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How common is beak tip chipping

Shezbug

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Burt tried really hard to break a big quick link catch this morning and chipped a small bit of the tip of his beak off again but a little worse than last time he did it. The last time he did it only a really tiny bit was chipped off (could hardly notice it) but this morning it was enough to make him vigorously shake his head for a while- he has no signs of it being painful now (chewing on wood and nut shells and eating fine) but I think it might have hurt some when he first broke it off given how long he kept shaking his head and the fact that he came straight to me and turned into a big baby for a little minute.

How common is it for them to chip their beak tip while trying to break something?

Can I use a plain old metal nail file to smooth the sharp bits of it if he has not sorted that out by tomorrow? The smoothing is more for my comfort than his- the darn thing is now sharp but does not seem to bother him.
 

Macawnutz

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It happens more with some birds than others. Maui seems to do it a few times a year. Not sure how he does it but it happens. Korbel maybe once every two years.
Kailua I file because she gets so long, hers has never broke that I can think of. Sam, Sakie the hys.... never that I can recall.

Maui is a big baby about it. Days of sensitive even if it's not bad. Korbel is hit or miss. It's either painful or just sharp. It's not uncommon.
 

Shezbug

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Thank you :)
That makes me feel better then. He is rough and this is the first time he has reacted a little but it was only a minute or two then no sign of sensitivity. I will give him a day or two and if it is still needle sharp then I will file it a little to make it more blunted- preening and playing is scary just now lol
 

macawpower58

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Chaos does it anytime the tip starts getting long.
Sometimes it'll even be tender for a day or two, depending on how much breaks off.
Even bled a bit one time from a small crash landing.
I'm glad he does it though, as once it didn't break, grew terribly long, and I had to get a vet to shorten it.
It's pretty common what what I've heard others say.
 

Macawnutz

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In horses, the buff colored hooves are softer than that of the black colored hooves. A horse with one white colored hoof will often go lame on that foot in its limetime compared to the others.
So far in my experience it is so with beaks. I expect the Scarlets and GW to have more issues but... this is just my observations. Rosie was terrible with her beak.
 

BrianB

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My green wing flakes the layers off of her top beak. She's a chewer and if I don't keep an eye on her, she will try to snap stone off of the stacked stone fireplace. She tends to do a number on her bottom beak though. The cage is a dome tope and has a top door that opens. I sometimes catch her trying to chew on the screw that holds the top door flap closed. I usually have the groomer file it down smooth when I get her nails done. It grows so fast that any damage she does tends to grow out pretty quick.
 

dollfish

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I have never seen this in my parrots but my quail's beaks regularly break off when they get long.
 

Shezbug

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Thanks for the answers everyone :).

Burt's beak is doing absolutely fine now, after breaking the tip off his beak it only took him a few days to wear it down some so it was not razor sharp.
 

Big Blues

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Between toys and nuts in the shell and yes, quick links too, our active flock has chipped beaks that grow back and chip again and again.
 

saroj12

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Chaos does it anytime the tip starts getting long.
Sometimes it'll even be tender for a day or two, depending on how much breaks off.
Even bled a bit one time from a small crash landing.
I'm glad he does it though, as once it didn't break, grew terribly long, and I had to get a vet to shorten it.
It's pretty common what what I've heard others say.
Exactly Rudy. He needs soft foods for those few days.
 
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