Red sore foot

My pineapple conure has been in a petshop since she was hatched, shes one year old and I got her last month. I'm new to all of this, so I'm wondering it anyone can give me some insight. My conure has been standing on one foot for a few weeks now..and the one she doesnt like using is red. I think its because she lived in one cage with one dowel rod perch her whole pet shop life. The cage shes in now has a dowel rod and a cement covered dowel rod.. so everything is the same shape. Do you think it could be the poor nutritional value of the foods that the pet shop fed her, or the dowel rods, maybe a mixture of both issues? I bought what the petshop recommended but when I read about seeds and birds and noticed that the few pellets in her mix were being tossed out of the cage or dropped, I tried switching to pellets. I now have a variety of treat foods mixed in a treat dish and a dish full of pellets she never touches. I'm cutting back on garbage seeds. and I bought a bunch of manzanite perches with different shapes to switch to in hopes of exercising those little feet. She used to drop all of her food and not even go down to grab it again..because she could go from one side of the perch to eat and the other for millet..so now that all of her treats are on the ground level, when she drops food she actually goes down to grab it lol

I am glad you are changing the diet but she really needs to see an avian vet asap. There are many things that can cause this. Infection, gout, restricted toe syndrome, etc. Obviously it is painful to her. She needs pain meds as well. I hope you get in her quickly and she soon feels better.

If you are using the sand paper cover that go over the dowels please stop because they harbor bacteria. The red sore foot is most likely from her standing on that sand perch too much. How often does she stand on the sand perch?
She does need to go to a board certified avian vet ASAP, especially if you got her from a pet shop.

cdog said:

If you are using the sand paper cover that go over the dowels please stop because they harbor bacteria. The red sore foot is most likely from her standing on that sand perch too much. How often does she stand on the sand perch?
She does need to go to a board certified avian vet ASAP, especially if you got her from a pet shop.

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Its a cement one..little white and blue spots on a regular dowel.. so its basically the same as the covers.. its made by the same brand! I'll take it out asap! the redness comes and goes fast. I'm taking her to the vet Friday and putting $500 aside for any other emergencys. I'm new to birds so any information is greatly appreciated. I'm going to go remove the cement perch and do a thorough cleaning.

If you want to trim the nails get an actual cement perch and don't put it where she will use it as a main perch. Don't get a sand perch because you will have the same problem with the red foot. The main perch should be a natural one(not manzanita) or a rope perch. The best perches are cholla wood, dragon wood, rope(check for loose threads), and grapevine.

The real cement ones just look like slabs of cement not little pebbles of it.

cdog said:

If you want to trim the nails get an actual cement perch and don't put it where she will use it as a main perch. Don't get a sand perch because you will have the same problem with the red foot. The main perch should be a natural one(not manzanita) or a rope perch. The best perches are cholla wood, dragon wood, rope(check for loose threads), and grapevine.

The real cement ones just look like slabs of cement not little pebbles of it.

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I think you were completely right. I just watched her go from normal colored and standing and playing.. to standing on the cement perch, immediately drawing one foot up, and now shes red again. you are a genius! thank you I almost wonder if it could have some sort of dangerous chemical from being manufactured. and to think its a commonly sold perch at petco and petzoo!!

this is the kind of perch by the way!

Oh that's not the cover I was talking about, I was talking about a sleeve you slip over a dowel, but that perch you have needs to go. Those are very bad for birds' feet, they can cause serious damage and the first sign is a sore red foot.

If you still want to keep your birds' nails trim get one of these...http://m.petco.com/Petco/product/detail.do?itemId=116483&categoryId=&path=... Just make sure it isn't a main perch, get a rope perch for that!

I think this is one of those times he really needs to go to vet. Is the skin broken at all? It almost sounds like gout.

dishgal1 said:

I think this is one of those times he really needs to go to vet. Is the skin broken at all? It almost sounds like gout.

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very red toe nails and feet but no sores

Yes it may be better after removing the perch but you still have to take him to an avian vet.