Trichomoniasis
Learn what the condition is, how it may be detected early, how it is treated or managed, and which breeds or species are linked to it.
Condition snapshot
A concise guide to the condition’s pattern, detection, management and urgency.
Limit spread while seeking adviceSeparate affected animals when practical and obtain veterinary guidance on contacts, cleaning and normal mixing.
This snapshot is a general guide, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. New, severe or worsening signs require veterinary assessment.
About the condition
Trichomoniasis is infection by flagellated Trichomonas protozoa, most often T. gallinae. It is called canker in pigeons and doves and frounce in raptors, and it also affects budgerigars and other species. Organisms pass directly in saliva during courtship or parent feeding, through contaminated communal water and food, or when raptors eat infected prey. They survive poorly once dry but spread rapidly where water remains contaminated.
In pigeons, doves and raptors, adherent yellow-white caseous lesions form in the mouth, pharynx, crop or oesophagus. They cause drooling, bad odour, dysphagia, regurgitation, weight loss and respiratory obstruction. Budgerigars may show salivation and regurgitation without visible plaques. Severe infection can extend into liver or other tissues, and chicks may die from starvation or airway blockage.
Plaques resemble candidiasis, pox, hypovitaminosis A, bacterial abscess or tumour. Forcefully peeling them can cause haemorrhage and does not remove deep infection. Trichomonads lose motility quickly outside the host, so a delayed dry sample can be falsely negative.
Prognosis is good when local disease is treated before obstruction or organ invasion. Some pigeon strains show reduced drug susceptibility, making repeated blind flock dosing a poor substitute for confirmation. Recovered birds can remain carriers and reinfect young. The parasite is not controlled by wormers used for nematodes. Prevention centres on clean dry drinkers, separation of infected birds, management of parent-to-chick transmission and excluding pigeons from raptor food and companion-bird water sources. Trichomonas gallinae is a motile protozoan that produces caseous lesions in the mouth, oesophagus or crop, especially in pigeons, doves and raptors that eat them. Lesions can obstruct swallowing or breathing and may extend into liver or other tissues. Shared water and crop feeding transmit fragile organisms directly between birds.
Screening & Early Detection
Inspect oral cavity and choana carefully and assess swallowing, crop contents, weight and respiratory effort. Collect fresh lesion material or crop fluid before antiprotozoal therapy and examine immediately by warm saline wet mount for motile trichomonads. PCR supports cases with low organism numbers or prior treatment.
Do not diagnose from colour of a plaque alone. Cytology, culture or biopsy distinguishes Candida, bacteria, pox and neoplasia. Blood work and imaging assess dehydration, obstruction or liver involvement. A dyspnoeic bird is stabilised before prolonged oral examination.
Screen breeding pigeons and doves when chick losses or recurrent plaques occur and inspect communal water hygiene. Raptors fed pigeons need prey-source control. After treatment, repeat fresh sampling is more useful than disappearance of surface lesions alone. Daily gram weight and food passage detect continued obstruction. Drooling, inability to swallow, open-mouth breathing or enlarging plaques requires same-day intervention. A fresh warm saline preparation from the lesion margin or crop is examined quickly for motile organisms; delayed or chilled samples lose sensitivity. PCR can confirm infection, particularly after treatment. Caseous plaques are not diagnostic by appearance alone and must be distinguished from candidiasis, pox, vitamin A deficiency and bacterial infection.
Treatment & Management
Use a veterinarian-selected nitroimidazole or other effective antiprotozoal at an avian species-specific dose; legal availability and resistance patterns vary. Treat all epidemiologically linked birds when reinfection risk warrants it. Complete the course even when plaques shrink, and avoid repeatedly rotating drugs without microscopy or susceptibility guidance.
Stabilise dehydration and malnutrition, provide analgesia and deliver food by a route that does not force material past an obstructed or damaged pharynx. Large airway-threatening lesions may require careful debulking by an experienced veterinarian, but adherent plaques are not torn away casually. Treat secondary infection on evidence.
Empty and scrub drinkers daily, allow surfaces to dry and prevent wild pigeons from accessing food or water. Parent-fed chicks and infected prey chains require separate control. Recheck wet mounts or PCR and weight after therapy. Persistent organisms prompt review of dose delivery, carrier contacts and resistance. Prognosis becomes poor with liver invasion, severe emaciation or unrecoverable airway damage. Human antiprotozoals and livestock water medication can be toxic or underdose small birds and are not used without exact veterinary calculation. Antiprotozoal drugs such as ronidazole or metronidazole require exact species-appropriate dosing because neurotoxicity can occur. Obstructive lesions may need careful debridement, while fluids and nutritional support address dehydration and starvation. Water containers are cleaned and dried, and pigeons should not be accessible to susceptible raptors.
Breeds or species affected
Bar-shouldered Dove
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Blue-faced Parrot Finch
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Budgerigar
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Cockatiel
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Common Bronzewing
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Crested Pigeon
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Diamond Dove
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Emerald Dove
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Gouldian Finch
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Painted Finch
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Peaceful Dove
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Star Finch
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Zebra Finch
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Canary
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Society Finch
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions
Domestic Pigeon
Open bird species description, care requirements and conditions