Parakeet's bottom of feet and tails are turning black

by Trista
(Florida)

I have four parakeets, and two in each cage. Two girls are in one cage and the two boys are in another cage. My two girl parakeets seem to have the end of their tails turning black. Even the bottom of their feet are blackish!

Im wondering if they are dirty or if its an illness...i just moved into an apartment with my dad. And Im not sure if its the apartment, the temperature, or an illness or what. Its only affecting the two females. I try to wash the black off it didnt really seem to be coming off though.

Help? Thanks

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Parakeet's bottom of feet and tails are turning black

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Nov 19, 2009

Birds with black feet bottoms
by: The Vet

This could be a circulatory problem, or it could be newspaper ink from walking on newspaper. There are also other possibilities, so I recommend that you have your birds examined by an avian veterinarian.

Dr B

Nov 19, 2009

Parakeet's bottom of feet and tails are turning black
by: Linda

Well, I really have no idea why their feet may be black. What kind of perches do they have? They should be on natural wood tree branch perches so their feet get the exercise they have to have. If your birds sit on wooden dowels all day, then it will start to cause arthritis in their feet and legs. If sitting on Black Walnut branches, some black comes off the bark when wet which is normal. If sitting on Manzanita, some of the red comes off bark when wet.

Are there any new chemicals in the apartment that could have gotten on their perches and not the males? Most household chemicals are poison for birds, even Febreeze is poison for them. Any room deoderizer or scented candles are also poison.

You may wish to take the females to an Avian Vet in your area to rule out infection and/or parasites.

Let us know what the Vet has to say and thanks for writing.

Linda

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