orange winged amazon male

Question
My amazon who I have had since he was 14 weeks old who is nearlly 4 has suddenly devloped  really flaky feet, not sure if it is him picking at the skin with his beak.  He has chewed his i.d ring so that it is completely silver (was bright pink) and illegible.   he appears to be a happy bird with the largest cage on the market that's door is open for most of the day so he can come and go as he pleases, he has lots and lots of toys that are rotated fortnightly including foraging toys, if i go out he either has the tv or radio for company, he is rarely alone.  He has a great dry diet and also comes and eats his evening meal of fresh fruit and veg with me. could yoouua advise to what could be causing his flaky feet or him picking his feet. I have always maintained a higgh level of care for Marlie and the only thing that has changed is that a year ago a new man came into my life, however marlie loves my new man and lets him in his cage and to handle him and readily accepts and offers affection from our new human male companion. I hate the thought that marlie could be unhappy for any reason and is self mutilating esp as he is very well cared for. I have even considered that as I am a nail biter that marlie is simply mimicking my behaviour.  the only avaian vet is miles away, i don't drive and when i last took marlie to him i was unhappy with his level of treatment.  Please help as I'd hate for this to progress onto feather plucking.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Answer
Hi Jodie,
Sorry it took me so long to get to your question. I apparently am not getting notification of my questions here.
 Wow... first I want to congratulate you on being one of the few that come here that seem like you are truly taking the very best care possible of your bird. That is fantastic! And how wonderful that you also were able to find a man who not only likes your bird but that your bird likes as well. That is something I sure havent been able to accomplish.
It certainly doesnt sound like Mrlie is bored or has any dietary issues. I do want to ask what kind of dry diet he is on. I know a lot of the pelleted diets are very highly colored and I have always wondered about those dyes and the long term effects they may have. I fed onyl Roudybush for years because it does not use dyes and my birds loved it. Unfortunately, the distributor in my area went out of business and none of the local shops will carry it. I cant afford the shipping from other vendors so I have switched to feeding Zupreem pellets. My birds wont eat the non colored variety of those for some reason so they eat the regular brightly colored one. It may be that your bird has an allergy to something in his food thought it seems like if he did, he would be doing more than picking at his feet.

My other thought is that maybe this is a case of dry skin. You might try putting a humidifier in a room near the one his cage is in if your house tends to be dry. And finally, since you say he has picked alot at his band, it may be that it was annoying him, got him focusing on his legs and now it has become a habit. There are people who are driven to distraction by tags in clothing or by jewelry and it may be that your bird feels this way about his band. Does it seem too tight? Being a nail biter, you are in a great position to understand how hard a habit like that it to break. It is something that somehow become comforting in a way I guess. Your bird may have trhe same sort of thing going on. It may be that something was bothering him and that now even though it isnt, he has a hard to break habit to deal with.

You said that the nearest vet is some distance away and that you werent too happy with the level of treatment there but I would certainly take him back in for a well bird checkup just to see what your vet sees and feels about this situation. You can go to the Assoc. of Avian Veterinarians website and search to see if there is annother avian vet near you. I would definitely make a vet visit my first priority to rule out this being a health issue, then try the humidifier, then a diet change (if necessary), and finally, some brand new toys to see if any of that helps.

Thanks for coming here to this site and for taking such wonderful care of your bird. Amazon's are my personal favorites because they are such happy souls.

Jan