Zaf's beak maintenance and his grinding posts

[plax]

The other day tab_xo asked me about Zaf's beak maintenance. As such, I've decided to share a bit here concerning Zaf's beak. To begin with, it grows very quickly. It always has. And please know that he has no liver issues according to my vet's interpretation of his blood work.

Zaf's rapid beak growth requires a fair amount of ongoing maintenance (provided by Zaf, himself... and by me as well). I trim Zaf's lower beak at approximately two to three week intervals. I however do not trim back the tip of his upper beak nearly as often.

Of relevance to the above, Zaf is NOT a wood chewer! He's not only not interested in blocks of wood or wooden toys, he's as well considerably afraid of them. Zaf is also afraid of brightly colored objects. What he is not afraid of, and what he absolutely adores, are silver-ish metal objects of any sort!

During the nearly 8 years Zaf has lived with me, I've engaged in a number of conditioning efforts to desensitize him to the objects he fears, and to hopefully peak his interest in wooden toys and wood chunks. Each such effort has failed. Hence, Zaf's ongoing and frequent beak maintenance sessions are very essential. And, by the way, when I got Zaf in 2005 his beak was seriously overgrown and misaligned. He and I have made a great deal of progress in correcting those conditions.

Below are some photos of a couple of Zaf's stainless steel threaded grinding posts. He uses them as files. And below those is a video of Zaf grinding on a handheld SS 7/16" bolt I'm holding for him. We do that several times each day.

7/16" thread SS cage-mounted grinding post:

3/4" thread SS perch stand-mounted grinding post:

Handheld 7/16" thread SS grinding shaft in use by Zaf:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x3as2kMqy8"]Zaf grinding... - YouTube[/ame]

 

[tab_xo]

Wow thats really interesting how he files his beak! Thanks for the pictures and videos, explains it a lot easier haha

He sure knows what he has to do when you hold the file up! How does he trim the top beak ?

and, were you watching kids cartoons in the background LOL

 

[triordan]

i was going to ask about the top beak too??

 

[plax]

Wow thats really interesting how he files his beak! Thanks for the pictures and videos, explains it a lot easier haha

You're welcome.

He sure knows what he has to do when you hold the file up! How does he trim the top beak ?

Unfortunately, he can't file the tip of his upper beak. I have to snip it off periodically and file it for him.

and, were you watching kids cartoons in the background LOL

I leave cartoons on for them most of the time. They love cartoons! For some reason Zaf's not afraid of bright colors when they appear on a TV screen .

 

[tab_xo]

Aww silly Zaf if he just chewed wood, it would be easier to keep in shape! How often do you have to snip it?

Hahaha that is awesome! I could just imagine your 4 sitting around watching cartoons like little kids hehe
Fargo is quite the fan of Rugrats

 

[plax]

Aww silly Zaf if he just chewed wood, it would be easier to keep in shape! How often do you have to snip it?

Every several months or so. I don't take very much off though. Usually about 3/8 to 1/2 an inch.

Hahaha that is awesome! I could just imagine your 4 sitting around watching cartoons like little kids hehe
Fargo is quite the fan of Rugrats

The problem is that because of my Macaws I've seen nearly every cartoon ever produced!

 

[tab_xo]

aww ok, thats not too often then!

LOL dont lie plax, i bet you enjoy it as much as the macaws heheh :09:

When i was out visiting my horse, i put rugrats on for Fargo for the day, and i asked my brother to check on him, and he said that rugrats had stopped playing, so he put it on for him again, and i asked, well what season did you put on? and Sam said, umm season 3? and i said NOOO, he has already seen that season!!! how dare he watch repeats :09: haha :54:

 

[plax]

aww ok, thats not too often then!

Lol dont lie plax, i bet you enjoy it as much as the macaws heheh :09:

When i was out visiting my horse, i put rugrats on for fargo for the day, and i asked my brother to check on him, and he said that rugrats had stopped playing, so he put it on for him again, and i asked, well what season did you put on? And sam said, umm season 3? And i said nooo, he has already seen that season!!! How dare he watch repeats :09: Haha :54:

hahaha! Lol!!

 

[JerseyWendy]

What a genius invention, Plax! How long do the grinding posts last him? I'm sure he wears down the thread on them after a while, no?

