Blood Mites
Of the Bird World
By Kristen Reeves
As bird keepers, we all know the importance of keeping cages clean and observing our birds closely each day for changes in behavior and health. It is my hope that once you've read this article, it will reinforce the importance of these duties and express to you the urgency of finding problems early.
Dermanyssus Gallinae (Blood Mites, Red Mites, Chicken Mites)
Under the microscope, the mites look like miniature crabs with 8 legs and a sharp mouth. The newly hatched young appear white, not unlike bird dander or dust. The eggs are not visible to the naked eye, but can be seen with 1000x magnification.
My Nightmare
After many long and rewarding years of owning and breeding several types of canaries and small finches, I found myself in need of additional breeding cages. Good breeding cages are costly, especially those that have the amount of room I demand for my breeding pairs. So when my local bird store put two sets of used stackable breeders up for sale at a reasonable price, I snatched them up.
Now, I tell my own clients not to purchase used cages. You never know what might be lurking in them even after they have been thoroughly cleaned. On this day I was feeling pretty confident that I could make these cages work. Heaven forbid I practice what I preach! I brought them home and completely dismantled them for cleaning. I was horrified to see thousands of dead blood mites (dermanyssus gallinae) under every overlapping surface (Hint, hint! Danger Will Robinson!). I called my local bird veterinarian who instructed me to use bleach and hot soapy water to clean the cages, and then spray them with a commercial, bird-safe insecticide. She said I should have no problem since the mites I was seeing were dead.
Assuming the information I had received was correct, I proceeded to solder loose and broken cage bars and divider slides, then spent two full weeks with my oldest daughter scrubbing every crack and crevice with hot soapy water, then again with hot bleach water. We allowed the cage parts to dry in the hot sun. To be safe, we painted the cages with commercial grade auto paint in an effort to seal up any crevices that may conceal anything we couldn't wash away.
By this time, I had spent nearly a month and a whole lot of money preparing the cages for use – they looked like new – I thought, hmmm, I think it's time for a new, larger bird room to show off my beautiful birds! I went about clearing out a room in my basement. I purchased additional full spectrum lighting, timers, and shelving. I installed an aquarium in the room to keep a modest humidity level, and a thermometer and hygrometer to monitor the heat and humidity, respectively. I installed my grow light table for growing bird greens and sprouting seed. I organized my microscope and accessories so that I could easily monitor droppings and perform gram stains with my bi-yearly quarantine procedures. This room was shaping up to be what I had always wanted for my beautiful babies! I was finally able to place my breeding pairs in their new cages, and all was right with the world...for about 22 days.
The first sign of trouble was when I began to notice that my Gouldian finches, in particular, were behaving very strangely. They were extremely restless and fluttered their wings constantly. They spent a great deal of time jumping from perch to cage bars and back again. They preened almost constantly when they weren't jumping around. Those of us who own Goulds know that they DO NOT JUMP AROUND! I had no idea what the problem was. I took each and every one of those birds in hand and inspected their vents, skin, feathers, legs and beaks. I could see nothing but perfect little bodies. I ran gram stains on all of them, but found nothing out of the ordinary. I was certain their seed mix was correct and they were getting the right amount of nutrients through the supplements I gave them. I allowed them an extra bath each day and adjusted the heat to about 75 degrees so that they would be dry before lights out. Nothing seemed to calm them. I watched over the next few days only to see them going light. This was not good! What could possibly be wrong? I was perplexed!
About the 25th day, my worst nightmare came true, literally – I figured out exactly what the problem was...blood mites!
I Don't Do Bugs!!!
As I was cleaning cages and making my daily inspection, I needed to change out the cuttlebone my finches love so dearly. I carefully unclipped the wooden clothespin I use to attach the cuttlebone to the cage. Hmmm, why is there mold on the cuttlebone? Uh, THAT'S NOT MOLD!!!! Oh NOOOOO! The mold is MOVING!!!!!!! This can't be!!! I knew immediately that I had made a very grave error purchasing these used cages!
Now, when I say I don't do bugs, I mean I DON'T DO BUGS!!! My birds all receive live insects daily, but know that, "Mommy is gonna toss the container of bugs in the cage and run!" The birds know what is expected of them – eat every bug – do not leave a single leg or speck of bug in the bowl or she won't give us more!!! I can't stand creepy crawlies. I can barely bring myself to look at the bowls to make certain the birds ate them all before I remove the bowl for cleaning and more bugs! So to see bugs crawling on the cuttlebone nearly made me ill. I began to check other areas of the cages – perches, nest boxes, dishes. I only saw them on the cuttlebone. Whew!
