Bird Beak Needs Some Help

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:37 pm

When I bought my female Gouldian the breeder told me about her crossed beak and that he had clipped it with a nail clippers just before I bought her.

As you can see in the photo her beak looks kind of rough and the top part is getting awfully long and pointy.

Should I trim off the point or will it take care of itself? And if so....how do I go about doing this beak maintenance? I need some advice on what to do and what tools to use!

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:11 pm

My male gouldian has the same thing, only his lower beak grows long. It's really no big deal. Just take a pair of baby nail clippers, catch the bird and hold it still, and clip it just even with the length of the lower beak. I was just about to clip my male's when he broke it even on his own, but I don't recommend doing that, as it could crack further up her beak and there are nerves and blood supply up there.

Just catch the hen, hold her steady (or have someone else hold her), hand loosely around her body and a pair of fingers holding her head straight (don't squeeze. If she struggles or wiggles her head around, wait until she stops before clipping). Then snip. You'll have to do it once every month or so, as it gets long.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:02 pm

If you don't feel comfortable you can take her to a vet or pet store and I'm sure they'll clip it for you real quick

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:29 pm

I agree with Emily. And this might be dumb to ask but do you keep cuttlebone in the cage? You might want to see if that helps any before you do any surgeries

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 6:41 am

HillJack....yes...I do have a cuttle bone in the cage I don't see her use it yet but she does scrape her beak on the natural willow branches I have in the cage. But that isn't enough to take care of the beak.

I think I can muster enough courage to trim her beak....with Hubbies help. I want to do as much for my birds as I can myself. First order of business is to catch them...hehe!

We used to have a Netherland Dwarf rabbit that was cross toothed and I had to cut his teeth every month....he fussed a lot at first but got used to the routine after a while.

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:51 pm

We'll be looking forward to seeing the new trim job..I don't like the idea of triming beak or nails. I have only had to do it once and I was shaking big!! Good Luck!

Post by **Hilary** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:19 am

One way or the other I would get that trimmed. I have a red cheek cordon bleu whose upper beak will also grow like that (and cross) if I don't keep after it, and once when I hadn't been paying enough attention it grew so long that he speared himself in the chest. I found him sitting on the bottom of the cage with his head at a weird angle and stuck hard. It was actually pretty hard to unstick the poor guy!

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:15 am

Oh my goodness....he speared himself? I didn't even think of something like that.

I will let you know how it goes Hubby will help me tomorrow. He will hold and I will trim....if I don't shake too much!

Post by **Hilary** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:17 am

You'll be fine. Just remember - less is better! You can always trim a little more later, but you can't ever untrim.