My congo grey chipped her beak!

[Zoie]

She flew off of her cagetop this morning and hit the ground. Some blood was dripping off of her beak, and we thought she had bitten her tongue. When I reexamined her just now, I discovered that she had chipped the inside of her beak tip!

 

She hasn't moved at all today and she won't eat/drink. After trying three different foods, I finally got her to eat some mashed apple (favorite fruit).

 

However, I'm worried about her because I think she's in pain and I am afraid it will spontaneously start spraying blood since I've read all sorts of horror stories about cracked/chipped beaks. D:

 

Any words of advice?

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

To the vet.... right away! Nancy

[Talon]

Yes, Nancy is right, vet ASAP!

[oblivion]

Thirded, especially if the bird isn't eating.

[Zoie]

Thank you all SO much for responding to this quickly, it really means a lot to me.

 

Fortunately, we didn't have to take her to the vet after all. My dad, whom she is very fond of, got back from work yesterday and she immediately began to act more lively. She didn't eat/drink much for dinner last night, but she was acting normal this morning and is back to eating; she just scoops her food up really quickly and chews it farther back in her mouth rather than grinding with her beak tip. She isn't playing with her toys, but she is talking a lot and moving around.

 

I looked at her beak chip again and I don't think it was very deep because I can tell that it's already healing; it's whitish-grey now and I don't see any red anymore.

 

I will be sure to keep an eye on her though, and I'm glad she isn't playing with her toys because I don't want her to damage it again.

[Darwinsmom]

Thank you for updating us, I was worried, as were most of us I am sure.

[Jayd]

Keep a close watch for secondary infections... Get some apple cider vinegar and use your clean finger to drop some on her beak, most parrots love it, we rince all their veggies in it, and use white vinegar to clean their cage etc...Feed her: Plain low fat yogurt [tablespoon 2 times a day] low sodium creamy peanut butter [protein], Any low iron low salt baby food etc...Thanks Jayd

Edited July 17, 2012 by Jayd

[Greywings]

Soft food will be less painful and if she slows down on eating again get to the Vets.

[judygram]

Soft food will be less painful and if she slows down on eating again get to the Vets.

I agree with Greywings about going to the vet if any sign shows up of something wrong but I would imagine her beak is sore.

 

[zandische]

Just as an fyi, I have gone through this a lot. This happens to my girl about once every 6 months or so as her beak starts to grow out. I feel so horrible for her when it happens. She has learned to eat out of the side of her beak and will eat soft foods, but she usually just wants to sit on us and sleep and doesn't usually eat a lot. Their beaks are very sensitive and a broken tip causes a lot of pain. We do our best to keep her warm, let her sleep on our shoulder, and not jostle her around too much. After about a day or two, the tip usually breaks off and she immediately perks up afterward. The experience seems a lot like a loose tooth that is just really really sore until it falls out.

 

We have discussed with our avian vet, who ran tests and said everything looks normal, but told us that this happens to some birds and is generally not a super critical problem other than the fact that it can bleed and does cause pain. The vet said that some birds are just "accident prone" and the tip breaks sometimes because of a heavy impact, which is fairly consistent with Seraph's playing style. Our vet recommended that we can bring Seraph in to have them remove the beak tip safely and control any bleeding, but she said the best option is to just let the tip fall off on its own if possible, as it causes less overall stress and trauma to the bird. The bleeding has never been much and is usually just seen with the initial break...given a few days the beak "cauterizes" itself and then breaks below that point.

 

There's actually a lot you can do to help your bird. Based on my experience, if you don't have a "thermo perch" I would highly recommend buying one, as it provides a nice, warm perch and when your bird is even remotely stressed, helping them keep their body temp regulated is very helpful. Plus, it's like curling up with a soft, warm blanket - it makes them feel safe and good. I also do all the normal things like weigh my girl daily, provide soft foods like Volkman's 15 min soak & serve, soaked pellets and soaked almonds. I also feed my birds sprouts (which are soft) and red palm oil daily, both of which support a healthy immune system. Red palm oil is high in Vitamin E and beta-carotines which helps fight infection (to prove this, try smearing red palm oil on a cut on your finger and watch how quickly it heals - the stuff is amazing), so all of these things help my bird reduce her stress and stay healthy while she heals. Finally, I try to make the house a peaceful, quiet place where she can rest until her beak tip falls off.

[Sarasota]

Based on my experience, if you don't have a "thermo perch" I would highly recommend buying one, as it provides a nice, warm perch and when your bird is even remotely stressed, helping them keep their body temp regulated is very helpful. Plus, it's like curling up with a soft, warm blanket - it makes them feel safe and good.

 

I've never thought about it this way. Thank you. That sounds like something nice to try for my old guy (plus, he's missing part of his back toe).

[zandische]

My birds LOVE their thermo-perches.

 

Just fyi though, the perch can be a little slippery for a bird with a foot handicap (Seraph has nerve damage in one foot, and has trouble gripping with it sometimes) so intervals of vet wrap might help if you have any issues with your bird. Kind of like putting down sticky rubber pieces in the bathtub! Seraph's foot aches sometimes and I can always tell because she gets a little nippy if you try to make her step up with it and she is never nippy any other time. But when she's hurting, she goes in and sits on her warm perch and it really seems to make her feel better.