Should a CAG's beak be trimmed?

[Cosmos_Friend]

Hi,

Long time, no post. I have a question pertaining to beak trimming for a Congo Grey, is it occasionally necessary to trim their beak? Are there other preferred options that will keep their beak conditioned? I have a lava stone in Cosmo's cage, however he doesn't seem to use it very often. Is their a beak conditioning stone (if necessary) that you have had success with?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

~Rick

[Greywings]

Many birds keep their beaks at an optimal length all by them selves when they have wood to destroy, a cement or sand perch and lots to do where they can use that beak. A few need help on occassion to reshape a deformity due to formation or accident or just not using that beak enough to control the length or shape..

[Inara]

Riiik! Great to see you, was just thinking of you and Cosmo the other day. Inara was not much of a wood chewer when she first came to live with us, and after about 5 months, her beak tip was razor sharp. When I took her into the vet to get her talons trimmed, my avian vet did a light buff on the tip to just clean it up a bit. Now, Inara has become much more interested in chipping away at the various wooden toys offered her so we'll see how it goes over the next few months. My old CAG used to love to nibble on a cuttle bone, and was not much for chewing on toys. His beak never needed any work. In fact, I've been thinking of instituting one for Inara to chew on if she proves interested. It's my understanding that they really don't gain a lot of calcium from the cuttle bone but having seen how much Lestat enjoyed nibbling on his, it's something I am currently considering to see if it helps Inara keep her beak point a little more blunted. I'll keep you posted.

[birdhouse]

If you can get Cosmo interested in chewing on the right types of things it will go a long way toward keeping his beak down, like the others have said. If he won't bother w/the lava stone that's stuck to the side of his cage, there are toys that have stone in them. Also shells. You can incorporate pieces of cuttlebone into toys, too. Cuttlebone is helpful for beak trimming & is also a calcium supplement.

 

Letting Cosmo shell his own nuts will help some & is good foraging. The little hangers that have almonds jammed into holes in a block of wood might do double duty, here. But there are harder nuts to shell if you were just giving them to him.

 

Also, Cosmo may only be interested in certain types of wood. Phenix will rip into most anything. But it's pointless for me to give Kura any kind of hard woods or pine.

 

For a while I thought she just didn't shred wood. But eventually I found that she really likes things like coconut husk, birch, rattan, bamboo & grapevine. Even though they're not that hard, they do keep her beak trim.

 

Everyone also enjoys stripping the bark from fresh branches. If you can cut some switches from bird-safe trees that are fertilizer & pesticide free, you might bring some in & bake them for Cosmos. But just so you know, they do make a lovely mess! But I do believe that's all part of the attraction. lol

[Cosmos_Friend]

Thanks all for the feed back (Hello, Inara, good to hear from you too!). Cosmo is quite the chewer, it's just that his beak is getting a bit sharp. I'll have to investigate with some different toys that he can chew on (different woods, stone, etc.) as suggested.

 

Since my hiatus from Grey Forums; this past winter has been brutal... during the height of the "Polar Vortex", a water pipe burst above my kitchen ceiling, cascading water down the walls in my kitchen and living room. Water was pouring out of every light fixture as well as the electrical panel!!! In panic, I called the emergency maintenance phone number and they rushed over to turn the offending water pipe off. By then, since the water was so rapidly escaping from this pipe, the water damage was extensive. They had to remove the electrical panel, which meant I would have no electricity for a while... no electricity, no heat. Since the temperature outside was about 15 degrees and would drop to 10 degrees below, actual temperature, I had no choice but to find some place to board Cosmo for a few days. I've had Cosmo (as some of you know) since he was 13 weeks old and he's now over six years old and we've never been apart. i called the ASPCA and they directed me to call "Bird Jungle" a well known parrot pet shop. I've shopped there before for supplies, but not often because it's a bit out of the way from where I live. Luckily, I had purchased a few years ago, a travel cage. With water still pouring from the ceiling, Cosmo got right on my hand and I got him in the travel cage with no fuss because he knew this was an emergency and he's learned to trust me to no end. A neighbor was kind enough to drive Cosmo and I to Bird Jungle. Cosmo was such a trooper, he didn't make a sound nor a flutter the whole ride there. He did look scared when the guy at the pet shop took him in his cage, to the back room where they have their boarding cages. Of course I followed closely, saying "Cosmo, it's O.K." I watched as he was removed from his travel cage and placed into the boarding cage. He didn't give any trouble to the employee as Cosmo got on his hand and went right into what was to be his temporary home for 4 days. As I stood at the entrance to the boarding room (there was a sign that read "Employees Only"), Cosmo called out "Riiick, are you OK?" (he pick that up as I would say "are you OK" whenever Cosmo would fall from some acrobatic thing he was doing when he was in his younger, clumsy years). I almost started to cry. Maintenance eventually replaced my electrical panel to were as I had heat now, and was able to get my Cosmo back home again, he was gone for was four long days.

He's fine, didn't get sick (thank God) which can happen when you board a parrot. He did pluck some of his flight feathers, which have since grown back. He showed no signs of serious stress, as a matter of fact as soon as I got him home and in his cage, he wanted nothing but "birdy head-lovins'" (what I say to him when I scratch the back of his head). What an ordeal, huh?

 

~Rick

Edited April 18, 2014 by Cosmos_Friend

[Ray P]

So glad things worked out for you in the end.

It`s those unexpected things that put a lot of stress in our life and make us think on our feet.

Good work !!

Cosmo sounds like a well balanced grey.

[judygram]

As the others have said you can provide your grey with things to keep the beak in check but if my grey's beak did need some trimming I would take her in to the vet for that for it should be performed by someone knowledgeable.

Rick I am glad that Cosmo got thru that ordeal with no problem and is back home loving it up.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I take Sophie every three months to my bird trimmer. To do, what she hasn't accomplished. Sometimes, he doesn't have to do anything. She has sand and cement perches, but sometimes that doesn't do it. She is not big into toys. My son Sean, who is an avid hunter.... ( more like what can I find in the woods for Sophie), always comes home with blocks of cherry wood that we can clean and leave for her in several places. She is all over it! Nancy

[Inara]

Rick, that just had to be such a nerve wracking experience - 1) the unexpected water issues and 2) to top it off, having to leave your beloved Cosmo for a few days. Soooo glad that he came through it like a trooper.