Beak Problem

joanne79

joanne79

Regular Member
Hi All,

It's been quite a while since I last posted on here but I need some advice. Today, I took my GCC to the vet as the bottom part of her beak was looking odd and she couldn't close her mouth properly. Anyway, the vet filed it down and although it looks better, she still can't fully close her mouth. The vet says she will have to go back for a few more visits over the next few months but in the mean time, she advised me to put her on harrisons pellets as the main part of her diet. At the moment my 2 conures have chop in the morning and then later in the day, they have either tidy mix or the no peanut / sunflower seed mix from Scarletts. I thought this was a decent enough diet or should I follow the vets advice and change them to Harrisons?
 
Hi Joanne.....in my opinion there's nothing wrong with the diet you are feeding...
Is this vet an avian specialist? Did they give a reason for the suggested change? Or is it the typical vet response of pellets are better?

It's Tizzy isn't it?? (My memory is not the best!) does she play with toys? Maybe some soft wood to chew such as balsa blocks or soft pine which you can get from The Natrual Bird company, may help beak-wise?
 
Harrisons are very good at promoting themselves to vets. I'm sure its a decent enough food but to me pellets are terrible boring for intelligent birds. a good quality diet like tidymix /the no-sunflower stuff provides more then nutrition it provides mental and physical enrichment that no pellet can give.
 
Thanks for you replies. TomsMum, Tizzy is my other GCC, the one I am talking about is Kady (who was previously Cody but we got a DNA and he was a she lol). It was an Avian vet but not my usual one. I was a bit miffed when she told me to cut back on the chop and make harrisons her main diet. She has plenty of toys but she tends to play with preening type toys more than anything else. I may have to add more chewing toys to her cage :)
 
Ah I was half right then :risas3: yes as remember your Cody ...bless Kady now!

Well I would be miffed at being told to cut back on fresh food too!
 
I agree. The vet must have shares in Harrisons! Sounds to me like she has an excellent diet.
 
One of my ringnecks also refuses to chew enough so i have to trim his beak every few months. This was always a problem and changing the diet did nothing to make it better or worse. My vet (also a good friend of mine by now) never even once told me to change the diet because of this problem.
 
Thanks everyone. I'm just going to keep her on the diet she is on and put some more chewing toys in her cage. If she needs to go back for another trim, I will make sure it is with my usual vet and speak to him about it : )
 
Just a quick question as growth to the beak may be owing to lack of vitamin intake do you give your birds any extra calcium One other reason why vets get thrown into recommending Harrisons is it has a balanced diet along with fruit and veg but my own thoughts are that the good balanced diet a avian lamp and a tiny sprinkle of Nutrobal twice a week and your love is all that the bird needs.
 
Thanks Michael. Yes they get nutrobal twice a week but I do not have an avian lamp. My reason for not yet having one is because during the day, they get free roam of their own room so I'm not really sure where I would place it and if they would use it??
 
I wouldn't worry too much about an avian lamp personally, especially if it doesn't fit in with your setup...my Charle is 28 and never had a lamp..Chiko the. Amazon does though....
One thing I add to the seed mix is Pumpkin seed as that has a high Magnesium level - as that assists with calcium absorption.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom