need your opinion again

[Hahns0hmy]

I need everyones opinion, little jefferson here is a pretty active 2 yr old.

I noticed a small crack to the bottom beak a few months ago which I had posted, Ive been trying to control further cracking of the bottom beak by moistening the pellets and avoiding any hard food. it seems like its the same since he chews on literally everything. Im now noticing his beak closes crooked due to the bottom crack. is this something i should have a vet shave down/ straighten or wait out. he eats and drinks normal from what I see. appreciate the feedback.

 

[MommyBird]

I would take him only to an avian vet to have it adjusted. Not an emergency though.
I have a Hahns also, his beak has never done that , but sometimes my Goffin will get a really messed up lower beak because he chews on everything and tries to take things apart that don't come apart. It never causes problems but sometimes it would look like he could break off the long part and cause a worse problem.
It is best to have an avian vet do it as there are a lot of nerve endings in beaks. Also, Hahns upper beaks are supposed to be very pointy, don't let the vet touch that.

 

[Hahns0hmy]

thank you, going to take him in on thursday hopefully they will be able to help align it back, very hard thing to avoid, i always thought the correct food kept it in best shape but this guy is energetic.

 

[melissasparrots]

It looks like he might have a slight scissor beak. How old is he? Is it possible that he had a slight scissor beak to start with and the crack is caused by abnormal wear and not the other way around? Yes, a vet needs to groom off the excess growth. This may be something you just have to take your bird in for a few times a year. Especially if it doesn't go back to being properly aligned. Which it may not. Its a fairly minor and mostly cosmetic issue.

 

[Toy]

Beaks peel off in layers. It looks like he needs the lower beak filed down a bit. If he has scissor beak the vet can file one side more than than other to help compensate. I'd give him wood blocks (parrot safe of course) to chew on. That will help him wear it down naturally. He may need beak trims a few times a year to keep it in line.

 

[Hahns0hmy]

It looks like he might have a slight scissor beak. How old is he? Is it possible that he had a slight scissor beak to start with and the crack is caused by abnormal wear and not the other way around? Yes, a vet needs to groom off the excess growth. This may be something you just have to take your bird in for a few times a year. Especially if it doesn't go back to being properly aligned. Which it may not. Its a fairly minor and mostly cosmetic issue.

hes 2 years old, ive had him since hatched and he never had any deformity of the beak. you’re correct though it is scissor like now toward the tip. it occurred after it chipped on bottom . being that the bottom is has a bit missing and is slanted, the top stops on the little piece you see that is worn. I thought it would grow back or get worn down but he chews too much on everything and only breaks it more. I will be taking him thursday to an avian vet hopefully it isn't too much stress on him to get done.

 

[Hahns0hmy]

Beaks peel off in layers. It looks like he needs the lower beak filed down a bit. If he has scissor beak the vet can file one side more than than other to help compensate. I'd give him wood blocks (parrot safe of course) to chew on. That will help him wear it down naturally. He may need beak trims a few times a year to keep it in line.

thats what I think it needs a good filing down to round it off again. he recently chipped the bottom slightly which caused all of this. it all wore down unevenly as he plays and chews. the tip looks very worn and brittle like it can splinter vertically which is what i was concerned about most.

 

[Monica]

My mitred conure is missing half of his lower beak due to picking a fight with a blind ruby macaw in his foster home. This happened when he was 12 years old. I've had him for just over 13 years now. I'm lucky in that he sits in my lap while I dremel his beak down. I only need to hold his head steady. That said, if it wasn't stressful, I'd have the vets office do it instead!

As the others have mentioned, your best bet is to go see a vet. Usually the vet tech will hold the bird securely in a towel while the vet dremels the beak back into shape. It's a two person job!

Birds most often grind their beaks down via beak grinding, but chewing on stuff helps as well.

 

[fashionfobie]

Give the vet or vet tech the job of trimming. Then you get to be his hero!

I am way too sensitive to clip anything on my birds. They make any little squeak or peep and I am crushed. I am much happier paying someone else to be the bad guy. I hate damaging the trust. Good luck at the vet with your darling Hahns

This happened when he was 12 years old. I've had him for just over 13 years now.

That is beautiful! I know very little about mitred conures. They surely do have cute little faces

Edit: Beautiful that you have had him so long, not that he was hurt! Oh my I reread this and had to add this addition.

 

[Monica]

Charlie is 25, and is only the second longest bird I've had... Casey is the bird I've had the longest. I got Casey when she was 5 months old and she's 18 1/2 now. She's a cockatiel!

Everyone talks about being afraid of making their bird fearful of them and here I am, grinding down Charlie's beak as if it's no big deal! It's actually easier to trim his beak than it is to do his nails!

 

[fashionfobie]

Everyone talks about being afraid of making their bird fearful of them and here I am, grinding down Charlie's beak as if it's no big deal! It's actually easier to trim his beak than it is to do his nails!

Well I needed to get pretty forceful with Neptune before. He decided to land on Picard's cage. I used my skirt to wrap him and remove him. The fight escalated to a full out war. Neptune was totally fine with me after that. I suppose they are pretty darn forgiving if they trust us.

