black beak

[Guest pixie25]

hi all,

 

my boyfriend bought himself a little budgie today, as a suprise for when i got home from work. (dont worry he is quarantined from my budgie casper). He doesnt know much about budgies, but i noticed something funny about the bird he had chosen.

 

His budgie has a weird looking beak. the top bit (under his cere) is normal yellow/orange colour. but the pointed half of his beak is a greyish/black colour. it isnt flakey or anything, it is smooth and shiney, its just the colour i was worried about. i have never seen a budgie with a half orange/yellow half grey/black beak and so wondered if this might be the signs of a disease or something?

 

any help would be greatly appreciated because we might take him back tomorrow if we think that he is not healthy.

 

thanks, pixie

[Guest TeGz]

The black beak just means he's a tiny little baby that has probably just left his/her mum It will start changing colour over the next few weeks and then it will be normal coloured.

[Guest pixie25]

really?

 

he is much larger than the budgie i already have and he is 13 weeks old now. also his bars are beginning to receed on his forehead, he certainly looks older than the budgie i have now.

 

i have been told by a vet that my budgie is very small for his age, but i didnt think he was that small! (Laughing out loud)

 

i wonder if you could answer another question of mine... is it normal for a budgie to have a clear line running down his belly? i thought this might be because he is a little underweight?

[Guest TeGz]

As far as i know the black beak is the sign of a baby budgie. My last fellow didnt have bars on his head, but he had a black beak. He was also a lot bigger than the two birds i'd had previously.

 

 

I have no idea about the line on the stomach. You could always phone the vet and ask them, and just double check about the beak at the same time

[Guest Imotive]

Well the meak means its a small baby but surprisingly my baby had a normal orange beak..I shouldn't worry but the line umm what color wa sit

[*Nerwen* 0]

The only HEATHLY reason I know for a black beak is young age but they can also have a bright orange one. That depends a bit on the colour of the bird and gentics of the parents.

 

The size might be becuase your boyfields one is from show budgie parents (or just one) making his bigger. Is this black ness around the edges more or all over?

 

The line down the middle well they do have a bit of a gap along the beastbone were no feathers are, it could be as simply that your little one is moulting and making it stand out more. Or is a different feather colour? I have seen a picture of a budgie with a slightly different feather colour in a line down the middle, from green to a blue green.

 

Umm can't think of any other suggestion for you now, keep up updated

[Guest pixie25]

the new budgie is green normal and he has grey coloured feet too. also it has longer feathers than the skyblue pied i already have. so i think there is a possibility that the bird came from a line of english budgies. does this help nerwen?

 

i am told that the new budgie is around 13 weeks old, same as the one i already have, i was just concerned about the size difference. can different size bird eventually be integrated with smaller ones or will there be bullying? my little skyblue pied was bullied by the bigger birds at the petshop and had one of his toenails pulled out. i dont want this to happen again, so if this might be a problem we will have to take it back and choose a smaller one.

[*Nerwen* 0]

Yes that does help The fact he had grey feet would mean a dark beak would seem normal for him. I'm not sure about his age, it seems a bit odd normally the darker colour faded by about the second week out of the nest.

 

so i think there is a possibility that the bird came from a line of english budgies.

Yep Thats the way I would see it.

 

Bulling- well It could happen I will not state that it will not, but with only the two of them they should just bond without a problem and be best of mates. If you are worried when the time come to let then meet and play togther then for night time I would put them back in their own cage, the the only time they are together is when you are there to watch them. Your poor little man I'm glad he found a great Ma I would think the petshope bulling was more down to over crowding or need of food. The way a lot of the shops just pack them in

 

 

I have a budgie who is the biggest is the whole family but he is not the boss. You never know your little sky blue might be ready to stand up for himself now

 

hope this helped

[Guest pixie25]

thanks nerwen, the green has just been take to the vets now, to check that he is okay, and to find out about the black beak. i am quite concerned about the little green one as he just looks so so sad sitting on his perch. he looks like he is always hunched over. i think its something to do with the fact that he is clipped on only one side. i think my boyfriend felt sorry for him because he looks so sad

 

anyway, i will keep you all updated on the feedback from the vet.

 

thanks everyone

 

pixie x

[Guest pixie25]

(sorry for double posting, but thought i would let you all know how it went)

 

well basically the vet said that he is much younger than we thought he was (only about 6 weeks), so that would explain the black beak.

 

he is doing much better now, he is on some medicine for his watery poos at the moment and he seems to have perked up a bit. he has been cheeping away at my other bird, casper and has been handled a lot today. (he is already very used to contact) and actually prefers to be on a perch or on a shoulder outside of the cage rather than in it!

 

so i am pleased. will post some pictures shortly

 

pixie

[*Nerwen* 0]

Thats great news I'm glad you didn't have to worry about the beak (and that we were all right about the cuase, (Laughing out loud)) SOrry to hear he is not in the best of heath but will all the love and attention you are giving him i'm sure he will be back to the best of heath soon.

 

OHHHH Pictures I can't wait

[Rainbow 0]

thanks nerwen, the green has just been take to the vets now, to check that he is okay, and to find out about the black beak. i am quite concerned about the little green one as he just looks so so sad sitting on his perch. he looks like he is always hunched over. i think its something to do with the fact that he is clipped on only one side. i think my boyfriend felt sorry for him because he looks so sad 

 

anyway, i will keep you all updated on the feedback from the vet.

 

thanks everyone

 

pixie x

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

pixie, it's not very safe to have him only trimmed on one side. Both sides should match, otherwise he is very off-balance and will be more prone to injury, and that is not good for his self-confidence. He needs to be able so safely navigate, and he can't do that with his feathers being so lopsided.

[Guest pixie25]

i know rainbow my boyfriend bought him already with it clipped one side. he hasnt hurt himself yet as is quite young and so isnt very good at flying anyway, my other bird casper was a VERY good flyer and so has both sides clipped. if i think that he is in danger of hurting himself then he will be straight to the vets to get the other side done.

 

i think he is okay at the moment, but i will keep a close eye on him. he doesnt look like he is off balance or in any discomfort. i may well do the other side in the next week or so though.

[Guest monsoon]

i wonder if you could answer another question of mine... is it normal for a budgie to have a clear line running down his belly? i thought this might be because he is a little underweight?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Mitsi and Scooby both have these, last time we were at the vets they still had em n he said they were a healthy weight for the ages n types and it can be to do with moulting.

 

Claire

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