I have an 8 year old budgie, Libbi, who's been doing weird things with her beak for about five years. All she does is rapidly open and close it over and over again. The vet trimmed her beak about a month ago and she wasn't doing that odd thing with her beak, but about a week ago, it started coming back. She is eating fine, and all her tests came back healthy the last two years. She's lived with this for 5 years, so should I just get her beak trimmed every few weeks or leave it?

J

i dont have much knowledge of beak problems. but, the beak constantly overgrowing can be a sign of liver disease? which budgies often get. i suppose if her tests were all clear then this isnt a worry though.

Does she have access to cuttlebone? Was it an avian vet? Does the beak actually get noticeably overgrown?

 

Beaks are very sensitive and the only time a trim would be suggested is if the budgie is unable to wear the beak down on its own. Like pixie said, an overgrown beak can be a sign of other problems. What does your budgie's diet consist of?

Libbi has access to a cuttlebone, but does not like it very much...

The vet is part of the AAV(American Association of Avian Veternarians), the closest board certified vet is more two hours away.

The beak has always been noticibly wide and stubby, the vet just trimmed the sides a little bit, and she had full tests. This has been happening, as I said, for five years, so if it was liver disease, wouldn't there be other signs too?

Libbi eats vitamin enriched seed, dried veggies, fruit, and table food.

J

Is she tame? Or does she get scared of you? Some of my scaredy birds breathe heavily if i bother them too much. Is she at all overweight? This can also make the breathe more heavily.

Libbi is tame, and all thought she'd rather stay in the cage, she will come out and play with us. She is not over weight (the vet said she was a little under, but not much, she's a small, tiny budgie). I don't thinks its a breathing problem, her beak just keeps moving and she doesn't show any signs of any other problems(she's a healthy bird)

I might add that when we gave her a soft food for a while, she'd get it all stuck on the sides of her beak and the feathers would cake together when it dried. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but she would wipe her beak and eventually ended up wearing away the top layers of her beak, but not the rest. Since she got the trim, she hasn't gotten food stuck anywhere, so I think it could have been related.

You said she's had full tests, do you remember what exactly she was tested for and how?

 

There are some diseases that don't show up the first (or even second) time around. When was the last time she had a full work up done (including blood taken)?

The last time she had tests taken was June '05. She also had them taken last June '04. They had blood tests and tests for her poop. The vet also did a well-bird check up (checked for lumps, wieght, etc.) and Libbi passed with flying colors.

J

I would ask your vet why this is happening. Just to put your mind at rest, and to inform the rest of us! There is sure to be someone else come along with a similar problem, and it would be great if we could increase our knowledge to help future people.

 

Is it happening more often now? Perhaps you can ask him why that is too. Good luck

No, the movement actually came back for a few days last week and hasn't happened for the last two or three days.

For a while, she was wearing off the top layers of the beak, leaving them with a crusty look, similar to a hen's cere. I think she's been wearing her beak more evenly now that I took out the conditioning perch(on reccomendation of the vet) and its beautiful now! Now longer wide and stubby, with worn spots on it. When my brother shows me how to work the camera, I'll get you pictures of her nice, smooth beak. She's eating fine and very happy!