Moon's Graden

One of my birds' beak is REALLY long.  He has cuttlebone and a block of
charcoal but he's just not interested.
A couple of months ago, I trimmed his beak using a dog nail clipper, and he
hated it.  I really don't want to do it again if I could possibly avoid it.
Anybody have any suggestions about what I could give Snowball that would
both interest him AND file down his beak?

Thanx,
Jane

Well, it may be a symptom, but parakeets et al are notorious for not keeping
their beaks in good condition. Clipping is almost necessary in most cases.
(I'm no expert, but this is from experience and reading) They aren't like
***atiels and***atoos (and all large birds, I suppose) who grind their
beaks every night and maintain them. When clipping, make sure you have some
quick-stop in case you go a little too far.

--

Patrick Fisher

University of Pennsylvania
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

<snip>

--act

Regardless of whats been advised and read, find out from an avian vet if
clipping should be done, either by you, the vet or not at all.

Sorry if this isn't the case, this comes from a number of very experienced
bird owners/trainers/etc I know, who received the advice from their avian
vet. It is a given that any abnormal symptom is investigated by a vet
immediately anyway, so any true "problem" or illness could be detected, and
you receive more expert advice just for your bird. Most of the parakeets I
have dealt with won't grind their beaks down on anything you give them, but
after numerous checkups, nothing is wrong with the bird, and it is
reccommended that the bird's beak is simply clipped.

Again, I apologize if this information is totally bogus, as I said, I'm no
expert, but this is from experience with other bird owners...
Like with any other problem/symptom with a bird, take everything you read in
a newsgroup with a grain of salt, and see your avian vet immediately. At
least a phone call can settle such issues as these.

--

Patrick Fisher

University of Pennsylvania
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

<snip>

Obviously, I can't speak for all budgie owners everywhere - but that's what
the situation is in our house.

---
Jenny in NH
w/budgies Guy & Missy, and PF LB Pippin
Come see their pictures at
http://members.tripod.com/~DivineFortune/index.html  . Last updated March
23, 1998

To reply by e-mail, change "heart" to "hearth".

I agree with Jack. Leave the beak t*** to a qualified avian vet.
It's *far* more complicated than a simple nail or wing trim, and can
cause serious problems for the bird. In my experience, birds seldom need
their beaks trimmed. And if they did, it's certainly NOT something I
would attempt to do myself.
--
"MAMABIRD"
----------------
I'm Out Of Estrogen
..... And I Have A Gun!
***********************

Anyway, thanks, everyone, for your advice.  I think I will call my vet.
There's someone in the practice who knows something about birds.

Jane

I'm not sure if excess growth is the same as a deviation.  My green rumped
parrotlet has an overgrown, deviated beak from a trauma (got caught in a
toy--it was a close call, believe me) and my vet (Gary Gallerstein) instructed
me how to reshape it using clippers and a Dremmel.  One of his associates told
me that deviated beaks could also be indicative of a liver dysfunction.

Also, find a vet who uses a dremmel (sp?) tool. It grinds and cauterizes the
beak without clipping or filing, and the birds really do prefer this method.

I know you can do some severe damage by t*** the beak, especially if
your not an expert. Beaks are living, breathing things and have ***
supply, nerves, etc. I would definitely take your bird to an experienced
avian vet to get a professional opinion. I' ve read that this kind of
beak problem can be related to other health problems. I wouldn't attempt
the 'home trim' again, sounds painful and dangerous.

Jennifer

My budgies have never had beak problems-  I keep cuttle bone and a mineral block
in their cages and they use them-  the female  especially uses the cuttle block
a lot.

When it comes to t***, ask your vet to show you.  On my parrotlet's
deviated beak, Gary Gallerstein demonstrated the cutting and smoothing out with
a Dremmel.  Now I can do the cutting with relative confidence (keeping the
Kwik-Stop nearby), but my Dremmel is battery operated (less power) and doesn't
seem to do the trick.  Besides, I think Lucky has had enough stress by that
point.  Susan

Of the several dozen budgied I've had over the years, only one has had
the condition you describe.  This particular bird was given to me, along
with several others, by a friend who could no longer keep them.  The beak
not only grew too large, but it was not the normal budgie shape.  I
suspect it was a genetic deformity.  However, this didn't interfere with
the budgies ability to eat, so I just left it alone.  I figured any sort
of beak t*** would cause more harm than good.

Although I'm probably too late to get in on this discussion, I just
thought I would point you to the book entitled, "My Parrot, My Friend".
Page 128 shows a picture of a budgie with and overgrown beak that is a
result of "a seed-only diet, which has caused irreversible liver
damage".  However, I am in no way attempting to imply this is the
problem with your baby... I simply wanted to point out another
possibility that I didn't see on any of the previous posts....

Hope all goes well.....

MRP