Parakeet deformed beak

[Zonore]

So we just got a parakeet from PetCo this past week, Mimsy saw it a couple weeks ago and had pointed it out to the management because it had an obvious problem going on with it's beak. Now, they brought it to the vet, and the vet has told them that it is not scissorbeak, and that she/he has an actual jaw deformity. We are not sure about the credibility of this judgement, and would like some input from someone experienced in this kind of thing.

She/he weighs in at around 32 grams, and we see her eat quite a lot. It takes her some time to break seed, but she does get food down. Here are some pictures

Also, any input on what the sex of it is is definitely appreciated, we are not familiar with sexing budgies. We tried looking at some online stuff, but with how young it is, we were stumped.

 

[MonicaMc]

Female. Males will not have white on their cere's. Females may have blue, but generally not to the degree of the blue of a male.



To me, it is both a deformity and scissor beak. The deformity is causing the scissor beak. She may need beak trims for the rest of her life. This also means taking her in to an avian vet to have it professionally trimmed. Being that she's a small bird, trimming her beak may be more difficult.

 

[Zonore]

Alright, thank you for the feedback!

Do you think this is something that while maintained; can be mostly corrected? Partially corrected? Or only a bit corrected? - I just want to gauge how much we will be needing to change in her diet to make it easier on her.

 

[SailBoat]

So, what did the Vet tell you /them? In addition, an Avian Vet would have identified the sex during that examination.

As MonicaMC stated the Beak work will need to be completed by a Avian Vet. So, advice here is seriously limited since you /they should be getting it from your /their Avian Vet.

 

[Teddscau]

I've never seen scissor beak in a budgie before. Her upper mandible appears to be normal, so I'm inclined to agree with Monica that the scissor beak is caused by a deformity. I'd definitely be taking her to an avian vet as soon as possible so her beak can be worked on. With regular visits to the vet to have her beak trimmed and shaped, I'd imagine that her beak will be at least partially corrected.

 

[Terry57]

What a sweet little budgie, despite his beak problem, Thank you for taking him in.
An avian vet will definitely be able to shape his beak, it may take a few visits but can be done. I have had budgies beaks done before when they have had that issue. Hopefully when he is on a better diet, the beak overgrowth will slow so he won't need as many trims. (I used the word trim, but my vet uses a Dremel.)

 

[Zonore]

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone!

@Sailboat We called the vet who looked at her. But, he is not an Avian specific vet. He will look at birds, but only if you are already registered as a client with another pet. That was our biggest reason for not being so sure on whether his diagnosis of there being nothing to be done was credible. Especially with all that we read on beak anomalies.

@Teddscau Thank you. We intend to find someone specialized in birds soon. Our local vet is great for general checkups, but for something like this we really need someone who has a firm grasp on birds in particular.

@Terry Thanks! We purchased a dremel tool because we weren't sure we were going to be able to get help for her, to start working on the bit that is veering to the side, but we were only going to be doing it in extremely tiny increments, it would take us months and months to get even part of it to looking better. So we definitely are just going to get her into an avian vet, especially now that we know something can be done for her.

I'm super glad we decided to post here, instead of just taking the vet's word of mouth. Thanks everyone.

We are looking into an affordable vet to take her to. Does anyone know someone that could help us in the Salem-Portland area? Those cities are a little far, but there is no way we can afford the closest one we have, that specializes in birds. Their prices for simple check-ups are preposterous. Let alone reshaping a beak on a small bird.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hello, ah she is so sweet.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/9841-vets-your-area.html here is list of AV's posted so far. May get personal rec from member later on? Definitely needs to be a Avian Veterinarian as from experience others do not have the knowledge but will still take your money though!

I think it may be a good idea to keep an eye on her weight as a well being check in general and be aware of diseases such as Fatty Liver of which these little birds can be prone. This causes overgrowing beaks and nails as one of the early symptoms. By seeing an AV you can get a clear picture of her health in general. This link also provides information on the ideal diet.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=15+1829&aid=2430

 

[Mimsy01]

Thank you Plumsmom. We have been weighing her every other day or so. Her diet is volkmans seed, roudybush and millet. We are working on veg, fruit, grains. So far she won't even look at chunks or mushed like baby food. I'm not too worried though, we have conures here that were finicky when we got them as well and eventually broadened their diet with time. Bean seems to be picking out just the canary seed and the millet so far, I'm not too surprised though. Our green cheek took close to a year before she readily ate a good varied diet and our blue crown would only eat other things pureed for a long time. Though I keep thinking mushy food would be easier to eat, but Bean isn't hearing it so far.

Our vet is decent at basic blood work and such. Dealing with a bird who actually has an issue though...hmmm. We'll start going through the list today. I'd like someone who has budgie or other very small parrot experience since handling them seems a little worrisome due to such small size.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hope you get a recommend for SALEM/PORTLAND AREA avian vet very soon!

