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My blue/gold macaw, age 10 yrs old, no injuries or reason that

 
Dr. Pat's Avatar
  • Answered by:Dr. Pat
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Customer Question

My blue/gold macaw, age 10 yrs old, no injuries or reason that I know of has a problem with the lower beak not lining up with the upper beak. The lower beak goes to the left of the upper beak and during the day he ruffles his feathers and shakes, like he is cold, but that is not so. His diet is Exact macaw/parrot mix. He is the only bird we have and we live in the South East part of the country. He also bites on his cage really hard and vigorsly. He was at the vets in November 2009 and had his beak filed some, and I don't think he has acted the same since then. What is wrong with his beak and occasionally shaking?

 

Optional Information:
Pet's Gender: Male
Pet's Age: 10
Type of Animal: Blue/Gold Macaw

Already Tried:
Increased calcium in his diet

Submitted: 1185 days and 14 hours ago.
Category: Bird
Value: $9
Status: CLOSED

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  Dr. Pat replied 1185 days and 10 hours ago.

He has a condition known in popular liturature as "scissor beak". It will need routine trimming to keep it from getting worse. It is probably a deformity of the ligaments and delicate strucures in the upper beak, and a bird his age is may be the result of trauma.

The harsh chewing of the cage is his effort to correct the problem. He needs professional help with this. I use a dremmel tool with a cone tip to do this procedure, as do most avian vets. If there was some other technique used, or if the vet staff is not used to restraining macaws there may heve been a problem with it. If you did not use an avuian-experienced vet, I would suggest the you find one. Check the link http://www.aav.org/association/index.php?content=activeMembersList for members of AAV in your area or call your regular vet and see who they recommend.

You cvan do physical therapy with the beak, this sometimes improves it over time to the point of minimal trims. "pinch" the beak sideways the opposite direction of how the scissoring goes; this will stretch soft tissues for more flexiblility.

Added calcium is probably not going to help, and anyway additives are only a second choice to diet. Birds should be on a high-quality, preferably prescription, pelleted diet. In addition, they should be offered dark leafy greens, cooked sweet potatoes, yams, squash, pumpkin; entire (tops and bottoms) fresh carrots and so forth. No seeds (and that means a mix, or millet, or sprays, etc etc.) and only healthy, low-fat high fiber people food. A dietary change should be closely monitored and supervised by your avian vet.

Expert TypeAvian Veterinarian
Category: Bird
Pos. Feedback: 98.1 %
Accepts: 516
Answered: 1/13/2010

Experience: 25 years as avian-only veterinarian

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