Overgrown beak

[Mirellejansen]

Good afternoon, I have 6 year old girl and she has an overgrown beak and there is things in her cage for her to scrape her beak on. It does not seem to help. We have taken her to a vet and they sanded her beak shorter, but she did not like that at all.
We have a vitamin block, wood toys and a cuttlefish.
Anything else that might help?

 

[saxguy64]

Welcome to the Forums! Wow, what a beautiful birdie! Minus the beak growth, of course. I assume it has taken quite a bit of time for it to grow that long.

If nothing else, regular visits to the vet to keep it trimmed BEFORE it gets so long and problematic would be in order. I might also talk with your vet about doing some blood work to check levels, and diet, as different nutrients can definitely play into the rapid growth. Either way, the vet can be your best resource for figuring out why it's growing like that in the first place, and how best to manage it. Hopefully some folks with more experience on the subject will offer some ideas as well.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Does she chew her toys, mineral block, or cuttlebone? If she does, how long does it take for her beak to grow to this point? What is her diet like? Blood tests should probably be ran to possibly see what could be wrong.

 

[Mirellejansen]

Hi, thank you for the quick response. That growth is about 5 months.
She chews on the stuff but it seems to do nothing. We are taking her to the vet and will ask for blood tests.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Hi, thank you for the quick response. That growth is about 5 months.
She chews on the stuff but it seems to do nothing. We are taking her to the vet and will ask for blood tests.

Great! If I were to guess, it is possible that it could be diet or disease related. What is her diet like? Any new bird’s recently? Has beak overgrowth been something that’s been going on a while, or has it been more recent? Any trauma to the beak? quick disclaimer: I am not a vet! So take my responses with a grain of salt.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Welcome to the Forums! Wow, what a beautiful birdie! Minus the beak growth, of course. I assume it has taken quite a bit of time for it to grow that long.

If nothing else, regular visits to the vet to keep it trimmed BEFORE it gets so long and problematic would be in order. I might also talk with your vet about doing some blood work to check levels, and diet, as different nutrients can definitely play into the rapid growth. Either way, the vet can be your best resource for figuring out why it's growing like that in the first place, and how best to manage it. Hopefully some folks with more experience on the subject will offer some ideas as well.

The avian vet I took my birds to in Los Angeles told me that excessive beak overgrowth like this is a symptom of a liver disorder. Blood tests would likely confirm it. I have a female budgie, Pickle, right now that has the same beak overgrowth problem. She has plenty of soft wood and cuttlebone to chew (all my budgies do) and it doesn't help when its a systemic problem with the liver. You may need to bring her in for a beak trim every couple months. Pickle has another appointment for next week.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

The avian vet I took my birds to in Los Angeles told me that excessive beak overgrowth like this is a symptom of a liver disorder. Blood tests would likely confirm it. I have a female budgie, Pickle, right now that has the same beak overgrowth problem. She has plenty of soft wood and cuttlebone to chew (all my budgies do) and it doesn't help when its a systemic problem with the liver. You may need to bring her in for a beak trim every couple months. Pickle has another appointment for next week.

It can also be a symptom of parasites, diseases (including liver disease), infections, etc. the most common cause of it is usually liver disease or face mites

 

[Mirellejansen]

Good morning
When we got her she was 5 years old and the only thing she ate was budgie seed. We spoke to the vet and was told she must not eat that. She said we should give her fresh fruit and vegetables and pellets.

We got what we needed, but YOU tell her that she must eat the new food. She gave us a dirty look and ignored her food bowl. I am not strong enough to starve my baby, even if it is for a day or two, so I gave in. Now she has budgie seed, pellets and fresh food in the bowl. She eats around the fresh food and only take some of the pellets.

Will see what the blood test says and take it from there.

Thank you for all the feedback, we appreciate it.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Good morning
When we got her she was 5 years old and the only thing she ate was budgie seed. We spoke to the vet and was told she must not eat that. She said we should give her fresh fruit and vegetables and pellets.

We got what we needed, but YOU tell her that she must eat the new food. She gave us a dirty look and ignored her food bowl. I am not strong enough to starve my baby, even if it is for a day or two, so I gave in. Now she has budgie seed, pellets and fresh food in the bowl. She eats around the fresh food and only take some of the pellets.

