Kermit's Lower Beak

[jodeg]

I noticed last night that Kermit's lower beak seems longer than it should be. It's definitely longer than Kiwi's. It may have been this way all along, I'm not sure. The upper beak is fine. It looks like his beak doesn't close all the way -- I see a slight opening between upper and lower.

You can imagine just how much he LOVES me checking out his beak -- NOT!

He's eating just fine and it doesn't seem to bother him. I have a couple of cement perches in his cage and I do see him using them.

Has anyone else ever noticed this? I'm inclined to wait a bit and see if it keeps growing, since it may have always been like this -- rather than stress him out (he's very timid) with a visit to my bird shop (they have a groomer).

Any advice? Thanks!

[myolive]

Sometimes their beaks can overgrow, for various reasons. My mom's Amazon has a beak that overgrows and she has to have it clipped by the vet occasionally. If you do decide to have Kermie's beak clipped, be very careful about who does it. They have to really know what they're doing, otherwise he may not be able to eat properly. If he's still able to eat, I wouldn't rush to have it done. I'd wait it out and watch him carefully. Maybe it won't get worse.

[jodeg]

Kermit is such a sweet little boy! He let me file his lower beak! No biting or anything! I thought I'd try to even it up and shorten it just a little, IF he let me. It looks much better now and he's fine! He's eating, chirping and running around his cage just like normal. It's not quite as short as Kiwi's, but I didn't want to take off too much at once.

He did so well with this, I'm just amazed! He so sweet and trusting of me, I didn't want to break the bond with him, but he did great!

I love my little babies! :D

Thanks for your advice, "myolive"!

[Taylor]

Wow! I am really impressed! He must trust you a lot to allow that! I'm not sure if I could get any of my guys to go along with beak filling. You should be very proud of yourself :)

[jodeg]

Thanks, Taylor! I'm proud of HIM! I went real slow and talked quietly to him, thinking I wouldn't get very far at all and afraid he'd HATE me after this, but he's just fine! When I was finished, I held him and talked to him and he just looked up at me with those big eyes, not struggling to get away or anything! He must trust me, and that just warms my heart!

[Trice]

Hello! Happy Kermit allowed you to trim his beak. That's a excellent start. Have you tried a beack walk or sandy perch by chance? With him allowing you to slowly file it down if problems prsist this could be a stress free solution for both if you. Keeping you both in my thoughts.

[jodeg]

Hi Trice -

They both have a couple of cement perches in their cages, and they both use them, so don't know if this is his "normal" or not. He's doing real well and I'm keeping an eye on that beak of his!

[wrynsmom]

Have you had blood work done on your parrotlets? I'm kind of paranoid, now. My parrotlet died suddenly (about a week and a half ago). He had congenital liver disease. One of the indicators (I didn't know about) is overgrown and brittle beak. Since it's the mandible that's overgrown, I would suspect he IS using the cement perches just as you said, but it's more difficult for them to "work on" their lower. Just thought I'd mention this. I don't want anyone else to go through the loss of a pet just because something was overlooked. Good luck! and best wishes.

[jodeg]

wrynsmom:

His beak isn't brittle at all and he's on a very good diet -- he eats well, plays, chirps, looks beautiful and alert. I feel he's very healthy and happy, so at this point, I'm not too worried.

Thanks for your concern.

[Trice]

With Kermit eating, drinking and actively moving, it doesn't sound like you should be concerned at all currently.

[jodeg]

Thanks, Trice! He's doing just fine, eating, chirping, flying, all the good stuff. Think he's trying to talk, hear lots of garbled stuff when I'm outside their room. When I walk in, he clams up -- darn! Guess he's trying to impress Kiwi, not ME! :rolleyes:

[drab91]

You should try to put his Cement perch right by wherever he eats his soft food, cause I know Mavric always does the old face wipe on the nearest perch after pigging out LOL
Just a thought...

[Trice]

Happy to hear things are going to be just fine.

[jodeg]

Thanks, Trice. He's doing just fine -- he sure is a happy little birdy!