Questions Regarding Chin Feet

[Zahrii]

My chin Buttons has recently had an abscess on his foot that healed by itself. Since the healing (around a month ago), the cage has been padded with fleece liners with quilt batting sewn inside. The padding doesn't cover everything, just the two floors and a half shelf leading up to the second floor. He has some redness where the abscess used to be, but after consulting the vet she said that the best way to deal with it would be to continue the padding at least in the areas where he spends most of his time. I'm okay with this, it's just a lot of fleece to wash twice a week. Since the abscess is long since gone, and the vet confirmed that he does not have bumble foot and his feet look better (including some normal callusing), can I remove the half shelf and put perches instead? He doesn't spend much time on the half shelf either. That way the padding will just be on the two floors and some of the wooden shelves will be replaced with perches. Those two options seem to be the recommended methods to help redness on chin feet. While I'm on the topic of wooden things, he tends to spend some time on top of his wood house. I feel like that may be the main culprit to his heel redness, so how do I cushion it safely without it getting pushed off the house? When I try to put a sheet of fleece on top of it, it just gets pushed off within a couple hours.

 

[Amethyst]

If he doesn't spend much time on the half shelf anyway I would think it's safe to change it out for some perches. I'm not sure there is a way to cushion a wood house and if that is the only place that is flat and not covered in fleece I wouldn't worry too much about it. As I've said in the past perches can help with blood circulation in the feet, so if he actually uses and sits on them it can help. Red heels are normally caused by a chin sitting back on their heels, creating pressure sores, with perches they can't do that.

 

[Zahrii]

If he doesn't spend much time on the half shelf anyway I would think it's safe to change it out for some perches. I'm not sure there is a way to cushion a wood house and if that is the only place that is flat and not covered in fleece I wouldn't worry too much about it. As I've said in the past perches can help with blood circulation in the feet, so if he actually uses and sits on them it can help. Red heels are normally caused by a chin sitting back on their heels, creating pressure sores, with perches they can't do that.

Okay, I replaced the half shelf just now. The cage now has only three flat, uncushioned surfaces. The top of the house (which is now not underneath the shelf, so it's more in the open so I'm hoping he won't lay on it as much), the top of their hay holder (which they don't go on very much), and a small ledge just leading up to the second floor. The rest of the cage contains 5 perches. Do you think that should be good?

 

[Amethyst]

Okay, I replaced the half shelf just now. The cage now has only three flat, uncushioned surfaces. The top of the house (which is now not underneath the shelf, so it's more in the open so I'm hoping he won't lay on it as much), the top of their hay holder (which they don't go on very much), and a small ledge just leading up to the second floor. The rest of the cage contains 5 perches. Do you think that should be good?

Sounds good, just keep an eye on their feet to make sure, if they start looking worse instead of better you can always put things back.