Will see what the blood test says and take it from there.

Thank you for all the feedback, we appreciate it.

Have your tried the conversion method? Add a little bit of the new food to the bowl every day, until there isn’t any of the old food? With vegetables, you can eat it in front of her, go “mmm” or “yummy”, and that may entice her to try it. That’s how I got my tiel to eat spinach and dandelion. It sounds like she has fatty liver disease just basing it off her diet. Seed diets are not nutritious, and are very high in fat. It’s like eating McDonald’s every day, really. She may only live a few more years on her current seed diet, since it often slices their lifespans in half. Please please please get your girl off her seed diet, there are so many ways to get her to try new things and where are ways of converting her to a healthier diet. Losing a bird early is the absolute worst feeling. And I don’t want it to happen to you. I’m not saying this to be mean, I am warning you of a grim future. Her diet HAS to change.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Have your tried the conversion method? Add a little bit of the new food to the bowl every day, until there isn’t any of the old food? With vegetables, you can eat it in front of her, go “mmm” or “yummy”, and that may entice her to try it. That’s how I got my tiel to eat spinach and dandelion. It sounds like she has fatty liver disease just basing it off her diet. Seed diets are not nutritious, and are very high in fat. It’s like eating McDonald’s every day, really. She may only live a few more years on her current seed diet, since it often slices their lifespans in half. Please please please get your girl off her seed diet, there are so many ways to get her to try new things and where are ways of converting her to a healthier diet. Losing a bird early is the absolute worst feeling. And I don’t want it to happen to you. I’m not saying this to be mean, I am warning you of a grim future. Her diet HAS to change.

Budgies are difficult to convert especially when they are older but it's worth trying. Not all budgies on all seed diets will die young. I had one years ago that lived to be 13. I know you didn't feed a substandard diet on purpose.

 

[Mirellejansen]

We did do the conversion method - she ate the budgie seed and left the others. The longest I had her on not eating anything because there was no budgie seed, was almost 2 days. That is when we gave her the budgie seed again. The next day I did the same with less budgie and she ate around it. I read up on the internet on what to do, but she kept on not eating. The way she eats now is what we settled on. I would love for her to be off the budgie seed. We put fresh food in the cage and she never touches it.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

We did do the conversion method - she ate the budgie seed and left the others. The longest I had her on not eating anything because there was no budgie seed, was almost 2 days. That is when we gave her the budgie seed again. The next day I did the same with less budgie and she ate around it. I read up on the internet on what to do, but she kept on not eating. The way she eats now is what we settled on. I would love for her to be off the budgie seed. We put fresh food in the cage and she never touches it.

One of my budgies eats a varied diet of chop, pellets and a small amount of seed but I raised her by hand from hatching and I weaned her onto this diet.

 

[zERo]

We did do the conversion method - she ate the budgie seed and left the others. The longest I had her on not eating anything because there was no budgie seed, was almost 2 days. That is when we gave her the budgie seed again. The next day I did the same with less budgie and she ate around it. I read up on the internet on what to do, but she kept on not eating. The way she eats now is what we settled on. I would love for her to be off the budgie seed. We put fresh food in the cage and she never touches it.

I’ve found converting cockatiels is pretty challenging.
One of my males was 12 years old when I got him, now 14. He was the hardest to get to consistently eat veggies.

I use a Nutribullet that chops the veggies really fine and then mixed seed and pellets into it when starting to offer him the mix.
He devoured it, and eventually he didn’t need the seeds or pellets mixed in anymore.

You could also try making Birdie bread, though, not all birds will take to this.
Here’s a simple recipe I’ve used:
1/3 cup bird safe flour (almond/coconut/barley etc.)
1/3 cup pellet powder
1/2 cup veggies
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
2-4 tbsp. Seed (You might add more)
1 egg
I grease a glass casserole pan with coconut oil and bake for 25 min at 350° or until a toothpick comes out clean.

You could half or possibly fourth the recipe since you have one bird.

 

[Mirellejansen]

I’ve found converting cockatiels is pretty challenging.
One of my males was 12 years old when I got him, now 14. He was the hardest to get to consistently eat veggies.

I use a Nutribullet that chops the veggies really fine and then mixed seed and pellets into it when starting to offer him the mix.
He devoured it, and eventually he didn’t need the seeds or pellets mixed in anymore.

You could also try making Birdie bread, though, not all birds will take to this.
Here’s a simple recipe I’ve used:
1/3 cup bird safe flour (almond/coconut/barley etc.)
1/3 cup pellet powder
1/2 cup veggies
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
2-4 tbsp. Seed (You might add more)
1 egg
I grease a glass casserole pan with coconut oil and bake for 25 min at 350° or until a toothpick comes out clean.

You could half or possibly fourth the recipe since you have one bird.

Hi I will try to juice the veg and see if she will eat it if I mix it with the seed. I will try anything at this stage. Thank you

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I’ve found converting cockatiels is pretty challenging.
One of my males was 12 years old when I got him, now 14. He was the hardest to get to consistently eat veggies.

I use a Nutribullet that chops the veggies really fine and then mixed seed and pellets into it when starting to offer him the mix.
He devoured it, and eventually he didn’t need the seeds or pellets mixed in anymore.

You could also try making Birdie bread, though, not all birds will take to this.
Here’s a simple recipe I’ve used:
1/3 cup bird safe flour (almond/coconut/barley etc.)
1/3 cup pellet powder
1/2 cup veggies
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
2-4 tbsp. Seed (You might add more)
1 egg
I grease a glass casserole pan with coconut oil and bake for 25 min at 350° or until a toothpick comes out clean.

You could half or possibly fourth the recipe since you have one bird.

Have you tried Avicakes? They are small semisoft squares of seeds and pellets "glued" together with a "tasty" sweetish substance. Lafeber makes them so they're good quality. In order to get to the seeds the bird will eat some pellets too.

 

[Mirellejansen]

Have you tried Avicakes? They are small semisoft squares of seeds and pellets "glued" together with a "tasty" sweetish substance. Lafeber makes them so they're good quality. In order to get to the seeds the bird will eat some pellets too.

We have tried that and she is not really interested. She pulls it a couple of times and then leaves it alone.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

We have tried that and she is not really interested. She pulls it a couple of times and then leaves it alone.

Well, you can't force a bird to eat something.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Budgies are difficult to convert especially when they are older but it's worth trying. Not all budgies on all seed diets will die young. I had one years ago that lived to be 13. I know you didn't feed a substandard diet on purpose.

It is worth trying. It’ll probably extend mirelle’s tiel’s lifespan.

I did not say all birds on seed diets die young, I said “it often slices their lifespans in half”. I have seen a few birds who managed to live a while on a seed diet, although the amount of birds dying to fatty liver disease on seed diets vastly outweighs that, indicating that a seed diet is not worth it. it’s even covered in my avian veterinary book. You can read the pages here:

 

[DonnaBudgie]

It is worth trying. It’ll probably extend mirelle’s tiel’s lifespan.

I did not say all birds on seed diets die young, I said “it often slices their lifespans in half”. I have seen a few birds who managed to live a while on a seed diet, although the amount of birds dying to fatty liver disease on seed diets vastly outweighs that, indicating that a seed diet is not worth it. it’s even covered in my avian veterinary book. You can read the pages here:

View attachment 51412View attachment 51413View attachment 51414View attachment 51415View attachment 51416View attachment 51417View attachment 51418View attachment 51420View attachment 51421

I'd love to read your textbook but I don't think my eyes can read the attachments. I am not a fan of an all seed diet at all- that's why I weaned Rocky onto pellets and chop with very few seeds. I also know how hard converting budgies is especially when they are a few years old. If a readers bird won't eat anything but seed I don't want to make them feel guilty.

 

[Mirellejansen]

Good afternoon
Took her to the vet today and the vet said that she is healthy, but there is a slightly high liver enzyme and gave her liver supplements, Milk thistle and Ursofalk, that she must take everyday.
The vet also sorted her beak and said that she can't find any specific reason why her beak would grow like that.
Thank you for all the advice, we really appreciate it.