FINCHforum

Remember that finch of mine I'm always having trouble with? First drooping wings, then red droppings and now he has some unknown growth on his beak that is orange, yellowish and I'm wondering if that's scaly face?

Thoughts?

To me personaly it does not look like mites but putting all the symptoms together leads me to think something is changing the color itself in the beak, something internal....I am trying to find my articles on internal function and find out if any can be indicated in the beak (structure or color).

It does kind of look like the picture of the parakeet with scaly face mites on this page, http://ladygouldian.com/node/228

If you touch it or scape it with you nail does it flake off?

What do the legs look like?

Have to check if it fall off when I get home from work.

His legs look fine though.

I had the same problem and it does flake off, But it was funny it was only with a pair of black cheek i had and the babies had the same thing i gave the pair away and babies but would like to know if there any way that can be taken care of or fit? for the future thanks

The issue could be a few things like something simlpe like the lack of vitamin A. I am trying to sift through my documents to find something on it that I saw that said the beak color/changes indicates a particulair issue. The fact that the bird has had internal issues such as bleeding makes me think something more is going on....jmo.

The beak is like a human fingernail...doctors often look at a person's nail for color change texture changes to help indicate internal issues.

Ameza, when you look really close at the picture/bird it looks like there are trails running through the surface of the beak...quiet possibly it is Knemidocoptes mites, they burrow into the tissue of the beak and leave snail like trails.

There are other diseases and illnesses that can cause bea issues but the snail trail I found discribed in one of the books fits this better. Is he rubbing his face on the perch? If this is it and he is housed with other birds it could transfer to the birds he is in with.

Other dietary issues like low vitamin D3 or A can cause issues like soft beak. Some liver disease can cause issues with the beak as well. The snail like trails fit the way the beak looks and it may very well be mites.

Thank you for all the help Cindy.

I tested the beak now and yes some of this growth does fall off, but not easily.

I do wonder if it can be some kind of liver sickness, thinking of the bloody droppings.
Though if it is mites, do you know of any medicine for it that I could try to see if it is available here?

can you get Morning Bird Products...this is the product ladygouldian.com recommends

http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/product_iverlux.php

it has Ivermectin 0.8 g/L


What avian companies are available to you there?

I am still going to look this evening to see if liver/internal organ issues has anything to do with beak conditions.

We have no actual avian companies. I'm just going to check if any vets or petshops have this medication. If not I'm just going to order it. Just too bad that it could take a while to get here.

Ameza, are you allowed to have meds shipped in from the states or Canada?

Nope, I just checked with my friendly petshop owner and he told me you need a lot of legal stuff to get it through and it's only for companies.

I'm going to check on him tomorrow, he has some stuff that might help, though he does not sell medication as such. He agreed that this might be scaly face but though I should also keep my eyes open and see if it might be http://www.avianbiotech.com/diseases/PBFD.htm

which would be rather bad actually.

But well he is not really an expert on finches, but genius with parrots.

Ameza...that is Parrot Beak and Feather Disease...it does not effect or hurt finches, it is a hookbill disease. It can be bad for hookbills and it can be fatal...that is why it is vital to have parrots tested for it upon purchase from a breeder. Trust me on this ....like you said he is not an expert on finches, apparently he may need to learn a little more about parrots and the disease!!!

That is a mite your bird has.

Yay! Well that's good Now I just hope I can cure the little fella of the mites.