Three days ago I noticed what appeared to be a growth and abscess on our budgies bottom (just above his vent). We started treating him daily with salt water baths and every second day with avimec (ivermectin for birds). This morning we noticed he has two holes in his neck. You can see right inside of him. The holes are right where the avimec was put on. He lives in an outdoor aviary with one other male budgie. The other budgie seems perfectly fine. They’ve lived together for over 2 years with no incident. Could this be some sort of skin disease, or cancer?
Answer:
Hi,
I’m very sorry about your little bird. Unfortunately I couldn’t begin to guess what the problem is. You need to take him to a Vet for a diagnosis and treatment. It is never a good idea to treat your bird with over the counter or home remedies. They usually do more harm than good. They are not regulated and it is unfortunate that they can be sold to well intended pet owners. There is no indication that Ivermectin would help in this situation. It is a cattle dewormer and for budgies, it is only used in a highly diluted form, by a Vet, to treat scaly face mites and is administered orally. Another possible treatment is for air sac mites, but there is nothing to indicate your bird has those, and they are much more common in finches and canaries. Finally Ivermectin can be very toxic to some birds, and in some cases can cause instant death.
I don’t know what caused the holes in the bird’s neck, but since it was where you put the ivermectin, I would guess it has something to do with it. The salt baths might make the place above his vent feel better, but you must get all of the salt water rinsed and dry him off afterwards. I know it is hard to understand why we can’t tell you what is wrong based on a symptom, but hopefully this webinar will help.
