Hot feet?!

Hi all,

I’ve noticed my b and g has some smooth areas on the underside of his feet. One is slightly pink. I know I definitely got him with some ‘smoothnesss/loss of scale’ there but I should of taken a picture to see if it had gotten worse. Obviously I am cautious of bumble foot. He has a large double cage and his two main perches are a good size smooth wood one being Java. He has a thick rope that runs through the middle, one bendy perch on one door and then two rough perches on his other door. I know the rough perches may be causing this but they are not his most used perches so wasn’t sure if they would be enough? I’ve also just bought a large Java tree stand for him. I clean his perches but I’m cautious about disinfectants incase there’s any left behind and he ingests it! Yesterday I noticed his feet felt hot when sat on my arm. It was very hot here yesterday in the uk. He is normal in his self eating drinking playing etc!

I don’t know if I’m worried too much? I’ve wrapped his perches in the cage for the time being to take some pressure off his feet

Please help!

Hidden in the Amazon sub-Forum is a Sticky Thread Titled: I Love Amazons -... Within that huge Thread is a segment that is titled: Getting to the Foot of the Problem or something near that. That segment will provide great insight on what is best for your Parrot's feet.

It is very important to understand that Parrots use their legs and claws to exchange temperature. Sometimes they are warm, other times cool. If they have their wings displaced from the side of their body, they maybe overly warm. If you see that combination, a light breeze can be helpful.

Smooth perches can cause something called bumble-foot. You might look into that- it's hard to say without a picture though.

Great thank you I will look into that!

It’s all a little confusing. I’m reading both smooth perches and rough ones can give it to him so im baffled as to which one?!

I think (just to add more information into the mix!) that bumblefoot is caused by bacteria entering the foot from breaks in the skin. So it isn't technically caused by either type of perch, it's more that rough perches might cause abrasions that let bacteria in and smooth perches might cause pressure sores that let the bacteria in. It sounds like you have perches well covered though!

I've had the start of bumblefoot in a Mynah bird and I used vet wrap on her perches and changed it regularly until it had gone. Also I increased protein (not relevant for macaws I don't think) and sunlight and vitamin something...A maybe... to boost her immune system.

You might be worrying too much though. I haven't heard that macaws are particularly prone to bumblefoot, at least not when their care is as good as yours! I experienced the hot foot phenomena recently too and the cold foot one too, I think it is related to the weather. I wonder if your bird was hot and their feet were flushed and so you noticed the redness more?

LouM said:

It’s all a little confusing. I’m reading both smooth perches and rough ones can give it to him so im baffled as to which one?!

Click to expand...

It's to some degree simply word use and word meaning.

Dowels as stated are commonly provided by cage builders. A dowel is made from wood, therefore it natural. They are also highly finished so that are also smooth. But, they cause problems with the pads on the bottom of a Parrots foot because there is no variation.

Branches from a tree can be converted into a perch by removing the bark, which IMHO is better as any bugs or chemicals that could collect on the bark are removed and not taken into your home and it also makes them smoother. So, why are branches better? They naturally vary across their length. Those minor to large variation cause the Parrots foot to set slightly different with each location along its length.

There are manufactured perches that are by design rough in their texture. Commonly made from concrete and provide a surface that the Parrot can use to clean the beak and dull the nails, which are considered good things. The downside is that if a Parrot roosts on those perches, the surface can damage the Parrots foot pads. So, placement of that style perch become a concern.

Hope that this helps.


Sorry for replying so close to yours Jottlebot!

True- you guys are right. I do know that the smooth ones tend to put pressure on the same parts of a bird's feet so that can also lead to issues over time, but yes, technically, bumblefoot is caused by bacteria. You want perches that aren't too uniform in shapes/diameter etc so that the pressure is distributed. At the same time, you don't want them tearing up their feet.