Okay, this isn't so bad...think clearly now, what needs to be done to get these bugs under control? First, remove the birds and spray them with insecticide, then Scatt them. Okay, I can do that. Next, place them in a clean new cage in another room of the house. Okay, I can do that too! So I did – all of them – and that's a lot of birds! Next I dismantled every cage in my bird room and cleaned them with hot soapy bleach water. I placed all of the perches, dishes and cage accessories in my bird dishwasher and added two full cups of bleach. I cranked up the water heater to the highest setting and ran the dishwasher. I vacuumed every crack and crevice of the bird room and washed the floor with bleach water. I then sprayed everything down with insecticide (including the inside of the vacuum cleaner and the hoses). I ordered some Pestex and S76 from Laraine because now I had completely depleted my arsenal. I figure that having used two full bottles of pesticide, I should have killed the mites. Boy was I wrong!!
The Never Ending Saga
Over the course of the next few weeks (soon to become months, then a year), I spent my every waking moment (in between chauffeuring my four children to school and running my normal errands) inspecting the walls and cages for signs of the mites. Every single day, I still found more, but the most disturbing part was that they had obviously been feeding. Hello??? There are no birds in here – do they eat people??? Please tell me they don't eat people! I spent hours researching blood mites on the Internet. I called every Exterminator in the phone book. I called every available Avian Veterinarian in the State of
Now I'm in a panic. Will the mites move to other parts of my home??? Will they suck my blood, my husband's, my children's, my other pets'??? I need answers NOW! Here I am, a grown, 40 year old woman, brandishing a magnifying glass in one hand, a bottle of Pestex in the other and screaming, "DIE, DIE, DIE", as I spray every mite I see. There must be a better way!!! Then it hits me. Pestex is made of pyrethrin, a naturally occurring pesticide derived from a form of chrysanthemum. Maybe if I use a bug bomb that contains pyrethrin, it will kill the mites. I run off to the hardware store and read every label on every bug bomb they carry. Most of them contain permethrin and a very low dose of pyrethrin. I consult with the sales staff. They are concerned for the safety of my family and other pets...this stuff is deadly...but I purchase several of them and head home to do the deed.
I sit down to read the instructions...I have to what??? Remove all people and pets for 3 hours then "air" the room out for another 30 minutes??? Turn off all pilot lights and unplug everything including my fire alarms??? Does this company realize it is snowing early in
Then it hits me. Oh no, I can smell the pesticide filtering up through the floor boards!!! Will it kill us? Will it kill my African Grey and other birds and pets??? I quick run to the van, fold the seats flat, grab my son, the four huge cages I've crammed my entire flock into, the cat (without a kennel), the dog (without a leash), the mouse in her aquarium, and lastly, my African Grey as she tries to peel the skin off the back of my hand and arm. I cram us all into the van and pull out of the driveway. Oh no...I need to use the little girls room...I have no money, no coat, no phone. But I do have a DVD player in my van, so my son can watch movies, and I had packed his lunch before he left for school...we can do this!!!
After three hours of listening to Cat in the Hat, I am finally able to come home and air out the bird room...did it work? I won't know until morning.
First thing in the morning, I'm in the bird room scouting for mites. Oh no, they are now everywhere! They've come out of hiding looking for food! Even the rubber gloves I had used when cleaning with bleach had mites in and on them!!! So I pack up the animals and my son again, but this time I'm prepared, kennels, leashes and lunch for all! I turn off all the pilots and alarms and set off the bomb and leave the house. Surely this will work!!!
The next morning I follow the same routine. I still see mites crawling everywhere. I pack everyone up and set off a third bomb, come back and clean everything again. I wait a day and set off a fourth bomb. I'm really starting to panic now! They are in my lights, the timers, and the electrical sockets the timers are plugged into. They are in the holes I had drilled to hang shelving; they are under the wall paper and in the acoustical ceiling tile. They are in my stash of nesting materials and the corncob and walnut shell bedding I use in my cages. They are in the aquarium lights I use on my hospital cage...anywhere that was dry, but especially warm. It hits me...everything must be thrown away. I can't take any chances that I miss even one little mite!!! I also dismantle and pack up the used cages and call the store I purchased them from. I return them for a refund (after an R-Rated and rousing chorus of expletives) and am able to recover a small portion of the money I've already spent trying to eradicate the mites.
It's become obvious that In order to kill them, I need to find out the life cycle of these critters so I know how long it will be before I kill them all! I call Laraine at LadyGouldian.com in a panic. I explain to the nice lady who answers the phone my dilemma. She tells me Laraine is in the aviaries, but that she'll give her the message and have her call me back. Thank goodness!!! I wait, not so patiently, for Laraine's call.
