Blue and Gold Macaw Beak Problems

Hi All,

I am new to this forum, and would like to extend greetings to all members.

I have an issue with my Blue and Gold Macaw, that I am hoping someone may be able to shed some light on. About a year now, we noticed his beak starting to erode, with the "decay" not proceeding further than the midpoint of a usual healthy beak. We promptly carried him by an Avian Veterinarian, who was not able to precisely diagnose what was causing this, but prescribed a general purpose antibiotic (Enrofloxacin) to be administered for 1 week.

After the first round of treatment, his beak gradually healed and returned to normal looking (after 3 months) only for it to start eroding again. We carried him back to the vet, who took a swab of the beak (for culturing purposes) and prescribed another rounds of the antibiotic. The culture did not identify any pathogens, and his beak healed once more. However, it has started again to degenerate. I cannot find any similar account of this occurrence anywhere.

Please see pictures attached.

Some general points to note:

(i) Other than his beak, he is an overall quite healthy fellow

(ii) There has not been any change to his behaviour (loud and misbehaving as always), appetite, appearance, stool consistency and appearance.
(iii) He is housed in a large aviary, with his wings never clipped. He has a variety of perches, some smooth, some rough.
(iv) He is fed a diet of seeds, pellets, fruits and vegetables (apples, grapes, banana, strawberry, boiled brown rice)
(v) He is given vitamins on a daily basis (Prime Concentrated Vitamin, Mineral and Amino Acid Supplement)
(vi) We live in the tropics
(vii) He is "visited" daily by wild birds (Columbina talpacoti)
(viii) He receives daily attention and care.

(ix) He is turning 15 years old on 8th April 2016





I would appreciate any advice and comments, before I carry him back for a probable third round of antibiotic treatment. Please let me know if any additional information is required.

Thank you,

Nigel

Additional Pics

I'm no doctor/vet, but I have a gut feeling this might be diet related. Hypervitaminosis (vitamin toxicity/excess vitamin), perhaps? Hypervitaminosis A (excessive vitamin a) creates brittle beaks. May I ask why you supplement?

Edit: if you do a google search for "hypervitaminosis beak", the beaks look somewhat similar.

Whatever this may be, I certainly wish you luck in solving it.

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your reply! The reason that I started to supplement with Vitamins is because when he was first presented to the Vet with the beak symptoms, the Vet suggested that this was a Vitamin A deficiency, and I should start supplementing. i.e. he never received added Supplements before.

Maybe I could request a blood test to quantify the actual levels present?

Welcome to the forums.

I'd definitely recommend your Avian vet do a CBC analysis.
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/aviancbc.html
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/beakdeformities.html

Is the aviary kept outdoors? How much natural sunlight is your B&G exposed to on a daily basis?

I would also worry about the wild birds? I know that might be good for mental health, but wild birds could be introducing bacteria? I don't know the set up, just the visits from the wild birds caught my attention. Keep us updated on your B&G, best of luck.

Hi, I'm going to schedule a full blood work on him with my Vet. I also got a possible suggestion today that this is a manifestation of fatty liver disease, so I will also be gradually introducing him on a diet with reduced fat levels.

His aviary outdoors and is such that he has a covered portion, and an open portion exposed to sunlight, where he is often hanging out in the open. The possible contamination spread by wild birds has been something that has bothered me for a while now - I'll have to devise some set up to exclude them if the blood tests convey some wild type infection.

Will post an update as soon as I hear something. Thanks!

Just wondering if you have found anything else out about your B&G's beak? My B&G is going on 20 years old and her beak is doing the same thing. I have taking her to the vet twice now and they didn't seem to know what's going on either. They did ask me about putting a cast on it because they think she's rubbing it in her cage however I'm home with her all day and she does not rub her beak in a excessive amount where it would do that or look that way. Also I have had her all her life and she has not changed behavior, food or anything.

Has there been any updates or new info on the b&g beak. My b&g's beak looks just like the ones posted in this forum. I have several breeds of birds and only my b&g has a deteriorating beak.

That beak looks like someone with severe toenailfungus.
(in that case: weird that antibiotics would work though...)


Just get your CAV to do some cultures first.

Fyi, my b & g has the same exact problem,
Vet said it was a fungus and I have been applying different treatments without success

You have replied to a two-year-old thread! You may get a much better response if you start your own new thread! Also, a very warm welcome to you!

Serious fungus (like humans with toenailissues) should always be treated 'from the inside out' as well as just coating the outside with ointment. That means orally medicating your bird. (Get some -powdered- pills inside him/her, so the fungus gets destroyed from the base).

Wellllllllllllllllll... since the thread has been bumped... I guess I'll add my usual links about vets...

Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.

GaleriaGila said:

Wellllllllllllllllll... since the thread has been bumped... I guess I'll add my usual links about vets...

Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.

Click to expand...

This is just what I was looking for the other day! Thanks for posting it! I'm so glad someone bumped an old thread! Lol!

I know this is a old post but I am so grateful to see someone dealing with the same issue we are having with Mango. I could copy your post word for word but a few exceptions. Mango is 4 with no health problems. Mango plays outside in a enclosed area but no access to wild birds. Mango is gave a healthy diet. Any new insight on this? I do have pics.