About beak trimming

groovieguy · Jan 8, 2015

New to larger birds and was wondering about beak trimming and when is to long? I noticed ZaZu after eating certain things he is rubbing his beak on the bars of the cage and sometimes to wooden perch. Here are a few pics. I went on line and saw some pics but still confused. Is this done often?

Thanks

Kiwibird · Jan 8, 2015

His beak doesn't look overgrown or in need of trimming to me. They rub their beak on perches/bars to clean it, as they don't typically use napkins or washcloths

Kiwi likes wiping his beak on his pedi perch. It's like he "knows" that will get the nasties off and it keeps his beak "smoother" looking, which is strictly cosmetic (it is natural for them to flake). I'd say he's being a normal zon. Looks feisty too. You must be feeding him lots of veggies

weco · Jan 8, 2015

They also rub their beaks to groom them.....if you've ever used a sharpening steel to sharpen a knife, it's similar, or think of it as their emery board to remove any flaking their beak may be doing (a natural occurrence) if you install a pumice perch in their cage, they will generally use that to keep their beak manicured and tip blunted.....

Birdman666 · Jan 8, 2015

My red lored amazon has a slight scissors beak. I get hers done about once per year, to once every 18 months... because there is one small section that gets overgrown, and it causes her bite to be off...

My CAG, I don't recall ever needing it. My RFM and my GWM, I think have each had this done exactly once. My little lilac crowned, I don't think has ever needed it either. (She's 42 years old!)

Birdman666 · Jan 8, 2015

groovieguy said:
New to larger birds and was wondering about beak trimming and when is to long? I noticed ZaZu after eating certain things he is rubbing his beak on the bars of the cage and sometimes to wooden perch. Here are a few pics. I went on line and saw some pics but still confused. Is this done often?

Thanks

They rub their beaks after eating to get the crumbs off...

groovieguy · Jan 8, 2015

Thanks everyone. I wasn't sure how long is to long. He has the pumice perch but hates it and doesn't go on it.

Kiwibird · Jan 8, 2015

groovieguy said:
Thanks everyone. I wasn't sure how long is to long. He has the pumice perch but hates it and doesn't go on it.

Does he chew stuff? Like wood toys? There may be rocks in nature and perhaps parrots sand their beaks on them, but theres no pumice perches in the jungle! Parrots in nature keep their beaks trim by chewing, lots and lots of chewing:09: Pumice perches are nice, but a beaver-bird will also maintain a healthy beak just by chewing up wood. Giving him smaller nuts to crack will also help (if it fits in his beak, he can crack it). My zon loves to crack hazelnuts, pecans (those longer brown ones) and almonds. It takes practice for most captive amazons to build the beak muscles to do so, but they can and should learn to crack nuts. It's natural!

Taw5106 · Jan 12, 2015

When Buddy rubs his beak I tell Husband he's sharpening his beak for Husband, lol. I keep an edible perch in Buddy's cage. When I first got him in March of 2014, Buddy's beak was severly over grown. These edible perches have helped trim his beak down and they have kept his beak trimmed without a nasty towel and human intervened trim Jo . He loves them and chews on them daily. I like that because I didn't want to have him toweled and then someone physically trim his beak. It makes beak maintenance easy and minimal human intervention. He doesn't eat the perch, he chews and saws through them, but if he ingest some he's safe. This has worked for us immensely.

Kiwibird · Jan 12, 2015

Taw5106 said:
I keep an edible perch in Buddy's cage. When I first got him in March of 2014, Buddy's beak was severly over grown. These edible perches have helped trim his beak down and they have kept his beak trimmed without a nasty towel and human intervened trim Jo . He loves them and chews on them daily. I like that because I didn't want to have him toweled and then someone physically trim his beak. It makes beak maintenance easy and minimal human intervention. He doesn't eat the perch, he chews and saws through them, but if he ingest some he's safe. This has worked for us immensely.

I got (unknowingly) one of those edible mineral perches once for Kiwi. I just thought it was a funky looking pedi perch and had *no idea* it was edible. He was just starting to become tame at that time too. O man was I *horrified* to see him rather savagely attacking and literally chewing up what I thought was a cement perch wondering what kind of super vicious bird we had gotten

:52: Lololol:32:

Taw5106 · Jan 12, 2015

Lol at Kiwi!! I was nervous too but Buddy rarely eats and ingests them. I think it's been a lifesaver for us at this point. Buddy hasn't been with us for quite a year. He chews or saws through them and his beak looks awesome but that's buddy, not Kiwi LOL! I found, bought, and put it in his cage to see what he'd do with it. I didnt want to have his beak trimmed, I was too nervous, sensitive about it. Right now I keep an edible perch in his cage. So far so good. Buddy has a sexy, mean beak, lol.

jthorntonwillis · Jan 13, 2015

Mack does this after every meal.Just normal "beak brushing" behavior IMHO.

About beak trimming

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