Beak trim or not to trim

amariemo

New member
Apr 18, 2022
2
7
Parrots
Jenday Conure
Hello. I am a new conure owner and I am trying to figure out beaks - does it need trimmed - how to know when? I also wonder is it painful or very envolved-do they have to sedate the bird? Can it be done enough at home on sand perches, cuttlebone ect or is taking to the vet necessary? I will post a photo of my Skittles current beak.
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Laurasea

Well-known member
Aug 2, 2018
12,593
10,702
USA
Parrots
Full house
Hi! Welcome to the forum!
Looks pretty normal to me , they are hook bills.
Provide both hard and soft and different stuff to chew to allow them to keep in shape. Most parrots don't require beak trims and keep beak in top condition themselves as long as they have plenty of stuff to chew.

Congratulations on your cutie!
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
As so well covered above. It is rare that a Healthy /Happy Parrot will need its Beak Trimmed. For all the reasons provided above.

Beak trimming is far more common when there are Health issues that increases the rate of growth. In all cases, Beak trimming should be very limited in length and only trimmed by a professionally trained Avian tech or Avian Vet as once again stated above. There are are nerve endings that are highly sensitive and trimming too close will case pain to a level of their Not Eating!
 

Squeekmouse

Well-known member
May 31, 2017
840
337
Illinois
Parrots
Yoda, Green Cheek Conure - Trigger, Congo African Grey
We take our two birds to the vet every 3 months or so to get their nails trimmed and beaks dulled. Our vet has an assistant hold the bird in a towel and he trims the nails with a clipper and uses a Dremel like grinder to sand down the tip of the beak a little, just to make it less pointy. I wouldn't trust doing the beaks myself or anything less than our Vet doing it.

We do it because:
  1. Our GCC is rather nippy and his beak gets VERY sharp
  2. Our African grey sometimes tries to attack our GCC and we hope to minimize bite damage by keeping his beak from getting overly sharp
  3. Our African grey bites more when he's hormonal and I don't like bleeding.
  4. Most importantly, my dad is quite old and his skin is very thin and delicate, plus he is on blood thinners. Our birds both love him and love to get attention and treats from him (which Dad loves also!), but even just using their beaks to climb around his arm can draw blood if they are sharp.
It's not strictly necessary, especially if you give them plenty of toys to destroy (wood, calcium blocks, cuttlebone). Your pictures show that he has a healthy beak, it's not overly long or ragged, but it does have a sharp point.
 

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