Slight Scissor Beak home care

Alright, first off, yes, we will be bringing her to a vet to get her beak trimmed properly so the scissor beak can be properly seen to. However, the vet in our area who I know can give Virginia the proper care for the issue is booked up until the end of May. So don't worry, we fully plan to get this seen to properly, but we're asking if there's anything we can do at home while waiting for her appointment, just to lessen the scissor beak issue and stop it from getting worse in the mean time.

So Virginia is my baby lovebird, she's only about 4 months old and she's a runt to top it off. Thankfully we (we being myself and my fiance) noticed the scissor beak issue starting pretty early and we hoped our vet wouldn't be booked up, but he is. Guess we shouldn't be surprised though, spring is coming after all and a lot of people around here tend to get their feathered kids a checkup almost as soon as the snow is cleared.

So we have an appointment for her at the end of May to get the proper beak trimming done so her scissor beak can be corrected while she's young, since that'll give the best chance of her recovering from it. In the mean time we're trying to figure out what we can do at home to help her. She's a lot smaller than your average lovebird due to being the runt in her clutch so we gotta be careful with our tiny little baby bird. We have a cuddle-bone in her cage for her to be able to work her beak on, hoping that helps combat any new growth, but we aren't sure what else could help her.

I've dealt with scissor beak on a cockatoo before, back when I fostered rescued parrots, but I have never seen it on such a small bird so I don't know what should be done differently due to her tiny size. She can still eat fine, the crooked part of her beak isn't that bad right now, we just want to make sure it doesn't get worse while waiting for her appointment. Any advice or ideas we can look into?

Also, if we had another avian vet option, we would go with it, sadly the vet we normally go to is the only avian specialist in the area. If this was just a checkup or something then we would go with our backup vet who isn't an avian specialist but can see to many of the basics for birds, but for something like this we figure it's better to bring her to the specialist since he has more experience with beak issues.

The only suggestion I feel comfortable making is to call your Avian Vet, explain the situation and ask if they could call you if they have a cancellation before your appointment day.

I have very little experience with beak trimming, and even less with such a tiny beak. It sounds like you are doing everything possible for little Virginia. I hope your vet will be able to help with her beak.

I'm hoping so too Allee and hoping it can be fully corrected and won't be reoccurring. I'm just glad I know what it is and didn't overlook it. We are on the top of the list for calls if there's a cancellation, since this is an active issue, so maybe we'll get lucky and get a call sooner. Til then I intend to watch her eating habits and put her on our little postal scale to watch her weight in case it's causing her problems that we're not able to actively observe. Now if only I could get her to use the cuddle-bone we got her to help with beak wearing. . .she keeps sleeping on it instead of chewing on it.

Great idea to check her weight regularly.

That is so sweet, she's sleeping on her cuttlebone. I found a couple of links for you. Maybe she would like a small beak buffer or a conditioning stone for small parrots.

How to Take Care of Your Bird's Beak

Bird Supplies: Beak Conditioners

Thanks for the links, that millet mineral log might be a good idea, since she loves her millet and making her deal with the mineral log to get it may help.

And yeah, she sleeps on anything, her cuddle-bone, her toys, my hand. Her favorite is my computer monitor, she'll perch on it with her big brother and watch me work then end up falling asleep on it, and leaned against Nero. So cute too because Nero refuses to move when she falls asleep like that, not wanting to wake her. Such a good big birdy brother.

Virginia's big brother, Nero is a green cheek and lets Virginia snuggle next to him? That is adorable. In fact, it sounds like you have a very charming flock. We'd love to hear more about all of them and see photos if you'd like to share.

Yup, Nero's been protective of her since we brought her home. We had to put their cages next to each other because he likes watching Virg to make sure she's alright. We keep telling him that he's such a good big brother and he struts around all proud when we say it.

I'll have to see bout getting photos of them all, and maybe videos when they let me. Be fun with Yamato, he sees a camera and he attacks it, and the hand holding it. He just hates cameras for some reason.

Lil update here, got the call that a our vet's daughter, who he trained in his office after she got her degree so she's good, was visiting the area and she offered to do the first beak trimming for Virginia. Virginia's beak is looking a LOT better after that trimming. So the appointment we have with our vet is now a followup to check on the post-trim progress of Virg's beak. I can already tell that my little feather butt is feeling a LOT better after that beak trim.