Does my budgie have mites?

[Lisacole]

I purchased my female budgie about a month ago. She is now about 4 - 5 mos. old (still has her striping down to here cere & her eyes are
still dark). Within the first week of having her I noticed she was not acting like she should. I took her to our local aviary vet who said she
had a bacterial infection for which we treated her with bactrin. She came through just great.

I've noticed that she has started to go into her first molt, she is starting to just barely lose her striping near her cere. In the last two days she
has started to scratch a lot and also rubbing her cere & face on her perches. Her color has just slightly dulled, she is eating well, singing & is
active but somewhat cranky when I first take her out of her cage. Last evening I looked at the underside of her wings and did not see any
visible mites. Is this just her start of molting or could she have mites? Her cere is clean, not scaly & all feathers around her face are clean
& neat, her legs are not scaly.

Am I just being paranoid? Thanks for all your help!!

Lisa

[maxollie]

Hi, Lisa! Welcome to the community. When budgies molt and lose their feathers, their skin gets very dry, and they do tend to scratch some, including rubbing their little heads on the perch. To help that problem, you can take a water bottle and spray her with room temp water several times during the day, or you could put a dish or bowl in her cage and let her take a bath. Also, you could consider getting a bottle of Wheat Germ Oil at the pet shop. Put a drop or two in the food (not water) about twice a week. The oil is wonderful for their skin and feathering. And most likely would give her relief from scratching.I would have thought the Vet would have noticed she had mites when she was treated for the bacterial infection.

In the pet shops you can buy a spray that you use on the floor of the cage. It will keep mites away from the cage. The directions will be on the spray bottle. I use this when I give my bird cages a thorough cleaning about once a month. I don't use it every day or week. It does seem to keep any insects, or mites away from my birds. There are also what they call "bird protectors" that are little tin boxes that you can hang in the cage to keep insects and mites away. Personally, I don't like to use them because I am not a big fan of any kind of chemicals to have around my little birds, especially hanging in their cages.

It sounds like she is a very happy camper during the day and is showing no other signs of illness. So I doubt she has mites. I hope this info is of help to you.