| pic.1:
Leila without tail feathers  |
Lately we received
more and more inquiries regarding kakariki suffering from feather problems.
Some animals had been treated unsucessfully for years in a row. And some
of the birds in our flock, concisting only out of rehomed animals, suffered
from the same problems. By chance, our trusted veterinarian took part in
a course on the subject of feather mites and called us the next daying
asking for feathers from our Leila....
Results came in soon: Leila suffered from feather mites. Living mites were seen under the microscope. Mites are very difficult to detect by human eye. But one can suspect an infestation by a close inspection of a dropped feather. Before we continue on this subject we should concider 2 different types of mites can be found in kakariki.
live mainly in the large flight feathers and are probably not the cause of severe featherloss. Their life circle almost always takes place near the short, proximal, unfeathered section of the quill, called the calamus. Most birds are infected during nesting period. (Lit.: Schöne, Schmidt, Sachse, Schmäschke, Federspulmilben bei Papageien, PAPAGEIEN 2/2011, page 49ff. ) Not all feathers of an infected bird have to neccesarily show signs of infection! We now monitor all dropped tail- and wingfeathers on discoloration in the quil. The shafts of the mites, the yellowish excrements and exuvia (remains of the exoskeleton of mites) as seen in pic. 5, 6, 7, 8, seem to be sure indications of a possible mites infection. These signs are easy to spot with a naked eye. The mites themselves are very small; 1.43 mm when mature. However, for a correct diagnosis it is still necessary to spot living mites under a microscope! also see: www.federmilben.de/en/home.html |
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| pic.
2:
Bald spots on the head , visible ears  |
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| pic.
3:
Feathers growing back well after treatment  |
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| pic.
4:
Dropped feathers with signs of mites  |
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| pic.
5:
Sectioned quill of above feather with eggs and exuvia  |
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| pic.
6:
Sectioned quill after removal of most waste. the arrow points out a small hole. |
Bild
7:
Outside of quill showing faecel remnants inside |
Bild
8:
Sectioned quill with faecel remnants inside
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| pic
9:
Lower feather area with possible Neocnemidocoptes - infestation  |
Neocnemidocoptes-mites
(this
species)
can live at the base of any feather. It's habitat is located in the area of the follicle hole. Their habitat is covered by the upperskin and this way they are invisible from the outside. They are the cause of severe feather irregularities. In cases of heavy infestation a bird suffers from severe loss of feathers in the head and neck area. Because the small feathers drop faster than the large
ones, this kind of loss helps to spot infestation sooner. But again:
for a correct diagnosis it is still necessary to spot living mites under
a microscope! These mites are even smaller than the above described kind.
Max 0.4 mm. It probably spends the majority of it's life cycle in the horn
like and somewhat thickened part of the quill. The part which is connected
to the skin.
Most of the time, this type of mites are the cause of feathering problems in kakariki. A simultaneous attack of feather shaft mites is possible, but not the cause for the featherings problems. |
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| pic.
10:
Zoom in of the hornlike thickened part of the quill in which the mites live  |
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| pic.
11:
Possible Neocnemidocoptes - infestation of another feather.  |
pic. 12:
possible Neocnemidocoptes - infestation of another feather: Zoom 1  |
pic. 13:
possible Neocnemidocoptes - infestation of another feather: Zoom 2  |