I would still pay someone though I used to do my cockatoos nails, she would cry and it was just the saddest sound. I am a softy!

 

[Monica]

I tell Charlie that he screams like a girl when i do his nails. Beak is no big deal, but nails? Yup. Bugs him! I'd be happier to pay someone else to do it, but it's just less stressful at home. At the vets office (or anywhere else), they wrap him up in a towel and trim his beak. They end up not being able to get much done and he's stressed out. At home? It's eh... whatever. Can I go back to preening now?

 

[Hahns0hmy]

My mitred conure is missing half of his lower beak due to picking a fight with a blind ruby macaw in his foster home. This happened when he was 12 years old. I've had him for just over 13 years now. I'm lucky in that he sits in my lap while I dremel his beak down. I only need to hold his head steady. That said, if it wasn't stressful, I'd have the vets office do it instead!

As the others have mentioned, your best bet is to go see a vet. Usually the vet tech will hold the bird securely in a towel while the vet dremels the beak back into shape. It's a two person job!

Birds most often grind their beaks down via beak grinding, but chewing on stuff helps as well.

I tell Charlie that he screams like a girl when i do his nails. Beak is no big deal, but nails? Yup. Bugs him! I'd be happier to pay someone else to do it, but it's just less stressful at home. At the vets office (or anywhere else), they wrap him up in a towel and trim his beak. They end up not being able to get much done and he's stressed out. At home? It's eh... whatever. Can I go back to preening now?

i probably should have asked this question a little sooner, not too sure how far down they file beaks, his lower beak has a split vertically. i dont think its hitting any nerves since he lets me touch it but when i do touch it i feel the beak move like two match sticks side by side. even with that he continues to try and chew everything and constantly gets things caught in the crack splitting it more, thursday cant come fast enough for me.

 

[Monica]

How much is removed is really based on the person doing the dremeling. He might just have a piece that's flaking off but hasn't fallen off yet.

 

[Hahns0hmy]

returned from vet a little while ago, she was able to clip off the broken portion of beak then used the dremmel tool to round it all off. He’s closing his mouth normal now thankfully and seems happy about it, he was almost licking his beak in excitement. there was some bad news though, the split vertical on his lower beak went lower than she was comfy with going. they gave me an anti inflammatory for him to use a couple days incase its hurting him. the vet told me that if the split gets worse I would have to take him over to the avian hospital since they have the tools to keep the beak from splitting further such as acrylic. the vet said there is a chance it can grow still split and would need that treatment to help bond it together or even be sowed. for now we are going to pray he grinds it down normally in his day to day activity and fixes the remainder himself. The vet also said they can get brittle beak. shes not sure if its a case of brittle beak or just a random chip off from a fall/chewing something. I was told to continue giving him his normal food hard to see if he is able to use his beak better. I have an avian specialist in the city not far from me if the worst case comes true but i hope not. I will be returning him in a few weeks time to make sure things are improving.

 

[Rain Bow]

I loved your post because I think the outcome while a little worrysome, was best. You got him to the vet, got it taken care of & worked out a plan. Thank you for being the very best parront you can be. & for keeping us updated!!!

 

[Karen]

Those vertical splits can be a bit troublesome and worrisome. We dealt with one a few years back with my GWM and had to maintain a steady schedule for dremeling every 2 weeks. We eventually had to get it bonded so that it would stay together and stop splitting while it grew out. During that time he got no nuts in the shell.

Hope it grows out quickly and without further problem!

 

[Hahns0hmy]

Those vertical splits can be a bit troublesome and worrisome. We dealt with one a few years back with my GWM and had to maintain a steady schedule for dremeling every 2 weeks. We eventually had to get it bonded so that it would stay together and stop splitting while it grew out. During that time he got no nuts in the shell.

Hope it grows out quickly and without further problem!

i hope so too, that is exactly what she described as the procedure to fix it if it happens. good note though I have been seeing him do things since that he wouldnt before, hes now eating the harder nuts and playing with the harder chew toys. i thought how much sense does it make to give him hard food if his beak is cracked, wouldnt it make it worse? but according to the vet he wouldnt use it if it hurts him so if he used it its good.

 

[Hahns0hmy]

I loved your post because I think the outcome while a little worrysome, was best. You got him to the vet, got it taken care of & worked out a plan. Thank you for being the very best parront you can be. & for keeping us updated!!!

thank you, I know someone like me is out there maybe not posting like i used to but looking for an answer

 

[Karen]

i thought how much sense does it make to give him hard food if his beak is cracked, wouldnt it make it worse? but according to the vet he wouldnt use it if it hurts him so if he used it its good.

Double check on that just to be on the safe side. We only had to limit nuts. In my case the split didn't cause my bird pain, but it was crucial that it not split further up, as once it reaches a certain point, the outcome is not favorable.

At the onset of this problem, my birds lower mandible did keep splitting, that's why we had to move to a bonding process. My AV went to the vet boards to get input from her peers and and she ended up using a two step process that worked very well. If memory serves, she trimmed the lower mandible pretty short and then did the bonding process. It only had to be done 2 or 3 times before it was grown out and has been good ever since.