 

[Alwese]

That is great Plax! I mean his beak is HUGE compared to my regular sized macaws. For my wood chewers I string pieces of 2X4 squares (not pressure treated) on a rope and one by one the blocks are on the floor of the cage. I might try your stainless steel thread trick on Doogie who I believe would chew on it. Your Hy's affection for metal objects might not be unique among Hys. I heard about one that swallowed some metal object and had to be operated on... keep the metal things BIG. I also heard that in the wild in Australia, cockatoos were disassembling the bolts on cell phone towers! LOL When I got my boy Kayko his beak was seriously overgrown. With a little vet care it certainly is shorter now, but still slightly twisted off to one side. It is very slowly getting better. The amazing thing about their beaks is it is totally a living thing. If you bash your fingernail, you have to wait until it grows out for the black to disappear. If he damages his beak it will self-repair only in the area it is needed.
Also, have you heard of a DVD called "Bird Sitter"? It is a very interesting DVD taken in a large aviary with all the normal squawking noises. My birds are highly interested in hearing and watching it (me too) and it is on a huge endless loop that will play over and over. You get to see baby macaws being fed and grown Hys as well.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Also, have you heard of a DVD called "Bird Sitter"? It is a very interesting DVD taken in a large aviary with all the normal squawking noises. My birds are highly interested in hearing and watching it (me too) and it is on a huge endless loop that will play over and over. You get to see baby macaws being fed and grown Hys as well.

I have that DVD and LOVE it. So does my entire flock. Neat thing about it is you can either listen to the birds making sounds, or you get to pick your type of background music.

 

[plax]

What a genius invention, Plax! How long do the grinding posts last him? I'm sure he wears down the thread on them after a while, no?

Stainless steel is quite wear resistant since it contains nickel and chromium, which are both very hard elements. Consequently, the threads last indefinitely. All that's necessary is keeping the threads clean because ground beak powder can build up in the thread grooves negating the file friction effect. And when Zaf grinds I can even watch the progress... it's easy to observe his beak powder granules falling away as he files away .

 

[plax]

Your Hy's affection for metal objects might not be unique among Hys. I heard about one that swallowed some metal object and had to be operated on... keep the metal things BIG.

Yes, I keep them large! I've actually gone through the terror of suspecting that Zaf swallowed a metal snap part from one of my shirts. The incident occurred not long after I got him. As things thankfully turned out, Zaf did NOT ingest the snap part. After the incident I quit wearing clothes with metal parts on them around him .

I also heard that in the wild in Australia, cockatoos were disassembling the bolts on cell phone towers!

LOL, I can certainly see how that might happen .

Also, have you heard of a DVD called "Bird Sitter"? It is a very interesting DVD taken in a large aviary with all the normal squawking noises. My birds are highly interested in hearing and watching it (me too) and it is on a huge endless loop that will play over and over. You get to see baby macaws being fed and grown Hys as well.

I've heard of it, but I don't have a copy. Maybe I should acquire one, though. Thanks for the idea.

 

[JerseyWendy]

What a genius invention, Plax! How long do the grinding posts last him? I'm sure he wears down the thread on them after a while, no?

Stainless steel is quite wear resistant since it contains nickel and chromium, which are both very hard elements. Consequently, the threads last indefinitely. All that's necessary is keeping the threads clean because ground beak powder can build up in the thread grooves negating the file friction effect. And when Zaf grinds I can even watch the progress... it's easy to observe his beak powder granules falling away as he files away .

One more question, Plax: Does it sound like nails on chalkboard when Zaf is really grinding hard? :52:
The video is truly amazing, I just watched it again.

 

[plax]

One more question, Plax: Does it sound like nails on chalkboard when Zaf is really grinding hard? :52:

Nope. It just sounds like scraping, almost like you're filing a notch in a piece of wood .

 

[008kenichijouji]

A blacksmith in the making, sharpening his sword. Haha! Great vid, that's awesome that he knows just what to do!

 

[Alisana]

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person with birds afraid of colour... But very cool none-the-less!

 

[Mike]

How do you snip his top beak? Is there a special tool for that? How does he like being trimmed?

 

[Sherry]

Something new has been happening at my home. All my fids are doing this now and I want to ask you if you think this is ok for them to do. My husband is a stone mason and in being one we have a lot of stonework in our home. My daycare kitchen area has a stone floor (rough slate) For the past two days all of the birds have been jumping off their cages/stands and going to the stone floor and rubbing their beaks all over it. They do this for a few minutes then go back to the cages/stands. Think this is ok? Or do you think they are going to damage their beaks?

 

[Aims]

Something new has been happening at my home. All my fids are doing this now and I want to ask you if you think this is ok for them to do. My husband is a stone mason and in being one we have a lot of stonework in our home. My daycare kitchen area has a stone floor (rough slate) For the past two days all of the birds have been jumping off their cages/stands and going to the stone floor and rubbing their beaks all over it. They do this for a few minutes then go back to the cages/stands. Think this is ok? Or do you think they are going to damage their beaks?

I would say they will be fine, Jax rubs his beak on a cement perch on a daily basis, I'm guessing your birds have decided your floor is a good beak file. LOL.