Parakeet whose beak keeps growing and growing and........
Jane Smith
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
Patrick Fisher
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
cockatiels and cockatoos (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
pbfi...@seas.upenn.edu
University of Pennsylvania
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
High Flight wrote in message <6fc43t$7f4$1...@nerd.apk.net>...
<snip>
>Abnormal beak growth is a symptom. Can you guess what I was going to type
>next?
>
>
>- Jack, aka Keet
>
>http://junior.apk.net/~jac "Music is God's voice." - Brian Wilson
ACT626
Patrick Fischer wrote:
>parakeets et al are notorious for not keeping their beaks in
>good condition. Clipping is almost necessary in most cases.
Really?! How about it, all you budgie people out there? I have had any number
of budgies and have never (thank God, cross fingers) had one with this
condition. Their beaks have always been just fine. If anything, I was noticing
earlier today that one of my guys seems to have been a bit energetic in
grinding down the right side of his beak.
--act
SUE DOE1
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.
Patrick Fisher
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
pbfi...@seas.upenn.edu
University of Pennsylvania
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
High Flight wrote in message <6fdlbg$29v$1...@nerd.apk.net>...
<snip>
Jenny Kubeck
Patrick Fisher wrote in message <6fdrnm$4oc$1...@netnews.upenn.edu>...
>(*SNIP*)
>Most of the parakeets I
>have dealt with won't grind their beaks down on anything you give them, but
>after numerous checkups, nothing is wrong with the bird, and it is
>reccommended that the bird's beak is simply clipped.
Both of our budgies frequently use both a cuttlebone and a mineral block in
their cage. One of these birds was bought at a yard sale to rescue her from
an abusive situation - the evidence in her cage at the time was that she had
never been given either cuttlebone or mineral block before. Nevertheless,
she uses both regularly.
Obviously, I can't speak for all budgie owners everywhere - but that's what
the situation is in our house.
---
Jenny in NH
w/budgies Guy & Missy, and PF LB Pippin
Come see their pictures at
http://members.tripod.com/~DivineFortune/index.html . Last updated March
23, 1998
To reply by e-mail, change "heart" to "hearth".
MAMABIRD
I agree with Jack. Leave the beak trimming to a qualified avian vet.
It's *far* more complicated than a simple nail or wing trim, and can
cause serious problems for the bird. In my experience, birds seldom need
their beaks trimmed. And if they did, it's certainly NOT something I
would attempt to do myself.
--
"MAMABIRD"
----------------
I'm Out Of Estrogen
..... And I Have A Gun!
***********************
>Patrick Fisher (pbfi...@seas.upenn.edu),
>in <6fc4hm$g4q$1...@netnews.upenn.edu> wrote:
>: 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
>: cockatiels and cockatoos (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.
>>High Flight wrote in message <6fdlbg$29v$1...@nerd.apk.net>...
>That's pure, utter balderdash.
>
>It is irresponsible of you to suggest that beak trimming is as benign
as a
>nail or wing clip. But don't take my word for it. Consult with an
avian
>vet.
Jane Smith
High Flight wrote in message <6fc43t$7f4$1...@nerd.apk.net>...
>Jane Smith (rgs...@pipeline.com),
>in <6fc2g8$j...@camel19.mindspring.com> wrote:
>: 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.
>
>No kidding.
>
>
>: 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?
>
>Abnormal beak growth is a symptom. Can you guess what I was going to type
>next?
What WERE you going to type next? The only thing I could think of is the
possibility that the word "horny" might come from
the condition of untrimmed beaks. But I don't know why a bird's lack of sex
would cause him to stop grooming his beak.
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
FM46to91
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.
Midassyd
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.
jenna
I know you can do some severe damage by trimming the beak, especially if
your not an expert. Beaks are living, breathing things and have blood
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
Jane Smith wrote:
> 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
Kellie
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.
Patrick Fisher wrote:
> Well, it may be a symptom, but parakeets et al are notorious for not keeping
> their beaks in good condition. --
Kellie Sisson-Snider ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Always be kind to animals, Morning, noon and night:
For animals have feelings too, And furthermore, they bite. - John Gardner
FM46to91
When it comes to trimming, 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
Daniel Ulanday
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 trimming would cause more harm than good.
Jane Smith wrote:
>
> 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
--
Daniel Ulanday
remove the X to respond via email
MRP
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
Jane Smith wrote:
>
> 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
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's not that life is too short; it's that you're dead for so long!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUE DOE1
>
>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....
>
>
It's true. Liver damage can cuase such problems.
m.ome...@gmail.com
It is far more effective to get hold of an oyster shell or similar tough shell, disinfect & place in the cage for small birds to use to give their beaks and claws a workout. You can also do the same with certain chicken bones, which again are tough enough to be effective.