How fast does beak grow?

[Char]

Some of you may have read my previous post about taking Whisper to the vet because she had a huge chunk in her beak that kept getting larger. The vet sent some of the beak for pathology. She also trimmed her beak down considerably shorter. She said it was a little overgrown.

 

This is my question: How fast does a beak grow? It has been less than a week and it already seems to be the same size it was when I took her in. That seems strange to me. No results from test yet.

[Dave007]

Beaks grow at different rates. Some birds always file them down so the beak always looks the same. Others sometimes file them down and sometimes don't file them down so sometimes the beak looks longer than last month. The same goes for nails. There's no exact rate. The only thing you should know is that the beak was evened out and only the thicker distorted tip was removed making the whole beak uniform again. Some people go in for regular beak and nail trims. Some don't do that cause it's not necessary. Of course, some vets may never tell you whether the beak actually needs a trim. After all, if he or she keeps turning away customers, how's he gonna pay the rent?<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/04/21 18:31

[Char]

Thanks Dave. I know I am a worry wart. It just seemed like a week was awfully quick for it to grow back out. I was afraid there was some kind of illness that makes the beak grow faster or too much of a vitamin or something like that.

 

And then again.. I could just be imagining it.

[Dave007]

You're not a worry wart. If you don't ask, you won't know. I'm sure that when the vet saw the problem, he didn't get too disturbed. It does happen periodically for different reasons. A vet will focus on the tip to make sure it's the narrowest part of the beak. he'll also file down or trim down the sides of the beak if he spots very jagged areas.

Now, there would have been a problem if your bird had a scissor beak, The beak grows down and the tip points to the left or right. The tip of the bottom beak grows up and points to the opposite direction. hence, the scissor effect. That's a vitamin deficiency usually from birth and the bird has to be brought to a vet for regular visits for trimming but the problem will always be there. Cockatoos have this problem more than other species. I saw your bird's picture and it didn't look serious to me and I knew what your vet was gonna do.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/04/21 18:57