HELP - 6 Weeks Old Galah's Beak

[kenneth]

Hi all,

I bought a 6 weeks old hand raised galah today and boy he is really tamed and very friendly to say the least. The lady I bought it from seems knowledgeable however I would like some second opinion on something that is bothering me with the galah's beak

His beak looks a little odd to me, I had a feel and the beaks feels solid but there are some flaking (if that is what you call it) - I have attached a photo of the beak,

PS: The Galah still currently syringed/hand fed as the bird is yet to learn how to eat on his own.

There are other small bits and pieces I am still a little confused about but I shall comb through the forum to see if they have been asked before.

Eitherway Very happy with the new addition to the family. Let me introduce you to, Charlie

Thank for your help

Kenneth

 

[MonicaMc]

Have you tried taking a warm, wet washcloth and cleaning up his face and beak?

 

[kenneth]

Have you tried taking a warm, wet washcloth and cleaning up his face and beak?

I just gave that a shot, he seems a little sleepy so wasn't too happy when I woke him up but after a quick clean, the section highlighted in red appears to be slightly thinner than the rest of the beak, I will take a closer look tomorrow but it did felt like a little chunk came off

 

[Pedro]

Hi Kenneth I can't see a pic, Galahs usually have a flaky beak to some degree but from memory i don't think a 6 week old would. Possibily formula & needs to be clean, in fact is a good idea to clean any formula from around the beak & face. If you can post a pic along with any other concerns i should be able to help you.

 

[MonicaMc]

Pedro, I don't know if the links to the images might help?

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5498343/galah1_a.JPG
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5498343/beak1_a_2.jpg

It looks like dried formula and feathers stuck to the beak... but that the beak actually looks fine itself. An updated photo with the bird cleaned up may help to prove that.

 

[Pedro]

I can't open them. What a shame. It's telling me Firefox can't open them. Must be my settings.

 

[Thingamagigs]

It really does look like the handrearer hadn't been cleaning the bub up properly. But, I would also go get a PBFD test, just in case.

 

[Pedro]

Could see pics with Internet Explorer. Looks like a very messy hand rearer that hasn't bothered to clean bubs face after each feed. Try to clean him up after each feed as much as possible. After a few tries you should have him clean. Looks like a nice healthy youngster.

 

[kenneth]

I tried to clean his beak as much as possible and again it does feel like a thin layer came off or chipped off where the colour is slightly different.

I will probably head to the vet this weekend but hopefully it's not uncommon to see Galah beaks in this condition.

Attached a Dropbox link to the photo for now as I am on the train

http://db.tt/CJc45fmJ

 

[MonicaMc]

That last photo is much easier to see! And I do see a bunch of dried formula and a feather (as I originally thought) stuck to the beak!

Keep up with the warm, moist wash cloth cleanings, and you'll be able to get quite a lot of it off in time!

 

[Aims]

I agree with MonicaMc. It looks like formula to me too.
I went into a local bird store and they had heaps of Galah's available and your bub looks much cleaner than theirs. They were covered in formula, some of them even had it on their backs. I was disgusted with the shop and the staff, not cleaning those poor birds.

 

[kenneth]

Thank you so much for all your help. Clearly I freaked out prematurely on little things.

Anyway! I will give it a real good clean tonight, anyone have a good suggestion to shower Galahs? I was thinking using mist and then pat him down, but I have read that you can bring them into the shower too?

Ken

 

[Thingamagigs]

Some handrearers are just plain lazy. The guy I used to live next to handreared all kinds of bubs and he handreared HEAPS of them all at once. They were always as clean and tidy as you could keep a baby. He would lovingly wipe them down immediately. There is no excuse to have a baby in such a mess, they arent exactly hard to clean up sufficiently and its all extra handling time which helps with an easy to handle baby.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

It's always good to double check just incase but it doesn't look bad to me

And I'm not sure if you should be bathing a bird that young or not, but I don't know for sure.

Here's a pic of Rosie beak, the lower part of the top mandible had a big flake that recently came off.

 

[Oedipussrex]

I don't think bathing him would be a bad thing that young. but if he hasn't grown all his feathers in properly yet he will not be able to control how wet he gets. if you shower him it is likely he will be soaked to the skin whether he wants to be or not, so make sure you keep him warm and make absolutely certain he dries completely, all through his feathers.

 

[MikeyTN]

It looks like dried formula to me as well as you can see even towards the back where the feather meets the beak, where you circled. You can see a clump there. So that's the same on the beak. The breeder obviously did not clean their face or their body from formula what so ever. I keep a wiping towel by the baby during hand feeding and wipe up any mess they may have. A nice bath would help to remove the rest, on the side where there's a clump, you really need to get it wet and then slowly nip it with tips of your finger nails to loosen it up and then rinse, it should come clean pretty easy. You can do the same on the beak by gently scrape it with tips of your finger nails and should come off during bathing.

 

[Pedro]

Kenneth, i do think your little guy is a fair bit older than 6 weeks. I think by the looks of him 10 to 12 weeks. However he looks in good condition.

I have had a closer look at the last pic & it looks like where the grey matter could possibly be some sort of damage & there seems to be a crack running along his bottom beak. If you think there is some damage there i think you should mention it to the Vet when you visit.

 

[Remy]

I think it looks a bit funny, especially in the last part. Is that red I see on the bottom beak, or is it just a feather?

Has he had an avian vet checkup yet? I would take him at at least get him visually inspected to see what they think.

 

[MikeyTN]

Pedro, I expanded the picture as far as it can go on my imac. If you look in between where you see a possible crack as you say, it looks like healthy beak in that crack area that I feel it's just dried up formula. But it's really hard to tell, the best thing is to give it a wash then we all know for sure.

 

[kenneth]

Good evening all,

Just a quick update, after a feed today, I tried to clean his beak to get rid of any residual formula and here is how he is looking

Just a quick one also, I have noticed that Charlie is not so stable on his feet yet which is probably normal for its age (6 weeks or 10 - 12 weeks as Pedro mentioned) he also seems to not have too much grip on tiled floor but what is concerning me is that the feet looks a little odd to me. Correct me if it is how Galah's feet look but the back nail seems to be "poking" up instead of facing down?

While the photo doesnt show, both rear nails seems to be sticking up on both feet

I will try to clip his toe nails in the next day or so, oh boy they are sharp!