Quaker Parrot Mites

Question
My son's quaker is also losing feathers.  The feathers are missing on the top of his head and back of his neck, places he could not pluck himself.  He is four, is the only bird in the house and has never lost feathers before. Two months ago we stayed in a motel with the bird in the midwest my son found bedbugs in.  The Lexington newspaper ran an article recently saying there is a real significant problem with this, specifically mentioning pet birds as potential hosts.  We can't see any mites on him.  Is there any treatment we could use without any harm to him just to rule parasites out?  He is also on a seed diet and I will change to zupreem. Thanks for your time.  Gail Hughes

Answer
Hi, Gail.  Thanks for posting!

There's usually only 1 type of mite a parrot will get and that's scaly face mites.  They affect skin areas on the legs and feet and around the beak.  These usually don't affect quakers (mainly parakeets/budgies).

The Lexington newspaper might have been in error.  Depends on where they are getting their information from as it relates to parrots.  I've read that bedbugs are attracted to human skin cells, not bird's skin.

Loss of feathers can be caused by many things.  Is the bird molting?  An all-seed diet can also cause feather loss.  Lack of proper lighting can cause problems with feathers.  Vitamin deficiencies can, too.  

You should not indiscriminately treat a bird with medication unless you know what the problem is.  Any type of medication has an affect on a bird's body.  If you don't know for sure that this bird has parasites, you should not treat the bird for a parasite problem.  If you want professional advice, take this bird to an avian veterinarian for an evaluation.

Quaker's not only need pelleted food, they need to be fed a variety of other types of human foods in order to be healthy, such as vegetables, fruits, whole/multi grain foods, etc., etc.

Chrys