overgrown beak

[deshud]

My 2 year old kakariki has a huge overgrown beak just in the past 2 months. I took him to the bird store to do his nails, etc... 2 months ago, even the employee mentioned he looked healthy. Now his beak is so overgrown he's having problems eating. Plus, he's not as active anymore, he free flies, and would never let me handle him. Now he's mostly in his cage, on his perch, he even lets me touch him, and he will step up ( never has before). I read overgrown beaks may mean liver problems. I sure hope not, what can I do until I get him to a vet?

 

[DQTimnehs]

If it's so bad he can't eat and is lethargic, he needs to see a vet ASAP! You can try feeding him some soft foods - cooked sweet potato, oatmeal or scrambled eggs.

 

[Anne & Gang]

get him to a vet asap...especially if he is lethargic!!

 

[deshud]

Now I am very worried. I wasn't even thinking he was lethargic, but thinking about it, I guess you can say he is. I am a pediatric ER nurse, and don't even recognize how sick my bird might be! He just started losing his energy last night when I put them to bed. He was flying around in the morning. I did see him try to eat a raspberry ( his favourite). I have an appointment with an avian vet on monday afternoon, if he worsens, I think I will call first thing monday am to get him in quicker. We only have 2 ER vets, and I don't trust one of them with my dogs, let alone birds. I am working the night shift, going home in 2 hours, I'll check on him as soon as I get home. I will try to feed him some of the mentioned food. I haven't noticed any change in stools, he does share his cage/room with another kak, but I have not noticed any change. I wonder why his beak has grown so long over such a short time. When I bought him last year ( he was 6 months old) his dad just died. I wonder if there's anything genetic. I have never taken a bird to the vet before, I really don't know what to expect. I have taken dogs A LOT, but never a bird. I hope he just has an overgrown beak that needs to grinded down, and his liver is fine.

 

[roxynoodle]

Liver is one possible cause. Not seen as often in a bird as young as he is though.

He could also have a genetic issue like scissor beak and is lethargic for another, unrelated reason like an infection. It's good you are getting him into an avian vet. The vet will be able to trim the beak and advise you on whether this will be an ongoing need, and will be able to determine the cause of that and any other possible issues. Good luck and I hope he is feeling better soon.

 

[deshud]

I just got home, Bam Bam is fine. He's flying around this am, avoiding my hand like normal! Hopefully he'll just get his beak trimmed, and he'll pass all the tests tomorrow!! Thank you for everyone's advice!

 

[Anne & Gang]

glad he is fine but take him for that vet check anyway.

 

[deshud]

Yes, I definetly will. Sometimes it's difficult paying for more the vet then it is for the bird. ( The exam only costs more then the purchase price for Bam Bam). But owning animals is a responsiblity, and with responsibility comes expense. Once I get an animal, bird- dog, it doesn't matter, I need to do everything to keep them healthy. I'll update everyone tomorrow after the exam. Thanks everyone for their concern

 

[deshud]

Just got home from the vet. Less traumatic then I feared, at least for me. We won't ask Bam Bam if it was traumatic for him It went better then I thought. I was afraid she was going to overtest and overcharge me. But she was great. She seemed a little concerned about Bam Bam. Noticed right away his feathers are dull, and "not healthy". She noticed he "didn't complain " when she examined him. Worried about his "decreased energy, dull feathers" She trimmed his beak. Gave me vitamin supplement. Recommended a scale to monitor his weight, watch him carefully for the next month, and if anything changes, bring him in for bloodwork. I was quite impressed with her, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. She said it can be one of three things, 1. vitamin insufficiency 2. liver problems 3. or a virus she named, I cannot repeat it. Hopefully it's just a vitamin insufficiency. I'll keep everyone updated

 

[DQTimnehs]

Glad you went! Vets are expensive, especially avian vets, but it's part of the deal. 3 of my birds were free (rescues) so it is ALWAYS more expensive for the vet!

Did she recommend red palm oil for the feathers? You feed it orally. 3 of mine will eat it on a small piece of toast. You can put it on pellets too but then they need to be refrigerated and not left in the bowl too long.
Is your bird eating a good quality pellet? Fresh veggies? Nuts?

 

[deshud]

Glad you went! Vets are expensive, especially avian vets, but it's part of the deal. 3 of my birds were free (rescues) so it is ALWAYS more expensive for the vet!

Did she recommend red palm oil for the feathers? You feed it orally. 3 of mine will eat it on a small piece of toast. You can put it on pellets too but then they need to be refrigerated and not left in the bowl too long.
Is your bird eating a good quality pellet? Fresh veggies? Nuts?

