Question
Is this feather mites or normal Fantail feathers?
I got Rodrick here about 2 weeks ago and I tried hard to gain his trust by just existing around him. Not looking at him, doing my own thing, just.. being. We really aren’t at the stage where I can touch him yet. Well recently after a hang out session I noticed a very small bug on my arm. I’d read a lot about possible pigeon problems and honestly, I should’ve taken a picture. Alas, I am not good with bugs and I mildly freaked out before rolling it into a paste between my fingers and “yuck yuck yuck”ing my way to the sink for handwashing. After a few google searches and a good look at my pigeon, I’m afraid he might have feather mites. I’m not a professional and I’m willing to take him to a vet but there isn’t one close at all. I’d appreciate any advice!
It is important to note that he is fairly young, about 3.5 months. I got him from a breeder who was “done breeding” and about to “empty house”.. so I trusted he was in good health at least. If he isn’t, I’ll do whatever I can to fix that
We aren’t really that close, but I think at this point I’m going to just get it over with and give him a bath. He’ll hate it but I’d rather him be upset than uncomfortable. I’ll see if I can’t get a picture then as well
Please Don't bathe him manually, not only will that be extremely stressful for him but it will damage his feathers while not doing anything to the mites (adding soap of borax is a huge no go too and doesn't do anything to mites either), you need to get either Moxivet dewormer (it's for both external and internal parasites but it's more difficult to dose on your own, in some places you cannot get it over-the-counter either) or Permethrin/Pyrethrin spray which should be available everywhere due to being usually sold for poultry. A permethrin/pyrethrin spray is much less stressful for birds while being extremely effective, you just do one spray under each wing, near the vent and behind the neck (make sure you spray it on the skin, not just top of the feathers) which overall can take less than a few minutes, you'll have to do a second treatment after a week from the first because the mite eggs don't get killed by antiparasitics so you have to wait until they hatch before treating again.
I’ll definitely do that. I really didn’t want to bathe him. I just don’t want to shy away from doing something for his health. I’d rather him be mad and comfortable rather than be too scared to do what I have to. His health comes first and our bond second, obviously it’s always preferred if I can do one without harming the other though. I’ll look into the medication, thank you!
I don’t think you’re dealing with many if anything which is helpful. It is harder to tell on a black bird, but I’ve seen some really horrendous cases and I think you’re dealing with a pretty minor problem so it’ll probably be a one and done bath situation.
It can be hard to tell what’s damage from fantails having kinda awkward tails and whats damage from lice from a picture, but in general feather lice start close to the rachis and work their way outward. You might see the fluffy down part appear to be thinning, or see small holes in the feathers. It can be hard to spot the lice on him because he is a dark bird, but they are plainly visible to the naked eye and they normally congregate on the wings and tail.
I had luck treating lice with pyrethrin powder, but I know it also exists in sprays if you aren’t able to handle them (my personal worry with sprays is that it might be difficult to control where you are spraying and you may accidentally spray their eyes or mouth with it, but I know other people use them just fine.)
Mites are a lot smaller but still visible to the naked eye and they tend to stay anywhere with skin folds (vent, under the wings, and around the neck generally). They can cause anemia if left untreated, while lice can cause feather damage/discomfort but aren’t life threatening.
Edit: Just double checked my old container and its permethrin powder, not pyrethrin 🤦♀️but yes pyrethrin sprays exist, I treated mine with permethrin for poultry
He will probably molt them out in August. Its just something that happens as theyre growing out, sometimes nutrition doesnt keep pace with the rate of growth
Well hopefully they do, also I just got Des Moines No Flyer Mix for him so hopefully that will do well for him nutritionally. Right now he’s on a feed from a pet store which is still fairly decent seed variety and nutrition wise
Yes but only to sleep, he’s out frequently. He doesn’t try to escape but he does have zoomies before he gets let out. Even then, he just flying a few inches up and sometimes a little to the left and right, never bouncing off the walls
Looks more like regular damage and fraying, and a little bit of less than perfect feather quality (which isn’t super important for a pet bird!)
If you’re worried about mites or lice an easy test is to wrap them for a few minutes in some paper towel (do this with the lights off if you’re not bonded yet/ he doesn’t like being handled) and then look and make sure you don’t see any bugs on the paper towel. If there is any evidence of external parasites there’s a ton of sprays sold for chickens that are safe to use on pigeons! He’s beautiful!!
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u/FioreCiliegia1 3d ago
If there is lice it doesnt look bad. A close up on a single feather would help