Foot wound - self mutilation or dry skin?

[M&M Ninja]

I found a wound on my conure's 'ankle'. It was already in the early stages of scabbing over when I found it, and today it looks to be healing nicely. I figured she somehow wounded herself during a bout of chaos behavior.

However, I just found a new spot between two toes that is bleeding very lightly. I've seen her picking at the skin on her foot, and she definitely favors it (e.g. is not standing on it at rest). That being said, she is flying around like normal, eating normally, cuddly, etc. She might be more fluffed out and sleepy, though.

Some photos of the 'bad foot' and some of the other (which also appears to be developing a problem):


The new wound from today:


The wound that is healing:


Another view of the new wound:


The other foot:


I don't know that I've looked this closely at her feet before, but they appear dry and scaly to me. She is pretty good about self-regulating when she wants a bath, and she refused the last time I offered. She might have already had the ankle wound and didn't like the idea of getting it wet.

Other possibilities - bug bite that she aggravated, response to spring hormones, just normal dry skin with the AC running all the time?

I'm prepared to order a humidifier for her room and/or take her to the vet. Or give her a foot massage with coconut oil. Or nothing, if warranted.

Has anybody else dealt with something like this?

 

[April]

@Peachfaced 's Conure sometimes picks at his feet perhaps she can offer you some insight.

 

[Parront]

To be on the safe side I would suggest taking her to the vet to rule out bumblefoot. In the meantime keeping her feet clean is a good start. Good Luck

 

[patchyjoon]

What are the perches that you are using? Are they varied? The ankle looks like it could be self mutilation but the bottom of the feet does remind me a little of bumblefoot.

 

[M&M Ninja]

What are the perches that you are using? Are they varied? The ankle looks like it could be self mutilation but the bottom of the feet does remind me a little of bumblefoot.

She has a variety - a wood perch with smaller diameter components, a big fat wood perch, one of those fruity pebbles edible perches (looks rough but is soft and has holes in it), and a lava perch. In its current location, she wasn't sitting on the lava perch, but I took it out to be safe. She sometimes has a rope perch, but that is out of there right now (she destroyed it). I just rotated in a flat, cork perch that she loves but that gets destroyed easily. And I moved everything around.

In her outdoor cage, she has a wood perch that is halfway between the smaller diameter and the big, fat one. When outside, she is either on her perch or on the cage bottom.

She was strongly favoring the worse foot two days ago, but now she is no longer picking at either or acting agitated. We've been putting tallow balm on both feet 2-3 times a day, and they look a lot better. Not fully healed, but better.

 

[Peachfaced]

I strongly believe Rupert's issue was linked to hormones - we never could pinpoint any other medical reason for his foot mutilating (It wasn't bacterial, it wasn't an allergic reaction, etc). The last time he did any damage was December 2022. I kept SSD (Silver sulfadiazine) handy to help the wounds heal. I just routinely flipped him over to check his feet, and at the first sign of damage, I'd start padding every surface and make it easier for him to get around with as little pain.

 

[M&M Ninja]

I strongly believe Rupert's issue was linked to hormones - we never could pinpoint any other medical reason for his foot mutilating (It wasn't bacterial, it wasn't an allergic reaction, etc). The last time he did any damage was December 2022. I kept SSD (Silver sulfadiazine) handy to help the wounds heal. I just routinely flipped him over to check his feet, and at the first sign of damage, I'd start padding every surface and make it easier for him to get around with as little pain.

Does my conure's feet look like Rupert's did when he was self-mutilating?

 

[M&M Ninja]

If anybody else has more input, I'd appreciate it. While she is no longer favoring either foot, the 'wounds' aren't disappearing altogether. It makes me wonder if there is a root cause I am missing.

If your bird has had foot issues, how long has it taken to resolve? I'm estimating we're at about a week since the problem became severe enough to warrant her attention (which then got my attention).

 

[Macawnutz]

My Amazon parrot began to mutilate his feet, so I took him to the vet. He mentioned that an Aspergillus panel would be necessary, as foot mutilation is a common symptom in birds with asper. Sure enough, the test came back positive.

 

[Peachfaced]

Does my conure's feet look like Rupert's did when he was self-mutilating?

Very much so.

