Have You Ever Experienced a Bird With “Bumblefoot”?

Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Karen C. asks,

Have you ever experienced dealing with a bird that has developed what they are calling “bumblefoot”?

I have a parakeet that has a sore spot on the bottom of one of its feet.

When I looked it up on the internet it didn’t seem like much could be done and this little guy isn’t finger trained.

He was a rescue along with 3 other birds.

It’s quite a feat to catch him at all and I don’t want to stress him out anymore than the poor thing already is.

So if you have any input at all about this I would really appreciate any suggestions.

The Ultimate List of 13 Bird Beak and Foot Structures

Also, I thought maybe if I could find one of those corner perches to put in the cage to relieve him of trying to balance on a perch that might be helpful.

Do you possibly carry those?

Thank you for your help. Karen C.

Dear Karen

Yes, we are familiar with bumblefoot aka pressure sores. Many things can contribute to them. The main cause is using the wrong perches in the cage.

Once the feet are irritated enough they can develop blisters and or callouses.

The blisters can become infected and the bird will get sick.

Vet care can be required for medication.

Does the Plethora of Parrot Perches Produce Puzzlement? Learn Perches & Placement Now!

Being with the others will only cause him to be always on the move and unable to be able to stay still and rest and heal properly.

We also have a small aviary with 6 rescue budgies currently in it and having to chase one around to get it out is an undertaking (we use a butterfly net).

But it has to be done and they get over it or they were going to pass anyway soon.

Right now, the best thing to do would be to remove the single bird and put it into a smaller cage that is not tall.

Remove all the perches but for one.

It needs to be soft, perhaps a rope perch.

Or you can wrap a perch with vet wrap.

Then you can remove the vet wrap and replace it with new vet wrap to help keep it clean.

Or even a flat perch, also can be covered with vet wrap that can be replaced.

This new environment should be a better place to recover.

Find all perches here

In your main cage if you have plain dowel perches in either wood or plastic they should be replaced with rope perches or natural wood (branches) perches.

If you need any help with an order, have more questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Catherine

Here’s a zygodactyl footnote ~ rock music from Bumblefoot (courtesy of MitchR:-)