Beak management for a blue and gold

[kimd2]

We don't have a local bird vet (or one 2 hours) I struggle with keep my blue and gold macaws beak in good shape. He has toys, he has mineral perches and pine blocks by the dozen. He also eats fresh fruits and veggies, pellets(tropican) whole nuts in the shell (limited to 3 per day) we were taking him to our local vet for a while once year but he bit her tech pretty badly and is not really wanted there. Any suggestions for more beak wearing ideas?

 

[noodles123]

Hmm....Well, your vet sounds like a baby...I would find a different one.
Have you tried allowing him to play with toys in other locations (aside from his cage)? Mine chews more when she is on an external perch (I have an almost 11 year old Umbrella cockatoo). You could also potentially file the beak yourself (manually) using steel files...Another person will likely be needed to hold the bird.

 

[ChristaNL]

Are you on allowed-to-touch-most-parts-of-the-body terms with the bird?

Mine will allow me to help peel the half loose little pieces off her beak and actually seems to enjoy a good scratching with my fingernails over the horny layer to even it out a bit.
(Not always, but often enough to make it worth it)

Somehow she -since we shower together and she watched me brush my teeth- decided she likes her beak brushed (has her own toothbrush now) that got her a lot more accepting to objects near the beak.

She will still shred every nailfile she can find though, she is no angel! Just a macaw

 

[SailBoat]

Is the beak just rough or is it growing faster than you believe it should? How old is your B&G and have you ever had a full spectrum blood test completed? If so, you need to see that Vet and review the test results. If not, you really need to have that test.

Sad your Vet's tech was not properly taught how to hold a Parrot. The bite was not the fault of the Parrot! Hence they should not hold that against either the Parrot or You.

 

[EllenD]

I agree, a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet shouldn't have any issue with being bitten at all by a parrot at all...Was this vet an "Exotics" Vet? If so, then you're probably better-off not having them do it anyway...

As Sailboat already mentioned, if this is an issue with your bird's beak actually growing too-long and really needing to be filed-down once a year, then you really should have routine, Baseline blood-work done, because if your bird's beak is actually growing long-enough that it needs to be filed-down each year, then this is an indication that he may be suffering from Fatty Liver Disease, or other liver issues. Your bird's beak shouldn't ever need filed-down at all because it's too long. If you provide a cement-perch for both his toenails and filing his beak, along with the Mineral Block and other toys, then his beak shouldn't ever grow too long to the point of needing to be "shortened" in any way...If it's simply a matter of his beak flaking or looking rough, then that's an issue that you should be able to treat at home...But usually when you have to take to a Vet to be filed or God forbid they use a power rotary-tool like a Dremel, which is quite dangerous and can actually prove fatal for the bird for a number of different reasons, there is a health/nutritional issue going on and blood-work should be taken...

Otherwise, I would buy some cement perches and place them throughout his cage, along with different Mineral Blocks and toys that encourage him to file his own beak on them. Then it shouldn't be necessary at all, except maybe a simple and quick hand-filing at home to shape the point at the end of his beak, but that's it, no length should need to be taken-off...

 

[noodles123]

I agree, a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet shouldn't have any issue with being bitten at all by a parrot at all...Was this vet an "Exotics" Vet? If so, then you're probably better-off not having them do it anyway...

As Sailboat already mentioned, if this is an issue with your bird's beak actually growing too-long and really needing to be filed-down once a year, then you really should have routine, Baseline blood-work done, because if your bird's beak is actually growing long-enough that it needs to be filed-down each year, then this is an indication that he may be suffering from Fatty Liver Disease, or other liver issues. Your bird's beak shouldn't ever need filed-down at all because it's too long. If you provide a cement-perch for both his toenails and filing his beak, along with the Mineral Block and other toys, then his beak shouldn't ever grow too long to the point of needing to be "shortened" in any way...If it's simply a matter of his beak flaking or looking rough, then that's an issue that you should be able to treat at home...But usually when you have to take to a Vet to be filed or God forbid they use a power rotary-tool like a Dremel, which is quite dangerous and can actually prove fatal for the bird for a number of different reasons, there is a health/nutritional issue going on and blood-work should be taken...

Otherwise, I would buy some cement perches and place them throughout his cage, along with different Mineral Blocks and toys that encourage him to file his own beak on them. Then it shouldn't be necessary at all, except maybe a simple and quick hand-filing at home to shape the point at the end of his beak, but that's it, no length should need to be taken-off...

I will say that my cockatoo's lower mandibles tend to get filed down asymmetrically when left to my bird (guessing she favors one side when chewing on toys etc)-- they have a tri-point beak, so the bottom left is often longer than the bottom right. Although she DID have a liver issue when I got her, all of her levels are normal (multiple rounds of blood-work over time have confirmed this). SOOO she gets hers filed more than 1x yearly...despite toys and a now-healthy liver. Then again, she is a cockatoo (which may make a difference).

 

[EllenD]

I agree, a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet shouldn't have any issue with being bitten at all by a parrot at all...Was this vet an "Exotics" Vet? If so, then you're probably better-off not having them do it anyway...

As Sailboat already mentioned, if this is an issue with your bird's beak actually growing too-long and really needing to be filed-down once a year, then you really should have routine, Baseline blood-work done, because if your bird's beak is actually growing long-enough that it needs to be filed-down each year, then this is an indication that he may be suffering from Fatty Liver Disease, or other liver issues. Your bird's beak shouldn't ever need filed-down at all because it's too long. If you provide a cement-perch for both his toenails and filing his beak, along with the Mineral Block and other toys, then his beak shouldn't ever grow too long to the point of needing to be "shortened" in any way...If it's simply a matter of his beak flaking or looking rough, then that's an issue that you should be able to treat at home...But usually when you have to take to a Vet to be filed or God forbid they use a power rotary-tool like a Dremel, which is quite dangerous and can actually prove fatal for the bird for a number of different reasons, there is a health/nutritional issue going on and blood-work should be taken...

Otherwise, I would buy some cement perches and place them throughout his cage, along with different Mineral Blocks and toys that encourage him to file his own beak on them. Then it shouldn't be necessary at all, except maybe a simple and quick hand-filing at home to shape the point at the end of his beak, but that's it, no length should need to be taken-off...

I will say that my cockatoo's lower mandibles tend to get filed down asymmetrically when left to my bird (guessing she favors one side when chewing on toys etc)-- they have a tri-point beak, so the bottom left is often longer than the bottom right. Although she DID have a liver issue when I got her, all of her levels are normal (multiple rounds of blood-work over time have confirmed this). SOOO she gets hers filed more than 1x yearly...despite toys and a now-healthy liver. Then again, she is a cockatoo (which may make a difference).

Good point, as I'm sure there are cases when their beaks do wear unevenly or there is an issue like this one where a filing is called for...However, this was simply due to the actual length of the bird's upper beak, as I understood it, and that's where it shouldn't be an issue, or at the very least it shouldn't have to "ground" with a rotary power tool...

 

[ChristaNL]

My macaws lower beak is most of the time slightly uneven because of the habbit of (still) hanging/swinging on the ceiling of the cage and grabbing the bar from the side.
As long as it does not interfere with her ability to eat/ groom the vets are quite happy "to let it be" -- we are the ones obsessing about symmetry and straight lines, the birds usually do not care...
(it is not really that much, 3 or 4 mm - the moment it gets worse she'll autocorrect with gnawing, somehow that is the critical point where the wear and tear will concentrate on the higher part)


noodles123: same here, her left side is lower than her right.
Though she is righthanded... so maybe that compensates a bit?