Re: Bird Flea bites
Asked by mvgrey

Question:
 

Hey there,

My little girl has recently been bitten by (what i think is) bird fleas. They are little red bites on her neck (like 5 little red spots) and also on her

wrist, thighs, legs, and afew on her arms. They are really bothering her at times like when shes settling to bed. What can i do to avoid these bites?

My Advice:

Bird lice are tiny little mite like creatures that live on birds. They can however get onto humans and bite them. The bites are intensely itchy. The mites themselves are only just visible to the naked eye. Unlike fleas, bird lice don't jump. They crawl.
 

I have had bird lice bites before. They do drive you crazy with itch and the frustrating thing is you don't know whats causing it. Its very hard to detect the mites. You will have small red itchy dots in one area and then when the itch fades it will come up in another area.

When I had them I was the only one in the house who had this itch. We didnt have any birds so I couldnt work out where they came from. So I had to do some detective work.

What I discovered was a bird nest in the roof. The mites were crawling in a trail down the wall over the handle of the laundry tap and into the laundry tub. lol I was the only person in the house who ever turned on the laundry taps. They were crawling on me whenever I used the tap. Mystery solved why I was the only one who had them.

So do you have chooks or caged birds? Have you recently visited somebody with birds? Has she been playing around trees where there could be a birds nest? Are there birds nesting in your roof? You will have to really rack your brain as to where they came from. If you do have birds you will have to treat the lice. I use lime in my chook pen to kill lice but it can cause blindness if the dust gets in your eyes. But you will have to find out the appropriate treatment, if it's the case.

My advice is to give her a bath and check her thoroughly with a magnify glass. Check under skin fold and creases where they can hide. They are like tiny, brown, moving dots. Wash any clothes and bedding that she has had contact with. Get something to relieve the itch. Remove her from all possible infestations. If you do all that and you find she is still getting itchy you may want to explore other possibilites, like scabies, (anybody can get it, easy to catch), mozzie bites, allergy, fleas.