Parakeet has long beak

Shopping

Information

Find Answers

Site Info

Links

[?] Subscribe To This Site

Parakeet has long beak

by Gretchen Springer
(Fredericksburg, VA USA)

I have 2 parakeets in one large cage, eat the same food. One of them is growing a very long beak. It is starting to curl under. What to do? Uses cuddle bone and chews on branch I have in cage. Seems to be healthy other than the growing beak. The tip of it doesn't seem to be quite as hard as the rest of it. What causes this? And what do I do about it?

Comments for
Parakeet has long beak

Click here to add your own comments

Mar 19, 2011

Parakeet has long beak
by: Linda

When the beak becomes overgrown for whatever reason, bird has to have it trimmed by an Avian Vet. You cannot trim the beak because this is where a bird can bleed out if cut to far up, so always take to Avian Vet. I have an Amazon female whose beak grows faster and longer than the male's, and both have to go in for beak trims a few times a year. They eat Harrison's pellets too and chew on wooden toys, so sometimes a trip to the avian vet is the only thing to do. While there, as Tracie suggested, have some bloodwork done to see what kind of condition your bird's organs are in as well as checked for infections.

all seed diets are very unhealthy for birds as are being fed human foods, so get your birds changed over to an organic pelleted diet. I think Tracie gave you a link for that, and if not, write back in, and one of us will.

Thanks for writing,
Linda

Mar 19, 2011

Bird with long beak
by: Tracie

Dr B suggests that you take your bird to an avian vet for an exam. This is one of the signs of fatty liver disease.

Are you feeding your bird only seeds? This would cause fatty liver disease. Dr B suggests that "Budgies should have 70% pellets and 30% treats (no more than 10% seeds)."

Make sure your bird is eating healthy pellets, like Harrison's and not colored pellets or cheap pellets with sugar and fillers.

Just in case you are feeding only seeds, here is our Switching Birds to Pellets article.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Ask the Vet