Blue Crown Conure with beak peeling!

[Syd]

I need help with my Blue crown Conures beak. It keeps peeling like this and he is such a picky eater and refuses to eat anything other than zupreem pellets and grapes and lettuce. Please help.

 

[Syd]

he has a cuttlebone he refuses to touch it. :|

 

[weco]

Take a deep breath Syd.....there's nothing wrong.....his beak is naturally regenerating itself.....

While vendors and a lot of online information would have you believe that our feathered friends must have cuttlebone, it's not really a must have situation.....cuttlebone is simply a source of calcium an if a bird receives sufficient calcium from other sources, it might never partake of cuttlebone you were so kind to provide.....

Relax, your little friend is OK.....

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi Syd

I honestly don't see a problem. Looks like the beak is just growing. It's perfectly normal that some of it "shed".

Bird Beak Anatomy

 

[Syd]

It just seems so extreme. It has gotten worse since I got him 3 weeks ago so I'm just making sure this isn't something I'm doing wrong as a new bird owner. He's only 3 months old

 

[JerseyWendy]

You said he was a picky eater. THIS thread may interest you.
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/23367-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

 

[ruffledfeathers]

My little guy had some peeling on his beak a month or two ago. He is fine.
Gilbert, my bcc, was never a 'picky' eater but he was a little more undecided at such a young age. Maybe your bird is still unsure and going to the few things he 'knows' by sight and is comfortable with?? I eat at least one meal per day with Gilbert and will specifically pick up certain foods and hold it so he watches me and then i say MMM and eat it in front of him. I have all the same foods on my plate that he has on his so he knows "we" are eating this and it is all good.

 

[JamesC]

Your bird is fine. With both of my blue crowns the lower looks similar. Occasionally the upper will flake off. With Tootsie, my oldest bird, sometimes flakes will come off that are about a quarter inch in size. There will be a softer material under it but once rubbed off the beak is normal and fine. The lowers almost always have a bit that is peeled. The upper comes and goes. Both are on a pellet & fruit/veggie diet and ignore their mineral blocks & cuttlebones.

You can see in the photo on the left that Tootsie has peeling on top and bottom currently. On the right, Rosco has a patch on the lower similar to your bird.

I love that picture of Rosco. He did NOT like that camera and you can see it in his eyes.

Nice looking Blue Crown, by the way.

 

[kellie]

My Sun's beak peeled all the time when I first got him, I don't think it's a big deal, though I never really looked up anything on it.

For the picky eater thing, you could try making him a mash and mixing it in with his pellets one day.
I take kale, jalepeno, apple (his favorite), raspberries and carrots and put them all in a food processor till they're about bite size and give it to him. He was hesitant at first, but now he loves it! Especially the carrots (and I used to not be able to get him to eat those for anything!) I freeze it in ice cube trays and defrost one each morning. I also do a mix of lentils, garbanzo beans and quinoa pasta!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

My galahs beak sometimes looks flawless then suddenly it looses a chunk of the outer layer, my grey tends to have a flawless beak all the time so far but I wouldn't worry if it started pealing.

Peeling & flaking is normal and nothing to worry about.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Does he have a nice wood perch or other wood to rub his beak on? Pritti's beak does this and I kind of help flake some off sometimes. He sees to really like it. But usually he "files" it off on the wood perch or blocks.

 

[Syd]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Yes he has a wood perch he can file it on I think it might also get progressive so fast because he climbs his cage all day long inside and out (I word from home) and he tends to use his beak a lot in his climbing efforts. I just want to make sure he was ok
All of you have such beautiful birds! I love to see so many other Blue Crown owners!

 

[JamesC]

Give him some destructible toys and things he can chew on. And most birds seem to like to rub their beaks on a gritty surface so I have one sand perch in each cage that they can get on and rub away. They can keep their beaks in nice condition that way and polish off those loose and rough edges that you are seeing.

It could be extra helpful for Blue Crowns because I was told by my avian vet that in the wild they use their beaks to pick the foods they eat out of hard shelled nuts. In a captive environment they don't do that so they can get some overgrowth and develop long thin "cut throat" tips. I have to nip Tootsie's beak from time to time because as she has grown older she does not do the normal beak maintenance as much any longer. My old girl is getting senile I think.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

JamesC makes a great point. My Gilbert often rubs his beak on his gritty perch. Doesn't look comfy to me but it keeps his beak in good shape.

 

[SoCalWendy]

I completely agree.. His beak looks normal. As for the cuttlebone, take it out. Wait about a month and then put it back and see what happens. Rio completely ignored her cuttlebone. I removed it and then recently gave it back. Now she loves it, eats it, and will even play with it. So don't stress.