My parrot is chewing its leg and it's red. Is it behavioral or health?

Birds can chew on their feet if they're bored or itchy. Checking over your bird's foot and looking for any visible wounds, redness, irritation or open scaling (some scaling is normal in all bird feet, but you shouldn't see sores, open wounds or dirt/debris stuck to it) can help you determine if there may be an injury that needs to be treated. If the foot looks OK, just keeping an eye on it for now is best. If it changes or a problem is visible, taking her to a vet is best. If she seems bored or stressed (especially because she isn't with her usual people), offering some extra treats, toys and interaction together may help reduce her stress and any boredom and keep her from picking at her feet more.

Thanks for reaching out about Miso and including photos. Psittacine Feather Destructive Behavior can have many causes: stress, nutritional deficiencies, some viral diseases, external parasites (mites, lice) and other problems. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. Provide more distractions toys, give showers to induce bathing, check and correct nutrition. These are all things to try. Good luck.

It's possible Green Bean may have some irritation going on from a skin issue such as external parasites, infection, etc. Checking for signs of infection such as redness, open wounds or sores, or visible flecks of "stuff" on the skin near the feather base can alert you to this- and if you see it, trying to get in sooner may be best. Dry skin can also sometimes be a cause of irritation. Providing a bird bath or gently misting Green Bean with warm water from a spray bottle may provide him some relief until the underlying problem can be found by your vet. Boredom or stress can also sometimes cause excessive grooming and feather plucking. Adding in some toys that can be chewed on, making sure the cage is in a quieter area away from other pets and people that may cause stress, and spending some more time together may also help reduce the behavior.

The excessive preening can be caused by parasites, molting, boredom or stress. You can have Shelly examined by your veterinarian to diagnose infection or parasites. In the meantime, clean and sanitize the cage, bowls, toys and perches. Discard anything that cannot be sanitized. Mist her with warm water to encourage bathing and to promote healthy plumage. Rearrange her cage and rotate out toys to freshen up her environment. Survey the area around the cage and eliminate or decrease any negative stimuli.

Thanks for reaching out about Tweety. It really depends on if there is damaging being done. Grooming is normal, but if chewing to the point of wounds or bleeding, then a veterinary visit is needed. The feet and legs can be cleaned with warm water and a gentle soap. Good luck.

Hi there, I'm Dr G and I see a lot of birds. Your conure, even though he is not pulling feathers out is still having some "feather picking" or at the least over grooming. This can have so many reasons! So many! Often at this time of year, it relates to seasonal sexual behavior. It can also be a skin infection, stress of some sort, loneliness, and more. I would recommend an exam by a vet to rule out medical problems before starting to work on behavioral reasons. Increased bathing/misting encourages normal grooming behavior. Making sure your bird is on a low seed/high pellet diet and the pellet is free of colors and dyes. (Just make changes slowly). Make sure you are not encouraging sexual or mating behaviors in your bird by not kissing them, not snuggling them too much and not petting along the lower back or abdomen area.

It sounds like your bird may have bumblefoot, or an infection of the foot which can cause oozing of debris, pus, blood, etc. Other possible causes can include a sprain or break to the foot. If you see a visible wound, you can try soaking the foot in epsom salts and then using an antiseptic like blu-kote, however if it is badly infected or broken this is something that needs to be seen by a veterinarian immediately as severe infections can make a bird ill very quickly and potentially lead to death. Until you can get to your vet, keeping Sunapana warm and in a hospital cage without perches and with food and water dishes that are easy to is best.