Beak conditioners

[jdareef]

Any advice on the best kinds of beak conditioners? Also, what website would you recommend buying from? Thanks!
-Joseph

 

[Bobby34231]

Welcome to the forum JD, you haven't stated in your post which type of bird your asking the question for, I'll go by the assumption its for your B&G Macaw, macaws by nature are voracious chewers, so plenty of non treated wooden toys, both of hard and soft woods are great for keeping their beaks healthy, I for one have never been a big believer in using the so called "mineral blocks" for one many don't contain all that many minerals and two they contain alot of fillers in the construction of them,that and the fact many birds seem to ignore them anyway, I do have many mineral and cement perches placed around my birds cages, not so much for them to chew on, but they do occasionally rake their beaks across them, they also work well on keeping the nails short and rounded, I'm sure there will be many more suggestions for you, hope this helps some.......

 

[Birdamor]

I don't have macaws but my birds get natural tree branches as well as wooden toys, rocks from the garden and cuttlebone for their beaks. I also don't use any of the commercial mineral blocks (don't trust them to be safe for birds).

 

[jdareef]

Thanks for the replies! Yes I do have a B&G sorry for not including that. I do have wooden perches in my cage that look like this: Grapevine Cage Top Perches | Bird Perches
What I'm trying to do is smooth out his beak. It looks like this:

 

[Auggie's Dad]

A vet or experience groomer can 'buff out' the beak. Usually this is done with a dremel tool and sanding bit. They will generally put a thin coat of mineral oil on afterwards.

This is particularly useful for young growing birds, as their beaks grown they can peel or flake a bit.

It's certainly not needed, but it can make their beaks look nicer.

I have not heard of any beak conditioners though that would do this. You could try mineral oil at home - but don't try sanding!

I'd recommend a check up with a vet where they could do some beak care.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

The chip at the top looks particularly odd now that I looked at the picture. No reason to jump to conclusions, but there are some beak disorders that can lead to larger chips or beak decay. It'd be good to get that ruled out.

Beak wear and tear is certainly normal but that top bit just looks a bit more than normal for what I've seen before - though it could be the angle of the photo.

 

[parrotqueen]

In my personal opinion and experiences, even the large chip at the top looks to be normal sloughing from evryday rough play. So, I don't think that it's a deformity. It's always nice to go to the avian vet for a well-bird checkup anyway, and to be sure that this doesn't turn into beak decay.

Though, I could see why you find it undesirable. You can buy eucalyptus perches, branches, and toys; which are great for beak conditioning. If you'd like to get this taken care of, I'd definitely consider buying some. And to speed up the conditioning process, I too would reccomend rubbing on a light layer of mineral oil around the affected areas.

I wish you all the best!

 

[Bobby34231]

Hey JD, I just noticed that you live in Tampa, you happen to have one of the best board certified avian vets in the country, Teresa Lightfoot, I use her when my avian vet who is also board certified is not available, with only just over 100 ABVP avian certified vets world wide I feel very lucky to have access to two of them, you can find info on her all over the net, but if you have any questions about her you can always message me in private

 

[Birdamor]

I agree with AD, that beak does look a bit too untidy for my taste. Are you feeding or supplementing anything with methionine?

 

[jdareef]

Wow thanks for the replies everyone! That "chip" you guys are seeing is actually the result of him playing at the bottom of the cage and getting some poo on himself lol. Here's an updated picture of the same side of the beak:

BTW the only reason I wanted to clear up his beak a little bit was because I thought it might be unhealthy, but after discussing it with you all it seems like this may be normal. Also, can anyone give me a few examples of what this oil is? I do need to take him to the vet. Bobby, can you show me how I can get in contact with Teresa Lightfoot and make an appt? Birdamor, no. You might start banging your head against a wall after reading this, but what is methionine? I just feed him a seed diet, usually consists of peanuts, sunflower seeds, an occasional dried chili pepper and some other assorted seeds.
Thank you everyone for all the help!
P.S.- He just chewed through his last toy, check out this new one I got him!
WACKY SWING THE ULTIMATE X-LARGE PARROT TOY MACAW NEW - eBay (item 380248151242 end time Aug-02-10 15:50:51 PDT)
Joseph

 

[Bobby34231]

Ok JD sent you the info on Dr. Lightfoot via private message....

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Ah, better picture. That looks like a perfectly healthy beak. You could still bring him in for a beak grooming, but that would only be for aesthetic reasons.

Mineral oil is what has been suggested. Just plain old mineral oil. You can pick some up at any pharmacy, grocer, target, walmart, or any similar store.

But while his beak looks healthy may I recommend you reconsider his diet for other health reasons. A primarily seed diet for a bird is like a primarily french fry diet for a kid. You should look into some pelleted foods such as Zupreem, Harrisons, or RoudyBush (there are certainly other great ones, but these are the three I can vouch for). In addition to a good pellet food he should get fresh fruits and veggies whenever possible.

BTW Methionine is an amino-acid that he'll get from a good diet but is one of many important nutrients that may be lacking in a poor diet.

 

[Birdamor]

AD is correct. Methionine is an essential amino acid (essential means that the body cannot make it, that you need to eat it) and good natural sources of it are lentils (they need to be cooked), sesame seeds, brazil nuts and eggs. Methionine is necessary for protein metabolism and, as beaks, feathers and claws are all made out of keratin which is a form of protein, you need to make sure that birds consume enough of it.

I wholeheartedly second AD's suggestion that you switch your bird to a better diet. An all-seed one will not provide all the vitamins and minerals the bird needs for good health.

 

[jdareef]

Wow, had I known I would have changed his diet immediately. Again, thank you all for your help. I'll probably go with the ZuPreem ( ZuPreem FruitBlend Flavor Premium Food for Medium to Large Birds - Food - Bird - PetSmart ). Can I get brazil nuts from the grocery store?

 

[madparrotwoman]

Yes you can get brazil nuts from a grocery store and they will be human grade which is great.

BTW you macaw is stunning and his beak looks perfectly normal to me, my CAG's beak isn't as black and perfect as it was when he was a baby but that is normal also especially when you consider it is used for just about everything.

 

[jdareef]

Yes you can get brazil nuts from a grocery store and they will be human grade which is great.

BTW you macaw is stunning and his beak looks perfectly normal to me, my CAG's beak isn't as black and perfect as it was when he was a baby but that is normal also especially when you consider it is used for just about everything.

Thanks! Ok cool I thought I was going to have to order them.