FINCHforum

one of my canaries has an overgrown beak its not really bad however im worried it will get worse is there any ways i can clip it?

When this has happened to me I have taken care of it with baby nailclippers, taking very small amounts at a time.
I have recently learned however that by feeding my birds their eggfood in terracotta dishes , that their beaks no longer overgrow.

I trimmed one finches beak and the finch died the next day. The vet said sometimes what looks like an overgrown beak is actually a "growth" and indicates illness too. So, now I have pedi perches and natural rough rocks in the flights and the finches scrape their beaks on these to keep them trim. No more long beaks or nails.

If your canaries beak isn't that bad where it hinders its eating then I would look at putting in some cuttlefish bone and.or a rough rock/brick this will allow the bird to trim its own beak and with the cuttlefish bone it will also give it a good source of calcium.

I have three birds that seem to have over grown beaks every once in a while. And although I have two or more cement branches in each cage, only one of the branches (that is a different brand from the others) does wonders - so move it between cages now and again. I've only ever seen one for sale and I bought it, I haven't seem it in pet shops since.

I'm interested in the rock idea, is there anything special to look for in a rock?

I like to use a volcanic type rock, the one with all the little holes in it. All the birds like to wipe their beaks across it which sort of acts like a sharpen Stone, this helps to keep their beak trimmed but once a beak is past a certain point ie- they can't eat seed then and only then do I intervene and use clippers and a file to trim their beak. I believe prevention is always best. As for rocks best ones are rougher feeling rocks.

Hadn't thought of the rock idea Well, now, that gives me some aviary decorating ideas...!

Yes rocks can add more character to an aviery along with tree Sandy floor makes it look close to a natural habitat, my wife thinks when she walked into my aviery after decking it out for breeding season again, like something she would see in the zoo. A word of caution when placing rocks, never hate them stacked where if one falls it could hurt or kill a bird or never place to close to a wall where an adult or young can get stuck trying to hide. I like to place mine just off centre so I can see what's behind the rock. If rocks are placed in an area that gets Sun they warm up and makes a nice heatpad in the afternoon. These are just my findings would he interested in finding out if anyone has used rocks in their cages or aviery and what other benefits have they came across.

finchmix22 wrote:I trimmed one finches beak and the finch died the next day. The vet said sometimes what looks like an overgrown beak is actually a "growth" and indicates illness too. So, now I have pedi perches and natural rough rocks in the flights and the finches scrape their beaks on these to keep them trim. No more long beaks or nails.

This is athe disease Deborah is talking about...it is on page 1186

http://www.avianmedicine.net/ampa/43.pdf

I think My new female finch is/has developed Overgrown Bill on her bottom mandible. It hasn't started to effect her eating and drinking yet from what I can tell. But it is becoming quite visually noticeable.

Not sure what to do :/ I'm nervous to trim it. Don't wanna hurt the little thing