Zebra finch beaks deformed

[BWilliMaq]

Greetings all! I have a problem with my male zebra finch and one of his daughters. Their lower beaks are growing unusually long and I’m really starting to worry about it. They aren’t having any problems eating or drinking but it looks like it may be getting worse on the male. I’ve seen some pictures posted that look similar but I couldn’t find any solutions. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Icearstorm]

BWilliMaq

If the beak has overgrown to the point where the bird cannot keep the lower mandible in line with the upper part, then it could increase the rate of growth, as less of the beak would be getting ground down.

It looks like the hen could have the long part clipped off with nail clippers, but I'd recommend taking just a little of the end off at first and then going back later and filing it back into shape.

The male may need several sessions over the course of a few weeks to get his beak back in shape. His overgrowth is more severe, so I would be reluctant to use the nail clippers, as you risk an uneven cut or beak-cracking. Take a nail file and file down the top edge of his bottom mandible first, as an overgrown beak interferes more with eating if the top and bottom parts are not lined up. Then you can go back and file down the end until his beak shape is back to normal. It's better to not file down the beak enough than to file it down too much, so only take off a little at a time.

It looks like your male's beak is open in the photo; if so, here's an idea of how much you might want to file off his bottom mandible each week:

It looks like you'd just be taking off the horn-colored, rather than bright orange, part of his beak. Close his beak (or wait for him to close it) before and after each filing to make sure everything lines up and is shaped correctly. Your zebra finches look to be more of the shorter-beaked variety, so their beaks should look more like this. Here's what a well-shaped open beak looks like.

Filing a beak into proper shape takes fine motor skills and a pretty good eye, so you might want to consider taking them to someone who does beak and nail trimming for birds. It's a good idea to get a photo of a normal zebra finch beak for reference; if you have a close-up photo of your birds' beaks before they became overgrown, that would be great.

It could be genetic, so I would not suggest breeding either of these birds in the future.

[BWilliMaq]

Thank you so much for the detailed advice! I truly appreciate it! I will look into some professional help with the beak trimming.

[Icearstorm]

BWilliMaq

Glad I could help!

[tex]

Wow you left it a long time before thinking about doing something about it, cut it off asap, good sharp clippers top to bottom NOT left to right