I was chatting away to my birds, when I started to notice a cobalt normal boy would not chirrup back at me. I looked at him a bit closer and saw he had a bit of 'beak' hanging off. I got him wrapped in a towel so I could get a better look, and I saw his beak was very chipped. I took the hangy bit off, and saw the top half of his beak went under his lower half.

Should I wait until it grows back? He was perfect when i got him, I think he must've flown headfirst into a window or something.

The breeder I got him from has been breeding budgies for 30yrs, he'd be good if the beak needs trimming.

 

What do I feed him? a beak like that can't make life easy on him.

I can't help with that Caren, but you can feed him cracked seed (hit some seed with a rolling pin), soaked seed, egg and biscuit mix. I'd seperate him from the others til your sure he's eating okay (which I'm sure you've done)

yeah, try soft foods like lin suggested. if you take him to an avian vet they can sometimes trim or file the beak to make it into a more natural shape again until it grows back.

 

i would really suggest you take him to an avian vet instead of the breeder because there is a chance that the chip may turn into a crack and cause the bird a lot of pain, or possibly an infection. damage to the upper part of the beak can be very serious, whereas damage to the lower beak tends not to be so bad.

 

the vet can also check that the beak is not weak because of a deficiency too.

 

good luck caren x

Edited January 1, 200619 yr by pixie25

the avian vet may be able to tell you what the underlying cause is. It may be health related, a deficiency or such.

Edited January 1, 200619 yr by lovey

He went to the vet this morning. He said the bird's probably just been chewing on the cage and chipped his beak. It'll grow back in a few weeks and until then he'll be fed oats.

I LOVE my vet! He talked to me with respect. :angel1:

 

My last avian vet looked at the bird for 10 seconds, mumbled something to the vet tech, shot me with a really disgusting look, and brought in his next patient.

I'm glad I kept looking.

cool Caren, keep us updated

Caren its good to hear it was only caused because you own a dingaling of a Budgie (Laughing out loud) and not an underlying health problem..

Keep up posted on his progress

Cheers :beer:

Una

Hi Caren, try giving your budgie an extra calcium suppliment. This should help his beak repair and also strengthen it. ZolcalD is an excellent form of calcium (liquid) and seems to very palatable to most birds. A tiny drop in the drinking water daily is sufficient until the beak shows more signs of strength and repair. After that, a drop once or twice a week should be fine for about a month, then stop it. Even if it is not down to a slight calcium deficiency, the ZolcalD will help his beak repair itself.

Anne

His beak's looking heaps better. It's not back to perfect yet (Dingaling bird is still chewing the cage) but it is getting better.

I dust a little cuttlefish in his food for calcium. He gets oats that are still in their husks. I don't think I've seen a bird before with such an intense interest in his food!

That's good news

awesome Caren, is there a way you can give him something else to chew on that he would enjoy more then his cage?

Well, I've shifted him in with Skye to help her depression and so I can keep an eye on him. So far, he hasn't chewed the cage (he has more then enough toys to distract him). To tell the truth, I have no idea what started him off, but I'm sure he won't be my last cage chewer (his kind of insanity's contagious!!)