My budgie loved peas of all things LOL

just a thought how about a few raw veggies whizzed up in a processor small bit cauli, broccoli etc? Raw cauli especially has a grainy texture bit seed like when done like this? WDYT?

 

[Allee]

I just want to say, Lil Bit is adorable! Thank you so much for adopting this special little girl or guy! I hope you can find a competent vet with reasonable prices, I think there is a great chance for a very bright future. Looking forward to updates.

 

[MonicaMc]

It's hard to say whether or not it can be corrected...


My mitred conure has to have his beak trim due to an injury. He's missing half of his lower beak, so it tends to 'scissor beak' because of it. Reason being? Since he could boss 3 amazons around, why not the blind ruby macaw, too??? Needless to say, he got the short end of the stick... and that was when he was 12 years old. He's 22 now. So for nearly 10 years, he's been having to have his beak trimmed to keep it from over-growing. He has the potential to live for 40+ years. He's been with me for just under 10 years.


It might be possible to correct her beak, but if there is any possibility of it, she may always have beak issues.


Although I trim Charlie's beak on my own, I do not ever recommend trying it yourself! It's possible to cause a lot of harm and stress to the bird! Not only that, but it's a two person job! (which I do alone... I've taken him to the vet, but for us, it's easiest if I do it myself - and less stressful on both of us!)



This might help in finding an avian vet. Just put in country and state information, but leave everything else blank! Doing this will give you a list of all vets in the state and may help in finding them easier.

Association of Avian Veterinarians

 

[Mimsy01]

Thank you Monica. I'm trying to find a vet, that will do it for us and show us what to do. We have a dremel to help keep it filed once it's clipped.

 

[Teddscau]

My local exotics vet trims nails, beaks, and feathers for free . Anyways, to get her to eat veggies, I'd recommend clipping them to the side of her cage. I'd start off with spinach, romaine lettuce, and peeled carrot. Make sure to run the veggie under some water before clipping it to the cage, as budgies love to bathe and lick the droplets of water off of veggies. Also, make sure the veggies that are being clipped to the cage are no more than 1.5" in length. Know what? Just try getting her to eat the romaine. It's the first veggie any of my budgies tried, and after your girl starts eating romaine, you can get her to eat pretty much any leafy green. I know romaine isn't the most nutritious, but it will get her to try other vegetables.

 

[Mimsy01]

I've got a mix of leafy greens, kale, chard, spinach....no romaine. I'll have to pick some up and give it a try. I'll clip some of the baby greens in there to see if it's at all inspiring though for now.

 

[Teddscau]

Yeah, my guys won't eat their veggies if they're cooked, frozen, chopped up, mashed, or in a dish. I have to clip them to their cage. Noah, on the other hand, prefers his fruits and veggies in a dish or on a plate, and he doesn't care if they're cooked, frozen, etc. My budgies definitely enjoy their greens, especially chard, spinach, watercress, beet leaves, and romaine. They won't eat kale because they don't like the texture.

 

[Mimsy01]

So far mostly just looking at the leaves. She is going in on Monday to get her beak trimmed and they said they'd show me how so I can continue keeping in trimmed with a our dremel.

 

[Teddscau]

At least she's looking at the greens, eh? Hopefully you'll have better luck with your girl's diet than I have with my flock of budgies'. Maybe I created these monsters, but they can be annoying to feed at times.

Man, I'd be so paranoid about trying to file her beak. One wrong move on her part, and half her tongue's gone! No pressure, or anything. All I know is that I was paranoid when Noah had a touch up on his beak. Okay, injuring their tongue is unlikely, but it could still happen. Kind of like when I imagine the dental hygenist slipping with the pokey hook, and stabbing me in the membrane that attaches the underside of your tongue to your mouth.

 

[Mimsy01]

LOL, thats why I got a cheapy dremel. Don't think there is any chance of taking off a tongue. However, even though I do everyones nails in the house with clippers, I would be terrified of using clippers on such a small birds beak.

I've got 5 birds, all are different breeds and none came with great eating habits, so I'm not too worried. They all eventually did well, just some were more difficult to get interested than others. But with everyone saying to clip food to the side that has budgies, I'm hoping that might give me a better starting point..she wasn't even looking when it was in a bowl.

She is pretty fearless, so it should go a long ways. Normally adding toys to most of my birds can be a slow process and scares them. Bean however runs over to look while I'm still doing it. She is already getting good at getting up on a finger. I clipped her toenails with her just sitting on my finger. She just watched really close. So far, only really fast movements will startle her and then she'll fly off.

Still haven't gotten her take food from my fingers, but I'm working on it. She'll get on my finger, but food..naw don't trust ya that much she says.

 

[MonicaMc]

You can try two things with food....

Instead of clipping dry leafy veggies, make sure their wet first, or spritz them with water after hanging them! It might not get them to eat the leaves, but they might go crazy and decide to take a bath!

Or... get a bowl and place the leaves in the bottom. Fill with a little water. Some birds just love a leafy bath!



How's she doing?