Where do you buy red palm oil? They eat mostly seed. I do offer roddeybush pellets, someone eats it, but I think it's Luigi ( his cage mate). He eats mostly fruits, some veggies. But he's a picky eater, Luigi on the other hand eats everything. It's hard with kakarikis, because they're not that common here, it's difficult to know what to feed them.

 

[roxynoodle]

Ok, I don't know much about Kakarikis diet, but it probably wouldn't hurt to get them both on pellets and give little or no seed. Also veggies, especially orange one for the vitamin A. If they don't like carrots, try sweet potatoes. Mango is a fruit that is pretty high in vit A.

Omega 3/6 fatty acids: red palm oil, canola oil, walnuts, flax seeds and Lafeber products like Nutriberries and Avi-cakes

 

[DQTimnehs]

You can get red palm oil from an avian vet or online from some bird supply places. I think MSBS has it. I don't know kak's either but I doubt mostly seed is healthy for them. Probably why the feathers look bad.

 

[DQTimnehs]

Oh and you can get a decent gram scale (we weigh birds in grams as it's more precise) for about $20. I use a postal scale which may have been more but they are available cheaper. You can try Canadian Tire. They did have a kitchen scale with a flat platform but not sure if it was in grams. Or Amazon online.

 

[roxynoodle]

A health food store is usually the least expensive on the red palm oil

 

[deshud]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I'm going to try some of the above. I actually saw him eating!! I think his beak was so overgrown, he wasn't eating much of anything. I couldn't believe how overgrown it was, I feel bad I missed it, but it happened so quickly. The vet "re sculptured it", so he's handsome now,at least with his beak. Now we have to fix his feathers. I've had my kaks for over a year, on the same diet, and his colors has been gradually getting dull over the last 6 months. I would think it's from the seed, except Luigi, his cage mate looks very healthy. His feathers are brighter then when I first got him. And when I got him, he had no tail feathers ( the previous owner said he chewed them off), it's taken over a year, but he now has tail feathers!! It's difficult to compare colors of the two because Bam Bam is a normal green and Luigi is cinnamon green, so 2 completely different green colors. I would like it's diet if both kaks have bad feathers, but only Bam Bam does, so maybe it's diet in the sense of Bam Bam not eating and Luigi is eating everything in sight. I am going to canadian tire tomorrow to buy a scale. I have to buy a gram scale, since he's only 66 grams. I'm going to watch him closely, offer more veggies and pellets. I can't take away the seed completely, I have a feeling he just won't eat and starve. I just have problems what seed to buy, I have been given them cockateil seed- goldenfeast. and also seed for small parrots. They have several options.

I have to give him his vitamins once a day, I was told I could put it on his food, but I don't know if he'll eat it. He won't eat if I'm in the room ( he's very shy) He'll take it in the syringe if I can catch him, but that means I have to catch him ( he won't step up), and that traumatizes him. Raspberries are him favourite, I might put it on one, and try handfeeding him it, maybe he'll take it then.

The vet also mentioned he kept blinking his eyes frequently as well. I didn't know this was a problem. There's a lot about birds I don't know. She thought it might be stress, and just to keep an eye on him. Hopefully it's just vitamin deficiency and he'll improve.

 

[DQTimnehs]

Yes you should always do diet conversions gradually. Well you said the other one was eating some pellets (and eating better generally) so that could account for differences in health and feathers.

 

[roxynoodle]

I have been able to get all my bids on pellets by just putting a few in their bowl the first few days for them to get used to the idea that they are food. Then after that I very slowly increased the amount of pellets each day and reduced the amount of seed over a period of 2-3 weeks. The fact that one of the birds is already eating them I think will help the other take to them also. But, so far I haven't failed to convert a bird using that method. Pete ate seed for 28 years and he converted.

 

[DQTimnehs]

I got Darwin on pellets by spoon feeding him wet pellets every night for 10-14 days. Then he just wanted them dry.

 

[deshud]

Thank you for your advice on switching to pellets. My goal is to get everyone on pellets. Pebbles is, because that's what she was weaned on. It sure will be nice to have everyone eat the same food! I am just a little weary about the kaks since there's not much information on them. I do belong on a kakarikis forum, but since most members are from different continents, it takes awhile for any response ( threads needs to be translated a lot, I am currently talking to someone from Germany). By the way, Bam Bam took his vitamins like a good little boy today. Everytime I see him, he's eating, so I hope it was just his beak preventing him from eating, and now he will gain weight and look better! And tonight, he was actually out of his cage, on his toy gym, so I think he's feeling better !