When Laraine returns my call, I explain my situation. This is not just a cage of birds - this is my entire 10' x 12' bird room and an entire flock! Laraine has the patience of a Saint! We discuss bleach and the various pesticides I had tried to use, she asks me a few questions such as, "Do I have mice?". She makes me think of a few other ideas for searching my house AND the Internet. I finish my call with her and spend the rest of the evening and well into the wee hours researching and looking for mouse droppings. I drag out every bird book I own and start pouring over every bit of information I can find about blood mites and locate the proper spelling for their Latin term. I type the term into my search engine and voila! A huge list of sites!! Maybe now I'll get some answers!!! Maybe...
Hours of Research
Much to my dismay, the mites are known to the general population as "chicken mites". They are difficult to eradicate. I discover things I already know such as they like to hide in warm dry places during the day and feed on the birds only at night. I read that they will, indeed, move to other parts of the structure and feed on humans and other pets if there are no birds to feed on (little panic here!). There is conflicting information. One site says the mites and their eggs can remain dormant for up to six months and can go without a blood meal just as long; another says it takes a mere few days without a meal for them to die. I also read that it appears they require a higher humidity to reproduce. I realize that in my effort to give my birds the most comfortable and advantageous breeding environment possible, I have created a "best case scenario" and haven for the mites. I have contributed to the population explosion by keeping the humidity and heat high in my bird room!!! I cannot imagine how many there might have been had I not found them early!!!
Tragedy
Over a year later, I'm cleaning up the residual effects. The real tragedy here is that I lost a huge number of birds to infection and anemia. You see, mites are bad enough, but they also carry other diseases, and I'm not completely convinced that bleach and hot water kills some of the diseases that must have been residing in those cages.
My poor babies contracted scaly face/leg mites and had to be aggressively treated. Some of the birds, already weak from anemia, did not handle the treatment well and died. Others contracted Trichomoniasis. Because I did not recognize the symptoms, they grew so sick that they had to be euthanized. I couldn't bear to see them suffer any longer AND I was afraid they would make the rest of the flock sicker. This was before I really knew what I was looking at. Now I feel horrible that I have put them down, since I had the cure right there in my medicine cabinet!!! Most of the birds have shown very poor plumage from over preening (which should be remedied once they all complete their molt.) I've had to contend with worms – whether from the cages or the mites, I don't know – and the worst of all, anemia, which is now finally under control through an aggressive protocol of iron supplements and dark green, leafy vegetables, as well as a change in the vitamins I add to their food and water.
I feel some of my birds are finally strong enough to breed again, but I'll only take the chance with a few of the strongest. I do not want to stress their wee bodies any more than they've already been. I've lost nearly two whole breeding seasons because of the mites.
As for me, well, I've been scarred for life! To this day I walk around my bird room with a jewelers loop looking at every speck that doesn't look "quite right" to make sure the mites haven't returned. I never want to go through something like this again and will ALWAYS follow my own best advice – DO NOT PURCHASE USED CAGES AND INSPECT EVERYTHING CAREFULLY, DAILY!
Eliminating the Mites
Unfortunately, I don't know if I've really figured out the life cycle. I just kept bombing until I saw no more signs of mites. So how did I finally rid my bird room of this potentially deadly pest? Unfortunately, I'm not sure which step finally killed them. I DO know, however, that pyrethrin kills them on contact. I also know that the measures I have taken seem to have worked...FINALLY!
Steps That Worked for Me
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Removed birds from infected area and sprayed them with a Pyrethrin-based bird-safe insecticide (I used Pestex AND Scalex) before placing them in a new cage and moving them to an uninfected area of my home. Administered S76 in bath and drinking water as directed on bottle. On day 2, I applied Scatt to each bird. (This was completely successful in ridding my birds of any mites that may have been still on them). I watched every speck of dust carefully and looked at anything suspicious under the microscope until I was satisfied there were no remnants of mites, nymphs or eggs.
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Removed infected cages and destroyed them. Note: Wire cages with plastic tray bottoms really do not have any place for the mites to hide, but I still destroyed my many cages (so that trash collectors would not try to use them and spread the mites unknowingly to their own birds).
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Used a Pyrethrin-based insect bomb in bird room once per day for 7 days, then once every six days for 1 month...just to be sure (I tried EVERY kind of bomb I could find). After each bomb I washed EVERYTHING with bleach and hot water because the bombs typically leave an oily residue on any surface they make contact with. The bomb that I think finally worked is called ZEMA. (I used a total of 12 bombs)
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Using a turkey baster, I filled the bulb with Sevin and dusted in every crack and crevice, including between the walls and under the quarter-rounds at floor level. DO NOT USE THE BASTER TO BASTE YOUR
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I eventually removed EVERYTHING from my bird room and replaced it (I am still replacing items more than a year later!).
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Hope and pray my husband doesn't find out how much I've spent trying to replace everything!!!
Kristen Reeves, July 6, 2007
Breeder since 1999
Member NFSS
