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Question:

March 4, 2024

birds beak


1 of my budgies beak grows longer than the others he has natural wood perches, cuttlebone and mineral block but it seems he never uses them his beak has had to be trimmed a couple times already how to I get him to use his beak trimming equipment . I have trimmed it twice and each time he moves and he starts to bleed a little bit from his beak and the vet has done it once.


Answer:

Hi,

When the beak grows too long on a budgie, it is usually due to poor nutrition or scaly face mites. If you are only feeding seeds, this is most likely the cause. He should be eating a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets, along with greens & chopped veggies.  If the beak seems to have something growing on it, it may be the mites. There are also internal issues that can cause beak overgrowth. It is not because the bird doesn’t chew. The beak will stay at a normal length on a healthy budgie, even if it doesn’t use a mineral block or chew on toys. I would take the bird to an avian vet to have the beak carefully examined for scaly face mites and if these are not the cause, the vet should run some blood tests. It’s not a good idea to trim the beak yourself because it is possible for a bird to lose too much blood if the beak is trimmed too much. They also have nerves in the beak and it is very painful for a bird to have the beak trimmed, especially when it is cut too short.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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