Blue & Gold Beak

[netminder3]

I have a 4 year old Blue & Gold named "Bubba" that was given to me 2 months ago and i love him, hes a wonderful addition to our family...

Bubba has only one issue, the old owner had him since he was a handfed baby.. Bubba had an accident where he flew into a BBQ grill and was burned badly on his beak and feet...He has recovered nicely. Its been over a year since the accident and hes doing great, you cant see any evidence of it except his beak.. how fast does the beak grow?
I'm wondering how long it will take until his beak is back to normal..

Bubba has an awesome personality, talks up a storm and eats very well.....

 

[MacawGuy]

may have a better ideal if you can show a pic of his beak

 

[netminder3]

 

[netminder3]

 

[MacawGuy]

that does look pretty bad... that may take a while

 

[JerseyWendy]

Bubba looks like such a sweet guy!

I agree with MacawGuy, he's beak looks to have been injured quite badly, and it will probably take a long time to grow out completely.

Did Bubba see the vet after that accident, and if so, was the beak treated with anything?

 

[plax]

It's hard to tell from your photos, but the damage seems to be several layers into his upper beak. The under-layers of their beaks progressively become surface layers. As a beak lengthens, its existing surface layer separates and flakes away from the underlying layer - typically assisted by the bird's own beak activity and often by the interactions of a mate or caregiver. I suspect that the deeper the damage (ie, the more layers affected) and the higher on the beak it happens to be, the longer it will take to grow out. That's because upper mandible beak material grows from its top downward, and because the top thicker portion grows slower than the lower thinner portion.

To get a reliable assessment of (and prognosis for) Bubba's beak condition I would suggest contacting a qualified avian veterinarian.

 

[MonicaMc]

If the beak is damaged in certain areas, it will never regrow properly, and this may be the case with Bubba. Only time will tell for sure!

If it never grows out, you can always look into getting a prosthetic put over it, however I have heard that prosthetics may fall off in 4-6 months anyway. Kind of a "don't fix what's not 'broken'" kind of deal.

I was looking at possibly getting a prosthetic for my mitred conure, but he's adapted well to only having half of his lower beak, so I trim it when necessary.

 

[Austin97]

I Agree with Macaw Guy that looks like it was a serious injury, the good thing is that the beak of parrots constantly grows the only thing i would do is as it grows use a dremel and shave the top layer of the beak off to expose the newly grown beak.

 

[MacawGuy]

i hope the best of luck to you... i hope his beak grows right...

 

[Alwese]

When I got my B&G Kayko the previous owner was told he would not live all that long. He had some sort of liver disease that made his poop yellow and his beak was highly overgrown and contintued to grow at an alarming rate. My vet informed me the liver disease in birds ALWAYS results in rapid beak growth. Because of the rams' horn appearance it took many vet visits (grinding) to get it shaped properly. That was a decade ago and looking straight on you can see his beak is still crooked, but it is much better than it once was. Kayko is 30 now. It is interesting to know that unlike our fingernails that have to grow out, a macaws beak will "self repair" only in the area that is needed, say blunting the tip, the tip will regrow sharp tipped again. Here are "before" and "after" pictures of his beak trimming. I can say for your bird that time will be the best healer of all and the outer layers should grow out eventually, but it may be a decade. Click on thumbnails for somewhat of an enlargement so the beak can be seen clearly