zeb developing overbite

[tex]

one of my zebs is developing an overbite and he refuses to get on the cuttlebone...advise welcome.

[Fraza]

tex give oyster grit and yeh iodine blocks also you can rub egg mix on the cuttlebone bone

[Sheather]

Clip the overgrowth with fingernail cutters.

[tex]

Clip the overgrowth with fingernail cutters.

This bothers me as i have never held my birds in this way and i dont want to lose their trust plus i am a little squeamish about cutting off body parts

[tex]

tex give oyster grit and yeh iodine blocks also you can rub egg mix on the cuttlebone bone

Thanks Fraza i will certainly try oyster grit if you think this may work,i will also put in a iodine block but they generally ignore that

[Fraza]

tex yeah I’m just hoping they might take a fancy to the iodine where do you place the cuttlebone I find the ones on the floor don’t get used as much as if I have it mid air near the food area

[CathyCraftz]

Can you send us a pic of the beak? It is easier to determine how to treat it that way. Also clipping the beak is a bit risky for people doing it for the first time as if you don't clip it correctly the finch is still going to have problems eating.
As for catching the finch, there are several ways. If your finch is willing to land on your hand it is very easy to grab it afterwards. Don't try and force it to either by starving it, most finches will rather die of hunger than land to eat on your hand.
Another way is to just put your hand in the cage and chase it around. If your finch is usually in a small cage and does not come out for excercise it will tire easily, so you can grab it.
Or turn off the light, and have someone ready at the switch in case the finch starts to panic. Finches cannot see very well in the dark so grab it.
Once you get it, it needs to be held not too tight and not too loose so it can slip out. If you do not know how to catch a finch in a large space you are going to have a hard time getting in back in its cage.

[tex]

tex yeah I’m just hoping they might take a fancy to the iodine where do you place the cuttlebone I find the ones on the floor don’t get used as much as if I have it mid air near the food area

Thats interesting i will place it next to a perch,it is normally at floor level...thanks Fraza

[tex]

Can you send us a pic of the beak? It is easier to determine how to treat it that way. Also clipping the beak is a bit risky for people doing it for the first time as if you don't clip it correctly the finch is still going to have problems eating.
As for catching the finch, there are several ways. If your finch is willing to land on your hand it is very easy to grab it afterwards. Don't try and force it to either by starving it, most finches will rather die of hunger than land to eat on your hand.
Another way is to just put your hand in the cage and chase it around. If your finch is usually in a small cage and does not come out for excercise it will tire easily, so you can grab it.
Or turn off the light, and have someone ready at the switch in case the finch starts to panic. Finches cannot see very well in the dark so grab it.
Once you get it, it needs to be held not too tight and not too loose so it can slip out. If you do not know how to catch a finch in a large space you are going to have a hard time getting in back in its cage.

Both my birds will finger perch for food but i dont want to betray their trust and put them off coming to my hand. i am not confident about cutting his beak so i guess i will try Fraza's advise before considering anything more dramatic

[wildbird]

Another thing you can try is, if you can get some lava rock and fasten a large piece to the cage wire near food so that he can wipe his beak on it. This will help to wear it down. Or use sandstone in a foraging box. In the US Petco has lava rock with a screw in it to attach to the side of the cage. Sandstone and lava rock will help to wear the beak down. A good avian vet once told me that he would not trim a beak unless the bird was having trouble eating because of it. It has to be done correctly and is better if the bird does it on its own.

[Fraza]

tex yeah I’m just hoping they might take a fancy to the iodine where do you place the cuttlebone I find the ones on the floor don’t get used as much as if I have it mid air near the food area

Thats interesting i will place it next to a perch,it is normally at floor level...thanks Fraza

Ur welcome

[tex]

Another thing you can try is, if you can get some lava rock and fasten a large piece to the cage wire near food so that he can wipe his beak on it. This will help to wear it down. Or use sandstone in a foraging box. In the US Petco has lava rock with a screw in it to attach to the side of the cage. Sandstone and lava rock will help to wear the beak down. A good avian vet once told me that he would not trim a beak unless the bird was having trouble eating because of it. It has to be done correctly and is better if the bird does it on its own.

