Chipped tip of the beak

I was noting how sharp the tip of Kass' beak has been today. Upon closer inspection I noticed it was chipped. Of course I realize it happens and is not an issue for him but it's very sharp. Besides going to the vet to have it shaved down a bit, can I give him anything to chew on to dull it down naturally? I tried giving him pecans in a shell but not sure if it's enough to dull it down and I don't want to give him too much.

Other than that, his last checkup last month went well! Vet said he's the perfect weight/size, feathers look beautiful, beak is healthy, and overall temperament is awesome .



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You are correct that it represents zero concern for your MAC. When a tip snaps like this, for us Humans that come in contact with it, as you state, it's sharp.

There are perches that have a sandpaper like finish that helps the Parrot keep both toenails and beaks from becoming too long. That said, the Parrot needs to in fact use it or the danger of using it too much.

Depending of the Trust Level your Parrot has with you... You could use a nail file to smooth the sharper edges.

There are likely other approaches that may help.

The great danger of filing a beak is 'over doing it.' Better to deal with a sharp edge or two than to have your Parrot stop eating resulting for over trimming the beak.

I just discovered my B&G loves those hard gourds you can buy in every grocery store this time of year. Could get a few of those to let your bird destroy. Might help.

Our Salty had a laterally chipped or lamination/crack upper beak, in the same location. He greatly reduced his food intake, stopped playing with his wood chew toys and in general was subdued in temperment. His Avian Vet removed tiny slivers of his beak, to get past the crack ( because leaving it invited the crack to develope into a larger one). 2 days of Salty slowly recovering and he was back to normal. She trimmed it with a small nailclipper, finished with a light nail file to remove sharp edges.

bug_n_flock said:

I just discovered my B&G loves those hard gourds you can buy in every grocery store this time of year. Could get a few of those to let your bird destroy. Might help.

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Are you talking about the "Decorative" small gourds? I've seen those . Wasn't sure if it was ok to give them raw/whole like that. He does like squash but I normall cook it a little before giving.

It's still rather pointy and he's eating like normal, nothing's changed with his temperament. Still a buttmunch. Just annoying when he plays with us and accidentally scrapes our skin with his beak.

He does have one of those rough perches in his cage. He's not a big chewer of his perches though so that won't help. His toys on his gym include coconut shells, cardboard, wood that he plays with so hopefully it smooths it off a bit more. If not I'll wrap a small piece of sandpaper oh my thumb and while I play with his beak I'll try to shave it smooth a bit LOL

Thanks, All!

Those gourds should probably help and they are really cheap, I'm sure your macaw already has wooden toys to chew but I'll mention that anyway, chewing wood toys should help. Here is my macaw destroying some gourds (winter squash):
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOG7NHxaiM4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOG7NHxaiM4[/ame]
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpzJDL_AdE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpzJDL_AdE[/ame]

Yeah the small cheap decorative ones are great. Just make sure they don't have any kind of coating. Even those little mini pumpkins are a hit. All squashes are safe.



Planning to grow a whole bunch for her next year. Freedom does have wood toys and a hard wood perch, but she is always interested in destroying new and interesting things. The other day I gave her a whole coconut to chew on. It kept her busy for a little while before she lost interest(too hard for her to get a good hold of, but she was gnawing on the fibers attached to the outside of it), I'll have to at least put a small hole or 2 in it for her I think(prolly cut it in half or somethign to avoid any potential beak trapping incidents). But she was VERY excited about it and kept hopping at it like an adorable fool.


But while they are everywhere and cheap, I have been mostly keeping her busy with the gourds.

Omg thanks!! Just picked up 3. Guess ill drill a hole and string it through to hang? Lol

Um....he ate a whole gourd in 1 sitting LOL!!!!!!! Guess he will be pooping orange a while??

LMFAO, Jacob really zips thru those gourds !! Even when they are cheap, if he goes thru them that quickly, it gonna be better to grow them!

Every once in a while, someone here chips a beak. I use a human nail file and gently file until I am passed the cracks. Usually it takes some times before I get it all and thankfully I have long nails, so my birds are used to me sitting and filing my nails, so they often don't mind me taking a few swipes of their beaks. One of them even insists on getting her beak trimmed, whenever I do my nails

tfw said:

Um....he ate a whole gourd in 1 sitting LOL!!!!!!! Guess he will be pooping orange a while??

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Lmao, that's hilarious, I guess he liked it for sure. My macaw barley eats any if at all, he'll eat a few seeds and the rest is just a chew toy. Was his crop a giant bulge after that? I remember giving Jacob a whole toast thinking he'd drop it after eating a small part but he ate the whole thing minus the crust and his crop was soooo full. Oops.

SilleIN said:

Every once in a while, someone here chips a beak. I use a human nail file and gently file until I am passed the cracks. Usually it takes some times before I get it all and thankfully I have long nails, so my birds are used to me sitting and filing my nails, so they often don't mind me taking a few swipes of their beaks. One of them even insists on getting her beak trimmed, whenever I do my nails

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Luckily they're was no split. It was just a jagged tip. I was going to wrap a small piece of sandpaper on my thumb and pretend i was just tickling his beak like I always do and sneak in a quick filing lol

Valyndris said:

Was his crop a giant bulge after that?

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I didn't notice chiz I saw him an hour after he gobbled it up lol