 

[M&M Ninja]

My Amazon parrot began to mutilate his feet, so I took him to the vet. He mentioned that an Aspergillus panel would be necessary, as foot mutilation is a common symptom in birds with asper. Sure enough, the test came back positive.

Everything I'm finding about Aspergillus talks about bacteria in the lungs. Cord isn't showing any of the symptoms associated with aspergillus. What is the association between the lung condition and their feet? Is there anything else I can consider/examine?

My vet is back on Tuesday, so I'm not trying to avoid the vet. I'm just trying to get a sense of things in the meantime.

 

[M&M Ninja]

Very much so.

So you think hormones triggered Rupert to start mutilating...There were no other symptoms or anything. Did you need to do the cone of shame to get him to stop? Did you have to buy a special SSD cream from the vet or was it something you bought online?

Cord is mostly not bothering her feet, so I can't tell if it is self-inflicted. But I took her out of the cage this morning and one of her feet looks GREAT (much better, nearly healed) and one looks WORSE.

 

[Macawnutz]

Everything I'm finding about Aspergillus talks about bacteria in the lungs. Cord isn't showing any of the symptoms associated with aspergillus. What is the association between the lung condition and their feet? Is there anything else I can consider/examine?

My vet is back on Tuesday, so I'm not trying to avoid the vet. I'm just trying to get a sense of things in the meantime.

You're exploring potential explanations, and I'm sharing a possibility with you. Throughout my experience, I’ve treated three birds diagnosed with Aspergillosis, and only one of them exhibited respiratory problems.
My Amazon parrot managed to chew both of his feet in one evening. The very next day, we visited the vet, where he was diagnosed with Aspergillosis and received treatment. That was the only symptom displayed.

 

[Mizzely]

What do you clean perches with? Is there any possibility of that introducing an irritant?

 

[M&M Ninja]

You're exploring potential explanations, and I'm sharing a possibility with you. Throughout my experience, I’ve treated three birds diagnosed with Aspergillosis, and only one of them exhibited respiratory problems.
My Amazon parrot managed to chew both of his feet in one evening. The very next day, we visited the vet, where he was diagnosed with Aspergillosis and received treatment. That was the only symptom displayed.

Got it. That's why I asked. Since you've experienced it, I figured you'd know firsthand. Thank you.

 

[M&M Ninja]

What do you clean perches with? Is there any possibility of that introducing an irritant?

A combination of diluted vinegar with a tiny amount of soap.

 

[Mizzely]

A combination of diluted vinegar with a tiny amount of soap.

This may seem like a silly question, but do you rinse afterwards?

 

[M&M Ninja]

This may seem like a silly question, but do you rinse afterwards?

No worries; that's a valid question. No, I don't. The 'solution' is half water and half (already very dilute) white vinegar with a single droplet of dish soap. This fills a squirt bottle that lasts me 3-4 weeks. I spray it on, scrub with a washcloth, and let it dry.

 

[Peachfaced]

So you think hormones triggered Rupert to start mutilating...There were no other symptoms or anything. Did you need to do the cone of shame to get him to stop? Did you have to buy a special SSD cream from the vet or was it something you bought online?

Cord is mostly not bothering her feet, so I can't tell if it is self-inflicted. But I took her out of the cage this morning and one of her feet looks GREAT (much better, nearly healed) and one looks WORSE.

No other symptoms. I graphed when he'd mutilate, and it was generally when his hormones were high.

SSD was prescribed by the vet. No collar needed. Usually once I padded surfaces (making sure everything was non abrasive) and started seeing the wounds heal up from applying SSD 2x a day for a few days, I'd reduce it a bit. Id let him heal up on his own once I could tell he was moving around and not further mutilating.

The sooner I caught the earliest signs and was proactive, the quicker he got back to being his usual self.

 

[M&M Ninja]

No other symptoms. I graphed when he'd mutilate, and it was generally when his hormones were high.

SSD was prescribed by the vet. No collar needed. Usually once I padded surfaces (making sure everything was non abrasive) and started seeing the wounds heal up from applying SSD 2x a day for a few days, I'd reduce it a bit. Id let him heal up on his own once I could tell he was moving around and not further mutilating.

The sooner I caught the earliest signs and was proactive, the quicker he got back to being his usual self.

That is super helpful, thank you. I'm hoping the non-avian, doesn't-really-see-birds vet will have enough bird experience to recommend it. It looks like I can't buy it without a prescription.