Mealy Amazon Beak

hollandgirl4

Regular Member
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hi all, me again (sorry).
As many of you will know, I’ve had George 2 weeks now and he’s transitioning onto pellets now and seems to be eating them over the seed. He still has fresh veg on offer, but since being on pellets tends not to eat it, but I’m hoping he will start to again and will keep offering it to him.
Yesterday he started chewing his iodine block for the first time which is good and really seems to enjoy shredding his toy that I bought him. He often chews the bars of the cage and drags his beak along his perches, his favourite seems to be the concrete perch to do it on.
When I first got George I was worried about his beak as it looked quite flakey, this is a picture I took of his beak when I first adopted him. 48BDDD3C-30E1-4D74-AA08-26658F6C7C5D.jpeg
And today when I’ve just got home to see him, I have noticed his beak now looks like this?!
376A8EA1-490B-464A-9FDA-6180863E626D.jpeg
It looks like he has got 2 beaks growing?! Is this a healthy beak growing or is this something I should be concerned about. It doesn’t seem to be hurting him and he seems to be his usual self.
Thanks in advance for your kind responses.
 
Looks healthy to me. The beak does flake slightly and this seems to be more prevalent in older birds. Again, as the diet improves it will probably look a bit smoother. He looks lovely and seems to be getting a nice sheen to his feathers. Great to hear he's eating his pellets. I'm sure he'll start to enjoy his veg in time...they do tend to go through phases.
 
Looks healthy to me. The beak does flake slightly and this seems to be more prevalent in older birds. Again, as the diet improves it will probably look a bit smoother. He looks lovely and seems to be getting a nice sheen to his feathers. Great to hear he's eating his pellets. I'm sure he'll start to enjoy his veg in time...they do tend to go through phases.
Thank you- it just concerns me as it looks like it’s split and there are 2 separate beaks growing. I’m sure that’s not even possible though!
 
My oldest parrot has a much flakier-looking beak than the others - it looks very much like George's - but this is not a problem.
 
My oldest parrot has a much flakier-looking beak than the others - it looks very much like George's - but this is not a problem.
Thank you, I was told he was only about 10 which is also why it concerns me a bit as he’s not really that old, but thank you for your reassurance that you wouldn’t necessarily worry if he was your parrot :)
 
He might be a lot older - there are some quite old mealies about, originally imported back in the 80s and 90s. Very few have been bred in captivity. Nonetheless, he might go on for decades yet!
 
Also, another question I’d like to ask, as some of you may know, when I got George I was told his was moulting- I’m sure that’s now not the case and I think it’s a poor nutrition thing and his feathers either fell out or he plucked them.
Does anyone know how tail feathers grow? I can’t get a picture of it as he won’t let me, but in his tail feathers is a long feather stem (I would call it) that has no feathers on at all, I only noticed it for the first time on Saturday and i’m hoping it’s a new feather growing through, but I would have thought they would come through with feathers on. It’s not sharp on the end, it’s quite blunt but this could be where he’s sat on it and blunted the end off.
These are his feathers with one of the first photos I took of him and they haven’t changed apart from looking brighter.
C0F1D8C2-58E6-4862-AC76-CF65ED4BB25F.jpeg
 
As previously advised.... I really believe George should see and again vet and have a full blood test done.

I know his diet hasn’t been great in his past life and this will have affected his condition, particularly noticeable in Feathers and beak.
It may be that his beak needs a trim and that with the improvements you are making to his diet, overall condition improve too. His beak shouldn’t look like this.

However, I would want to rule out a condition called Fatty Liver Disease of which Amazons and Cockatoos can be prone to, if they have had a high fat content diet. A vet would be able to carry out tests as perceived necessary, and advise on diet and medication.
 
it looks like he has had a diet issue in the past, the Beak I am not to concerned about but it looks like he has had a bad diet in the past, but I notice the claws look like they are curling in slightly and I will agree with TomsMum get him checked by an avian vet to find out if his diet needs are being met or another problem is the cause.
 
Roz has lots of experience with Amazons btw including a 'senior' panama who she brought back to health.
 
You need to register him with an avian vet and get him checked over thoroughly. A list of avian vets is available on the parrot society website. Register him, get him checked over so you know that the diet you’re providing to him is compatible with his needs.
 
Yeah as Michael says his nails look overgrown and will need a trim at the avian vet's. You can't always trust a non-avian vet to do it properly, as I found out to my cost once.
 
Can only echo what we posted on the previous post when you asked about the beak and nails and we mentioned about fatty liver issues as TomsMum has reiterated go to an avian vet and get him blood tested (it will also tell you what fruit and veggies to target to get a proper balance in any missing nutrients in his body) having a general health check and have the fatty liver disease checked out, the vet will do a little trim up of the beak and nails whilst your there.

Lou one of our members has a amazon called Lolly who had the same condition her bird showed all the classic symptoms of FLD unfortunately we changed software on forum and lost lots of pictures. Lou, Lolly and her avian vet worked really hard and Lolly is a transformed amazon from the mess she was when Lou took her on and Lolly was a right flipping mess poor little sweetie.
 
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I think the advice given above is exactly what your little George needs. I hate taking mine to the vets. I get Roy (my hubby) to do it instead lol. At least you then know you have done something about it and you can then get correct treatment.
If you can't get to the avian vets (as I know they are quite a distance to travel) you could ask your local vet to see George and then they can contact Faye the avian vet at
https://www.tollbarnvets.co.uk to get advice.
Or they could contact
https://www.allcreatureshealthcare.com
Which is the only other avian vet in Norfolk.
I had to do this when my car was off the road.
Xxx
 
hi all, me again (sorry).
As many of you will know, I’ve had George 2 weeks now and he’s transitioning onto pellets now and seems to be eating them over the seed. He still has fresh veg on offer, but since being on pellets tends not to eat it, but I’m hoping he will start to again and will keep offering it to him.
Yesterday he started chewing his iodine block for the first time which is good and really seems to enjoy shredding his toy that I bought him. He often chews the bars of the cage and drags his beak along his perches, his favourite seems to be the concrete perch to do it on.
When I first got George I was worried about his beak as it looked quite flakey, this is a picture I took of his beak when I first adopted him. View attachment 27599
And today when I’ve just got home to see him, I have noticed his beak now looks like this?!
View attachment 27600
It looks like he has got 2 beaks growing?! Is this a healthy beak growing or is this something I should be concerned about. It doesn’t seem to be hurting him and he seems to be his usual self.
Thanks in advance for your kind responses.

Hi, I have rehomed three birds. The cockatoo's have either chewed up a wooden perch and/or constantly rubbed their beak back and forth across the bars in the first few weeks. Both didn't have any toys prevously to chew to help keep their beaks in good form. Dragging along the perch is normally to clean their beak as fresh foods are messier, again all normal. Hoping that George's beak will soon start to look much better now he is eating a better diet.
 
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