[moonshadow13]

My sick little guy has been inside for about a week now and I have noticed he seems to be getting VERY itchy. I am wondering if this is maybe a common side effect from the antibiotics (Doxycycline), is he spending too much time on the heating pad (he is able to move off it when he needs to) or is my house just too dry??
Is there anything that would help? A bath maybe perhaps with something added to the bath water??

 

[Charis]

Sounds like the baby could have mites. Worms can also make them very itchy.

 

[Hunterex8]

itchy as in how? is he scratching his head or just like pacing around like something bothers him? I had a mite problem with my pigeon about a week ago. So it might be mites.

 

[moonshadow13]

How would he get mites while inside my house? It started after he had been inside on the antibiotics and the heating pad for 5 days?

 

[Skyeking]

How old is the baby?

I would go ahead and offer him/her a bathe and see if he wants to take one. That may help, but if its worms or mites, you may eventually need to treat the bird.

 

[Jay3]

He could have gotten the mites before you brought him in, and now they've gotten worse.

 

[moonshadow13]

Just got back had to go get bird seed and go see STAR TREK!!! Sorry BIG GEEK
OK back to mites.......If he has them wouldn't birds out in the loft be showing some signs? What do they look like or are they too small to see? What I see on him almost looks like dandruff/dry skin.
If he does have them what can I do to treat them??

 

[Jay3]

I forgot. How old is he?

 

[Charis]

Just got back had to go get bird seed and go see STAR TREK!!! Sorry BIG GEEK
OK back to mites.......If he has them wouldn't birds out in the loft be showing some signs? What do they look like or are they too small to see? What I see on him almost looks like dandruff/dry skin.
If he does have them what can I do to treat them??

They are nearly impossible to see with the naked eye. They can be seen, barely,if they have recently gorged.

 

[moonshadow13]

He is actually 28 days old but the infection/illness seems to have held him back because he looks AT LEAST a week younger than that.

 

[Jay3]

You can powder him with permethrin powder that you get at a hardware, or garden place. Or you can get mite and lice spray for caged birds at a pet shop. Or you can order somthing online at Foys, New England Pigeon, or somewhere like that. If you can buy Scat, it is also good.

 

[moonshadow13]

When I look him over you can clearly see what looks just like dandruff. He has been on a heating pad quite a bit and my house is pretty dry from heating with a woodstove.
Concerning worms the whole loft was treated not too long ago with Bayverm.

 

[Jay3]

Mites could look like dandruff. Do you have a magnifying glass? You can see them with that.

 

[moonshadow13]

Heck I can see it without one, there was a little pile left around on the towel when I put my finger in it, it feels like flakey skin.
I will check it out with the magnifying glass and see if it is moving eeeewww hope not!!

 

[moonshadow13]

OK I just checked him over with the magnifying glass and it is definately flakey skin, all different shapes and sizes and nothing was moving PHEW! I got all itchy as soon as I heard/read the words mites! LOL!
If it is just dry skin, I'm curious if the fact that I am feeding him,not the parents could be a factor?? With me he is on a diet of Kaytee, peas & corn where if they were feeding him he would be getting more seeds with natural oils??
If I try a bath first is there something I could add to the water?? A sort of moisturizer??

 

[Jay3]

OK I just checked him over with the magnifying glass and it is definately flakey skin, all different shapes and sizes and nothing was moving PHEW! I got all itchy as soon as I heard/read the words mites! LOL!
If it is just dry skin, I'm curious if the fact that I am feeding him,not the parents could be a factor?? With me he is on a diet of Kaytee, peas & corn where if they were feeding him he would be getting more seeds with natural oils??
If I try a bath first is there something I could add to the water?? A sort of moisturizer??

Good. As far as the fact that you are feeding him, rather than his parents, it wouldn't cause him to have dry skin. It never bothered any of the babies that I raised. Maybe the heating pad IS drying him out. How is the leg doing? Does he still need the heating pad? How has he been doing as far as starting to eat seeds? I know you were trying to get him to eat.

 

[moonshadow13]

Thought I was onto something there for a minute !
Actually, I wasn't sure if he still needed the heating pad so I had been leaving it up to him. He is definately capable of moving off it when he wants but I will try turning it off and see how he does.

I hate to jinx myself but I swear I see some improvement in the legs, Pidgey told me it could take a good couple of weeks before he gets better. He does seem to be trying to stand up more (usually when he has had enough of me) LOL! The swelling has gone down in the one leg that was my original concern because it looked splayed. The other leg, the one we had to cut the band off of is still swollen between the ankle and the hock but even that looks a bit smaller and both look to be a more normal color not bright red.

As far as eating seeds on his own.......he is playing me for a sucker !! I know he can because he can pick up a whole pea and get it down, he just doesn't want to LOL!! I have been holding out and making him try more often which really makes him mad, he screams bloody murder!!

 

[Jay3]

As far as the heating pad, does he seem to like being on it more than off? If he seems to like it, you could let him have it for a while longer. You could try bathing him if he will bathe. It seems I remember reading something about an additive for the water that was soothing, but can't remember what it was. If I find it, I'll let you know. I'm glad his legs are somewhat better. As Charis said, worms can also make them itchy. I know you wormed the loft, but that doesn't always take care of all the worms. Sometimes, if you worm them a bit later, you'll find more worms. Just a thought. Good luck. Keep us updated.