and treatment in my opinion.

Was it an avian vet or a normal vet. They may have given you a mite spray which is designed for feather mites and not meant for spraying on the budgies beak at all. As a matter of fact I have never heard of using a spray for scalyface mites especially on the face as many mites sprays arent meant to be sprayed on the face at all.

 

Phone the vet.................ask if they are avian vets. Then ask for ivermectin spot on and do not pay for another consult as they owe you and didnt get it right the first time. Ask for ivermectin spot on and use it the way we advised and keep the remainder for future treatments.

If they dont have it.....phone around till you find an avian vet that does and dont let them treat the bird once and ask you to return ....just go in and buy the spot on ivermectin and have the rest for future treatments.

Thanks for the response. The vet that we saw is supposedly an avian vet. I know that the feed store around here supplies ivermectin for horses and cattle for injection use (back in Dec). I wasn't sure about using an injection form so I opted to visit the vet. My husband went and said that the ivermectin she gave us is the cattle formula that is diluted. Said she doesn't carry ivermectin specific for avian use as the office didn't use it enough to warrent the cost of purchasing it. Is this ivermectin they have even worth going back to the store? She charged $25.00 for 1mL of the ivermectin. Is the injectable okay? I believe that there are a few other avian vets around in the area but they are only available once or twice a week. So for the spot on treatment, once on the neck and wait two weeks for visible signs of improvement? How do you know if you need to dose again?

 

Thanks!

 

Forgot to ask your opinion on the black on his beak. What do you think it is? Not sure what he could have gotten into in the cage that is black.

Also forgot to ask when he would be considered noninfectious to the other budgies. He's not been too thrilled with his imposed exile in the living room.

Edited January 14, 201114 yr by 2pedersens

The black on the beak is old blood. Signs of an injury ( minor ) that cause a small bleed. Nothing to worry about.

No to the injectable.....the doseage often is wrong and some birds have been known to die after injections.

Many topics on this forum on ivermectin to help you make a better decision