FINCHforum

I have Lucy my 4 yr old green singer. I was feeding the birds yesturday and I looked up at her and talked to her like I always do and she starts singing. Well when I looked up I noticed that her beak looks like it has overgrown a bit. The point at the end of the beak its long and sharp....is this possible in finches? and what can I do?

If you have a Pedi-Perch in the cage (positioned right beside a drinker) most finches will keep their nails and beaks trim on that. But once in a while you may need to trim their beak/nail IF they get overly long. A regular human nail clipper will take care of it but you must be very careful in how much you remove.

My Zebra finches have issues with beak overgrowth, one moreso than the other. If you don't have a cuttlebone, get one, as this may help wear down the beak as well.

If you need to do a beak trimming, you can use nail-clippers, or we often use cuticle scissors. You just have to be careful how much you trim off.

Thanks for the replies. Yes I have all those things (pedi perch, cuttlebone etc) I dont know why she has it and the other finches dont.
I guess I could catch her and trim her beak with nail clippers...IM nervous!

Post a pic - if it's not toooooo long you can let it go for a while yet.

I trim mine before they get too long. I understand that similar to trimming the claws, you cannot cut too much at one time. I usually wait till what I need to cut is about 2mm long.

ac12 wrote:I trim mine before they get too long. I understand that similar to trimming the claws, you cannot cut too much at one time. I usually wait till what I need to cut is about 2mm long.

oh really? I think hers might be 1 mm. But Im not sure. Ill try and catch her today and take a picture of her while shes in my hand. Shes too flighty when in the cage to get a good photo of her.

I had that problem with my Canary Hen and tried to trim it with little success so I put a concrete perch in the cage and that took care of it..... no more over grown beaks.

I caught Lucy today and got the little nail clippers and clipped the end. It was alot easier than I thought! Gave her a little nail trim as well

PrettyBird wrote:I caught Lucy today and got the little nail clippers and clipped the end. It was alot easier than I thought! Gave her a little nail trim as well

We knew you could do it!

Some use a tera cotta (red clay) flower pot plate.
I give my birds pellet & seeds in that plate.
The idea is when they eat, they will wear down the tip of their beaks.
It might be helping, but I still have to trim beaks.
Some are worse than others, and some don't need any trimming at all.

Thanks L!

gary- oh really? I never heard of that, but that is a really good idea. I might try that