Conure’s Feet Are Bright Pink

[Nadieb1930]

Hi everyone. I’ve noticed in the past week or so my suncheek GCC’s feet are bright pink (like bright hot pink). She doesn’t act sore at all and is playing, eating, and drinking very normally. At first I thought it was from a toy or maybe her pellets, so I tried rubbing it off with a warm, wet paper towel and it didn’t budge. I put a decent amount of pressure on the bottom of her feet and she didn’t seem to mind at all. I’ve pressed on different areas and she just doesn’t act sore. I just want to make sure it isn’t possibly bumble foot? She has a huge variety of perches both in her cage and on her playground. She has natural branch perches in her cage (as well as a wooden bridge) and her playground is made up of bamboo and has a ladder thing that’s made up of a basket type material. She spends most of her time switching between the bamboo and the ladder. I know my mom leaves pellets out for all the birds that are pretty brightly colored (not my favorite) and she loves to dip her pellets in water. The pellets are all different colors, though, so I would think she would have multicolored feet if it was that? I just want to make sure she’s not going to have an issues with her feet, since this has been going on for at least a week and she’s been bathed multiple times.

 

[wrench13]

How old is she? WHat color is her beak? You called her a suncheek - is she a hybrid ? SUn conure and green cheek?

 

[Nadieb1930]

How old is she? WHat color is her beak? You called her a suncheek - is she a hybrid ? SUn conure and green cheek?

Hi, she is almost 8 months old. A sun cheek is a green cheek but a pineapple dilute color. Her beak and feet are normally a pale pink color.

 

[Briburd]

Sometimes my yellow sided GCC‘s feet get really pink from the fruit like strawberries or raspberries and it doesn’t always come off right away with water.….could it possibly be from that?

 

[Briburd]

Also I’ve heard and personally tried rubbing a little coconut oil on birds feet’s and beaks to help moisturize them and coconut oil has great antibacterial properties so you could always try that if want to do something extra.

 

[ravvlet]

Coconut oil is great for their feet; make sure it’s food grade!

I would bet on the pellets honestly. Can you check the ingredients? Certain red dyes are really, really stubborn. Can you gently press down on her foot pad and then release? If the color doesn’t change (if you aren’t sure what to look for, try it on your finger first), I’d suspect the dye in the pellets. If it’s Zupreme Fruityblend, it has Red 40, which is a bit of a controversial one & I think it does stain skin, so if she’s soaking those pellets it might be dyeing her little feet!

(Also, I love your nails!)

 

[Owlet]

it looks like dye to me, not skin irritation.

 

[Nadieb1930]

Coconut oil is great for their feet; make sure it’s food grade!

I would bet on the pellets honestly. Can you check the ingredients? Certain red dyes are really, really stubborn. Can you gently press down on her foot pad and then release? If the color doesn’t change (if you aren’t sure what to look for, try it on your finger first), I’d suspect the dye in the pellets. If it’s Zupreme Fruityblend, it has Red 40, which is a bit of a controversial one & I think it does stain skin, so if she’s soaking those pellets it might be dyeing her little feet!

(Also, I love your nails!)

She does really like the Zupreem fruit blend! My first thought was the pellets, but when it didn’t come off I got worried. I’ll put some coconut oil on them too though!

 

[Nadieb1930]

Update:
I pulled her out of the cage this morning and her feet were MUCH pinker (comically hot pink) so it’s definitely dye lol
Thanks for the advice!

 

[ravvlet]

If it’s any consolation, while some people don’t love fruityblend as it’s got added sugars and so it’s not great objectively, I know a lot of folks feed it for various reasons (including just picky birds!) so she’ll probably be totally fine!

 

[HeatherG]

My state vet hospital feeds zupreem fruit blend. It’s something most birds will eat. (Lucy of course would not touch it, so I brought in her zupreem natural.).

Glad you solved that mystery! I hate pink spots on my carpet and tshirts, so I don’t feed fruity zupreem.