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| Dr. Jim with his winning Irish Fancy Canary National Cage Bird Show Nov 2013 |
Air Sac Mites 101
I am not an avian veterinarian but I have owned,bred and treated birds my entire professional life. One of the first things I did after I graduated from veterinary school in 1970 was to purchase a pair of canaries. I
soon realized these birds were infected with air sac mites because of
the clicking sounds they made when breathing after flight.
Treatment for air sac mites at that time was very primitive. The bird and cage were put into a large plastic bag alone with an organic phosphate compound poured onto a rag. The
bag was closed for 30 minutes and the bird would breathe the vapors
from the chemical that was purchased from a garden center. However this compound only killed the adult stages of the air sac parasite. In fact all wormers for any parasite at that time only killed the adult parasite, not any of the pre-adult forms or eggs.
If I saw air sac mites in my aviary today I would mix Sevin into a sprayer and spray the cages. If it was during breeding season I would also put Sevin dust in the nest boxes until I had the parasite under control. Sevin is not toxic to birds. Sevin only kills the adult form of the parasite.
After Ivermectin was invented treating parasites became more effective. What
is unique about Ivermectin is that it not only kills the adult form of a
parasite it also kills the younger pre-adult forms. There is no drug on the market today that kills the eggs.
Ivermectin
originally was given a bad rap by the bird industry because when it
first came onto the market it could only be purchased in an oil base
form. Oil does not mix with water so when individuals
tired treating their birds mixing it in their drinking water the
treatment failed. Today it can be purchased in an aqueous form so this is not longer a problem.
I have wormed my birds with Ivermectin without any problem. It has been given to my canaries, finches including my red siskin finch. I have never used the topical form of this drug. I know many have and like to use it. For me the major drawback is one
must catch each bird to apply the drug, plus I have had breeders tell
me that they have had birds die every time they use it probably
resulting from overdosing. The complaint given for using ivermectin in the drinking water is one has no control over the amount the bird drinks. This might be a concern in some parrots but I have never had a canary or finch refuse to drink the treated water.
Air Sacs function as an oxygen reservoir in birds in addition to the birds lungs and there purpose is to ensure that the bird is light enough to enable it to fly. These cavities can be a site for the air sac mite, Sternostoma tracheacolum.. The size of the mite is only .2mm, they are black or grey in color and almost invisible to the human eye. The parasite thrives in humid conditions.
Air Sacs function as an oxygen reservoir in birds in addition to the birds lungs and there purpose is to ensure that the bird is light enough to enable it to fly. These cavities can be a site for the air sac mite, Sternostoma tracheacolum.. The size of the mite is only .2mm, they are black or grey in color and almost invisible to the human eye. The parasite thrives in humid conditions.
The life cycle: The female mite lays it eggs in the birds lungs. The eggs hatch and quickly develop through growth stages into sub adults. Once they ingest a blood meal the females move into the air sacs while the male stays put in the lungs to mature. Once the female is an adult it moves up into the birds windpipe and sinuses. When
it is mature enough to lay eggs it returns to the lung and lays their
eggs there. Some of the developing sub adult stages can go dormant
within the respiratory tract for extended periods of time. This adds to the difficulty in treating the air sac mites.
The total time from hatching to maturity is thought to be no more than 6 to 8 days. Interestingly
the mites have been seen outside of the bird on its perches, food and
water. These mites possibly pass out of the bird into the birds
environment when the bird coughs. During one of the birds
coughing spells the bird can shake its head but you do not see any
mucous drainage as you would see if the bird had a sour crop.
Symptoms: Sneezing,
coughing, wheezing, labored open mouth breathing and a clicking sound
while the bird is breathing, especially after flight.
I recommend treating a bird with air sac mites with Ivermectin. Once
the bird is treated with the Ivermectin, the drug is in the birds
tissue and when the mite takes a blood meal the mite dies. As already mentioned the 9 air sacs in the bird have very thin walls with little blood supply. This
makes it difficult for the Ivermectin to come into contact with the
mites once the mite moves into the air sac, so repeated treatments every
two weeks is required. I would repeat the treatment at least 4 to 6
times two weeks apart.
Ivermectin
kills all parasites except coccidia. Coccodia requires a specific
medication to treat a bird for coccida and the medicine for coccida does
not treat other parasites.
Please address all questions to me at emu@tir.com
Dr. Jim
Response to dosage question: The dosage I use is 1cc (ml) per quart of drinking water. Jim
Originally published in January 2014 in Dragon Newsletter of American Singer Canary Club
Thanks so much Dr. Jim for this article, we look forward to more in the future!