Thankyou Wildbird, sound advice.

[tex]

From the PET MD website.....


Like a fingernail or toenail, a bird’s beak is made up of living tissue that grows throughout the animal’s life. Both the top and bottom parts of the beak are composed of bone covered by a thin layer of skin and a continuously growing outer layer of hard keratin protein. The bones in the beak are connected to the skull. The beak tip also contains numerous blood vessels and nerve endings, making the tip very sensitive to pain and to bleeding if it is injured.



Birds use their beaks as an appendage to hold on to things, to balance as they move about, and for grooming and eating. As the beak grows, the outermost hard protein covering near the beak’s tip is worn down by eating, chewing on hard objects, and digging. New protein, made at the base of the beak near its junction with the skin, gradually moves down the beak as the tip is worn down.



Why Do Beaks Overgrow?


In the wild, birds have many opportunities to wear down their beaks as they hunt for and gather food and build nests. Pet birds generally do not have these same opportunities; therefore, sometimes their beaks overgrow from underuse. Often, however, a bird owner will think his or her bird’s beak is too long when it is actually a normal length for the bird’s species.



Certain types of birds, such as pionus parrots, certain species of macaw, and other parrots, have upper beaks that are normally longer than that of other birds and that are easy to mislabel as overgrown when they are actually normal length.



While lack of wear may lead to overgrowth of both the top and bottom parts of the beak in pet birds, so can various disease processes. Viral, bacterial, or parasitic infections of the beak tissue, nutritional deficiencies, metabolic abnormalities (such as liver disease), or trauma to the beak can lead to overgrowth. In some cases, overgrowth occurs rapidly within just a few weeks, while in other cases it takes months for overgrowth to become apparent.



How Do You Trim an Overgrown Beak?


If an owner suspects overgrowth of his or her bird’s beak, the bird should be checked by a veterinarian as soon as possible to rule-out underlying illness as the cause of overgrowth and to safely have the beak trimmed. The blood supply in an overgrown beak tends to be even longer than it is in a normal beak. Therefore, there is a significant risk of inducing bleeding when an overgrown beak is trimmed. As a result, owners really should never try to trim their birds’ beaks at home.



There are many ways for veterinarians to trim an overgrow beak. The most common and safest method is with a motorized Dremel drill. Typically, the bird is wrapped in a towel and one person gently restrains it while the other person uses the sides of a conically-shaped grinding stone drill bit to grind down the beak tip a little at a time, being sure not to overstress the bird or drill so long that the drill bit gets too hot. Care must be taken not to trim too much from the beak, or the drill may hit the blood vessel and nerves, causing bleeding and severe pain.



For very small birds, such as budgerigars, finches, or cockatiels, manual beak trimming with an emery board can work well. In general, the use of other hand-held instruments, such as toenail clippers or wire cutters, is not recommended for beak trimming. Use of these tools to trim beaks can lead to inadvertent beak splitting and cracking, as well as to jarring of the base of the beak (where the new protein layer forms) and potential future beak deformity.

[tex]

so took the plunge this morning as i had little choice, Georgie was beginning to look like a pelican so in spite of my reservations i carefully trimmed his beak and he was good as gold.This may seem a simple enough proceedure for many but ive been worrying about it for ages..Phew!

[HillbillyFinch]

I got these clam mineral perches for the finches and it seems to keep their nails and beaks in good healthy. Someone yelled at me "that will damage their feet" but it is not rough like sandpaper perches. My zebs and societies both love sitting on it and occasionally I see them rub their beak on it just a little. Sometimes they sleep on it, so I don't think they find it painful. I hope it's okay to post a link here. I'm certainly not advertising it. Not many places carry it. I think Amazon has them too, but this seems to be the cheaper place. Oh and the small size is actually surprisingly large. Or least it's very chunky. Not for a small cage, but good in a flight.

comfy clam perch