FINCHforum

some of the gouldians are doing a lot of beak wiping. i've scatted them and use diatomesous (sp?). i have fledglings and almost hatchlings so not sure what to do, if anything. suggestions? and maybe i'm overreacting and it's normal

I am new at this as well, but I'll pipe in
I noticed my parent birds wiping their beaks more when they had babies. I guess it gets kind of messy shoving your beak down a baby's mouth.
Or maybe they are trying to keep them trim ??

It's quite normal for them to wipe their beaks a lot. It's the only way for them to keep them clean As long as you don't see any sores or serious feather loss happening around the beak, I would just leave them be. Just remember that some parents will lose a couple of feathers around the beak when feeding chicks, so just keep that in mind when checking your birds.

thx you guys!

thx you guys!

I worried about this too, as I have some real frequent beak wipers.
I even posted a video. The consensus was the same, though. It didn't seem to be a problem, as their beaks and feathers looked healthy.

It's also a show of territorial-ness; a way of saying "this is mine" so that could be a cause too.

I have one little zebra whom I wish would wipe his beak!
He's quite overgrown on his lower mandible, so he's got a bit of an underbite at the moment. The cuttle bone in that cage is untouched. Not looking forward to catching him and trimming!