Ticks in Parrots

Parrots are engaging pets that can learn to mimic owners and speak short sentences. These tropical birds with strong hooked bills, crested heads and brightly colored plumage are vulnerable to ticks. The parasites arrive in the spring, vanish in fall and are a serious health threat to parrots. Of the 850 known types of ticks, some carry diseases that can kill parrots.

  1. How Parrots get Ticks

    • Parrots that live outside are the most likely to pick up a tick. Those that play or accompany owners outside the house are also at risk. Birds get ticks from wild birds that perch above cages and rescued birds caged nearby, as well as contact with wild birds. Ticks lay in wait for hosts at the top of grass stalks and on leaves, sensing the heat and movement of potential victims. They don't jump, but climb aboard new hosts. These parasites attach themselves to the parts of parrots the birds cannot reach with their beaks. When searching your parrot for ticks, pay particular attention to head and neck areas. Ticks attach themselves with mouth parts that strongly resist removal and resemble barbed harpoons. Chemicals in tick saliva make a "glue," that bonds them to hosts. Once fully fed, ticks fall off parrots, leaving behind depleted hosts who may also be infected by the blood-borne diseases ticks carry.

    Tick Feeding Habits

    • Once they take a firm hold on their hosts, ticks inject an anti-coagulant to prevent their victim's blood from clotting and the wound from healing. They drink blood from hosts for several days before becoming full and dropping off. Some consume 200 to 600 times their original body weight in blood from the parrot. While unfed ticks are tiny, full ticks are easier to spot; the resemble gray coffee beans that measure between four and six millimeters long. Dangers to parrots from tick bites include the risk of diseases such as anaplasmosis and babesiosis. The diseases are transmitted when ticks become detached from infected animals after getting only a partial meal and then go on to feed on parrots.

    Treatment

    • If you suspect your parrot shows signs of tick-borne disease, seek immediate veterinary help. Watch for anemic birds with swollen faces or closed eyelids. Bruises and bleeding around the neck are other signs of ticks feeding on your parrot. The tick that caused the illness may not still be attached, but have fed fully and dropped off. According to Neil Forbes, Specialist in Avian Medicine and Surgery, half of all untreated birds infected with tick-borne diseases die. Most were found dead by in cages by their owners, but more than 4/5 of treated birds survived. Tick-carried diseases in one bird are not infectious to other birds in the same cage. Removing ticks from otherwise healthy birds with tweezers requires skill and strength. There's always a chance infected material from the tick will be squeezed into the parrot's body. A less invasive method involves hanging a white paper towel inside the cage to catch ticks that are attracted by bright objects.

    Prevention

    • Preventing ticks from dropping into an outside aviary involves cutting off over hanging branches of trees where wild birds roost. After you discover one infected parrot in a cage, scrupulously check all other birds for ticks, spray with a vet-recommended anti-parasitic solution and clean cages thoroughly to catch any ticks resting on floors. Suspended cages offer a greater degree of security, especially if you house tick-eating poultry under these parrots.