Parakeet with crusty feet--REMEDY FOUND!!!

[Sunny Side Up]

I have 2 parakeets that are kept together, and are probably about the same age. One of them has a sort of yellowish crusty build-up on his feet. Otherwise he seems to be fine. The other parakeet has normally smooth skin on his feet. Does anyone know what this might be, or how it should be treated?

 

[Robo]

Do you have them on wire or bedding?

 

[BeccaB00]

Does it looks like he may have stepped on somthing?

especially if they go to the bathroom on their perches alot, he

may have stepped in birdie droppings.

 

[Robo]

Try soaking his feet.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Thank you for your help. They spend their days in a big cage with smooth branches for perches. At night they are brought indoors to a smaller cage & there they also spend most of their time on a smooth wood perch. It's not poop, it's a dry crust over his feet & legs. Sort of like a really bad case of chapped skin. The other parakeet isn't affected at all.

How would I go about soaking his feet? In what solution?

 

[Akane]

Mites is my first guess. I'm not entirely sure how you treat such mites on a parakeet. You probably need the help of an avian vet. We are currently treating for respiratory tract mites.

http://www.avianweb.com/mites.html

 

[WoodlandWoman]

It does sound like it could be scaly leg mites.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Why would only one bird get it and not the other? Or is it likely to spread to him too? How would you treat that?

 

[BeccaB00]

mites is what Im guessing to. I wouldn't get

'over-the-counter' medicine to treat him.

Too often is it to weak to kill the bugs. And if it's

strong enough to kill the mites, it's normally to strong and

will kill your bird. Take him to an avian vet.

 

[Akane]

I have 4 showing serious signs of mites and 3 with no symptoms. I've also had some chickens develop horrible mite infestation while others appeared untouched.

Some are probably just more resilient than others and don't show symptoms as quickly.