Gouldian Beak Issue

[supremeox]

Hi all,

I have recently acquired three Gouldians, two are just in the process of coloring out, and noticed that the beaks on those two are looking a little "flaky." I have attached photos. Can anyone tell me what may be causing this, or if it's something I should be concerned about?

Thanks.

[dfcauley]

Are they getting alot of protein? I have heard that it is caused by too much protein. You can take your nail and just scrap it off I think. I don't think it is anything too serious.

[supremeox]

Not sure if they're getting too much protein. They're on a general finch/canary/parakeet seed mix that's supposed to be "fortified" along with an occasional scrambled egg (which they'll take a tiny bit of, but not much) and we recently discovered that they love peas. There is a piece of cuttlebone at one of their favorite perching spots, but that goes ignored too.

I'm a bit concerned because the breeder I got them from doesn't seem to be as good as she claims her reputation is. I originally got four birds, one fell to the bottom of the cage when I first released them due to an injury which I can only assume was attained when he was captured, and a second one sat fluffed on a perch mouth-breathing. (She claimed it was stress, but after a day of that I returned him.)

All three remaining birds are acting fine. No fluffing (besides the molting feather bad-hair-day look) and they're very active. I'm just a bit freaked out because I'm new to finches (my sweetheart is a parrot/cockateil guru who used to work in wild bird rehab, however.)

I have my eyes glued to their heads to see if they show any signs of scaly-face. Is there anything else I should be watching for?

Thanks.