Beak Lenght

Is Belle's beak to long, we have been told to have it trimmed. Everythigng we read says not to trim the beaks.

On any other species, I would think thats a bit long, but all ekkies I see seem to have long beaks. I'm not an ekkie guy, just going by pics seen online. She is beautiful BTW, and I love the expression in her eye here. .

I'd say it's definitely borderline. A bit on the long side, even. But before you consider taking her to the vet for a dremel treatment, you might want to look into the types of toys that are in her cage. A variety of softer woods might induce her to start chewing more. The beak is still at the point where she could work it down herself.

Ah, the better to bite you with!

It is a tad too long, but not critical. Definitely attempt Anansi's advice for self-help. My female Ekkie visits the vet every few months for a trim to correct a scissors-beak condition. Thankfully she tolerates the Dremel tool and does not need anesthesia.

Do Ekksters like to scrape/trim/file their beaks on those textured perches? Rb does. I like these brands... Polly's Sand Walk... Pumice Perch... Trimmer Perch...

Thanks for all the answers, we have wood toys but she dosnt really like them. We have the perches but she dosnt rub on it. She loves to rub on the top of the cage and we give her a almond a day which she will work on until she breaks it open. Im going to get some other types of wood toys and see if I can find something for her.

Yes, please try trimming perches, sand perches, mineral blocks, etc. first, and if they don't work within a short amount of time then take her to a certified avian vet only and have it done. It's right on the edge of being too long, if it continues to grow as it is eventually it will start causing eating problems. But if you can avoid the Dremel trimming it's better. Never ever let a general vet or an "exotics" vet with "bird experience" Dremel your bird's beak, only a certified avian vet! And prior to having it done talk to the certified avian vet about the procedure, whether or not they use anesthesia or sedation, insist that you're in the room with her when it's done, and ask every question you can think of. A lot of birds have had major issues from having their beaks done, whether it be shock, trauma, stroke, heart attack, etc. from not being sedated, or pain after they wake up, etc. And I've actually read many posts where the owner was not allowed in the room with their bird while it was being done, and when their bird was brought back to them the bird was soaking wet, the bird was breathing extremely fast, having a seizure, the vet squeezed the bird's chest too hard and compressed it causing a collapsed lung, the bird got huge amounts of dust inside their nostrils and developed a horrible infection, and in many of these instances (most of them) their bird died pretty quickly after having it done. But the two common denominators to all of these horror stories I've heard are #1 the vet was not a certified avian vet but rather an "exotics" vet that treats birds, and #2 they were told they were not allowed to be in the room with their bird while it was being done, so they had no idea what went on in that room before their bird came back sick or worse.

I've had my avian vet do many beaks with a Dremel (always uses gas sedation and I'm always right there with my bird) and I've never once had an issue.

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Thank you for the excellent advise

On my male ekkie there is a very definite line where I've been told is the ideal length. This is about roughly were it is on him. I don't think her break is overly long but I also don't advise letting it grow for too much longer. I'll see if I can get a picture of the line on Lincoln.



edit:
This is the best picture I could find but you still couldn't see the line very well in the original pic so I adjusted the original pic a bit then outlined it.

Socalguy said:

Thanks for all the answers, we have wood toys but she dosnt really like them. We have the perches but she dosnt rub on it. She loves to rub on the top of the cage and we give her a almond a day which she will work on until she breaks it open. Im going to get some other types of wood toys and see if I can find something for her.

Click to expand...

You may have wood toys, but is it soft wood? I ask because ekkies are not as drawn to the harder woods as macaws are. For example:

The wood pieces on Maya's toy pictured here are examples of wood that is too hard. She is an avid enough chewer that she eventually got around to gnawing on it a bit, but softer woods like the thin wood slats or the softer alphabet blocks would be torn into immediately and with much enthusiasm.

Now if you do have soft woods, your ekkie may not quite know how to play with them just yet. This is something that happens with some birds. You can try to introduce her to the concept by playing with the toys yourself in front of her. Or you can mix the wood toys in with stuff she does like to chew, such as shreddables like pieces of paper or cardboard. Once she gets the taste for it, she'll likely get VERY enthusiastic about her chewing.

EDIT: The soft top/textured sides concrete block that Maya is perched on in the pic is a good example of the kind of perch Abigail and Ellen were talking about that she might rub her beak against. They make great filers.

Re: Beak Length

I just went out last night and bought some soft wood toys, she does love to chew on my guitar picks and other plastic things though and she will work on an almond for 30 minutes until she gets it open.

Trying post some other angles but the system wont let now. Anyone else having this issue

Try uploading them to imgur.com or something first. Then click the drop down that should be above the image and go to bbcode. Copy that it should look like

Re: Beak Length

Here are some better angles, her head is not as tucked in on these.





I just like this shot haha

She's beautiful!

Yep, those angles confirm that her beak is only slightly on the long side. Here is Maya with a good beak length example.