Billy was flying around a little yesterday and a feather came out. I thought, "oo, pretty feather, look how soft, and it's so....EW! What's that?!" There were a few little spots near the core of the feather and it was hard to tell if they were moving or not until I stared really hard at it. and then one moved.

 

Is it normal for a budgie to have some kind of little bug on them or is this a no no?

 

I am also concerned, and this may sound ridicluous, but do kids get head lice from birds?

 

I do have some sticks that I have picked up and put in his cage so he can have different types of perches, can it be from this?

They might be mites. Does your budgie scratch and itch alot? You should take him to the vet and they can do skin samples for you to find out what kind of mite they are and how to treat it.

Little bugs are not normal. Did you bake the branches before putting them in your bird's cage? What color were they? Red or black?

 

As far as getting lice from birds, the louse that inhabits human heads is different from the kind that dogs, cats, birds, etc. get. You can't catch lice from your pets. Mites may be a different matter though. I do not know about them.

I believe, although am not 100% sure that bird mites are pratically invisible to the naked eye. However, mites that you get on plants sound similar to what you describe, and the treatment is the same. Anything to coat the exoskeleton of the mite to stop it breathing will kill it..

Bake the branches? I've been putting branches and gumtree flowers in his cage which he just loves, with the philosophy that in the wild they would be on and chewing them etc. so therefore it should be fine. It's that a bad philosophy?

 

The little critters aren't red or black, they are like a cream color. So at first I thought it might just be bird dandruff or something, until it moved.

 

I'm glad to know about them not giving head lice though, me and my paranoia are great friends....

To stop any diseases from wild birds being passed on to your caged birds, you need to bake the branches before popping in

To stop any diseases from wild birds being passed on to your caged birds, you need to bake the branches before popping in

 

Lin, just a little guestion, how long do you bake them and what temperature? Thanks a lot

Scrub well first, then pop in for 200 deg Celsius, for about 2 hours (thick branches longer). Don't leave unattended at any time

Scrub well first, then pop in for 200 deg Celsius, for about 2 hours (thick branches longer). Don't leave unattended at any time

 

Thank you a lot

get some stuff to spray him with and disinfet his hole cage

Scrub well first, then pop in for 200 deg Celsius, for about 2 hours (thick branches longer). Don't leave unattended at any time

 

YIKES!

 

I thought 200 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes. Much longer I think would be a fire hazard. If weather permits, you could also wash the branches well with a slight bleach solution (maybe 1 part bleach to 10 parts water) and scrub and rinse very well. Then leave in the sun to dry for a day or two.

here is a website I picked up along my travels for making perches

http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml

Hope it helps.

That has got to be the most comprehensive site on safe and unsafe woods I have seen yet. Thank you so much for that link!

Thanks all for your replies, I just had no idea about the branches, even with all my research on other areas about my little guy, I never ran across the stick stuff.

 

So, it mites aren't able to be seen by the human eye, am I right that ya'll are thinking the little cream colored buggers are from the branches and if so, a mite spray will still work?

Some bird mites are visable to the human eye. When I first got Allegro, she had little cream mites like you describe. All it needs is some mite spray and they will die.

 

--Elyse

I have heard of those mite sprays being dangerous. The safest thing to do is take the bird to an avian vet. They will give a dose of a drug called ivermectin. They put this liquid on the birds neck and it gets absorbed into the body through the skin. The dose is repeated 2 weeks later. After each dose, wash the entire cage and furnishings with dilute bleach solution and rinse very thoroughly. Toss anything wooden into the garbage as it is hard to disinfect. Let the cage stand for a day or two until you can no longer smell even a trace of bleach. This treatment is very effective. I too saw tiny white bugs crawling on my birds beak and feathers. He seemed itchy and scratched a lot. He was completely better soon after his treatments. I have had 3 budgies total come to me from various pet shops with mites over the years, and the same treatment was successful each time.

 

 

Cool, good info guys, thanks.