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URGENT! unknown ectoparasites

3551 Views 12 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  StarlingWings, 
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Hi everybody! I'm new to this forum and I opened an account because I need a quick advise of an expert. First of all I'm an international student doing my BA in China. I got a two month old budgie; he's very interactive and inquisitive like every healthy, drops typical poops, has completely appetite is normal. However, two days ago I discovered a large amount of caterpillar-like crawling parasites. They live in my Kurka's feather, are brown colored and their size doesn't exceed 2 millimeters. Seems like the little buddy finds them annoying. Well, I'm not surprised since especially his neck and back is full of them. I tried to remove one but it was very difficult. These tiny things can move very fast in both directions and keep tight to feather. I took my baby to a local vet and I was negatively shocked. In about 7 mln ppl, there's no avian vet. All the vets only know how to deal with dogs and cats. The vet even didn't take a look at my pet, just said that I gotta send him some pics of the parasites. In addition, he proposed to use liquid medicine prescribed for cats and dogs only but said it's possible Kurka will die due to overdose. Idk what to do! I spent several hours searching on the Internet and I found nothing. I will truly appreciate if someone could tell me what kinda parasites these bugs are and what I should do in this situation. I'm afraid that vet will poison my baby boy. Please, help me ASAP!

Regards,
Eryk.

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FaeryBee
I'm sure going to a different country and experiencing how that culture views and cares for their pets would be quite a shock and probably very disappointing to you. Hopefully, during your time in the country you can do some small part in helping to promote awareness of some of the best practices for budgie care which are followed in other parts of the world.

By helping that country's budgie owners learn and grow, it will help benefit all the little budgies whose owners have not been exposed to advances in how to best care for them for their ultimate health and well-being. As each person learns and shares their knowledge, then practices in that country will improve overall. :)

The other posters have offered you good advice with regard to treatment of the feather mites.

Additionally, you may find the article in this link helpful as well:

Feather Mites - Budgie Health

When you complete your studies in China are you planning to take your budgie back to your home country with you?
How long do you have before you are finished?
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FaeryBee
Eryk,

Sprays should never be used on birds as it easily can get into their eyes and nares and cause injury.

Additionally, as mentioned by other posters, it is critical you use Ivermectin in the correct dosage for a small bird - using a product formulated for dogs can kill your budgie.
Please read this link: http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-disease-illness/104376-ivermectin-toxicity.html

You can order the correct dosage through the link Niamhf provided for you.

I'm sure you've thought of this, but be sure you contact the customs department in any country which you plan to take your budgie to in the future as each country has their own import/export laws for live animals and some countries are much more strict than others - requiring quarantine periods, etc.
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