Trained Parrot BlogParrot Wizard Online Parrot Toy StoreThe Parrot Forum

Broken beak tip, vet immediately or wait and see?

Talk about bird illnesses and other bird health related issues. Seeds, pellets, fruits, vegetables and more. Discuss what to feed your birds and in what quantity. Share your recipe ideas.

Re: Broken beak tip, vet immediately or wait and see?

Postby Vikki » Thu May 05, 2011 2:16 pm

Broken tips are a regular event with us, especially for the little guys who's beaks are not as robust as say a toucans (LOL). Usually when its the very tip like yours, we just watch to make sure there is no blood and if it is still attached, we clip it (though this will only happen if it is only the tip like yours). In more severe cases where there is severe damage or cracks farther up the beak, we do take those immediately to the vet.

And just a tip for those of you who deal with bloody nails and beaks and whatnot.... a cheap, homemade clotting recipe is flour and cheyene powder. Mix enough together so that the flour turns kind of pink. grab a pinch of that and hold it on the bleed til it stops. Works like a charm.

Blood feathers are a different issue. Do not use a clotter. I'm sure there are topics about this elsewhere pertaining to this issue.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds. - Aesop
User avatar
Vikki
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 127
Location: Goshen, NY
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Jardine's parrot, Catalina Macaw, Harlequin Macaw, Hahn's macaw
Flight: Yes

Re: Broken beak tip, vet immediately or wait and see?

Postby birdvet » Fri May 13, 2011 8:04 pm

entrancedbymyGCC wrote:I think the painful thing was that little connector getting flexed every time the looose tip touched something. By the time we decided to take him in, he was just sitting on his perch fluffed up and shivering a bit... as minor as it looked, he was just not at all comfortable, and that's what took us to the vet, not the appearance of the damage. Maybe he's a wuss, or maybe it really hurt that much. Got better.


Glad to hear he's doing better now. And you did the right thing, it definitely looked like an injury you could have delt with at home if you were game however, because your bird was in pain you chose to act on that and get him seen to by a vet. Hefty bill but your bird is happier and not in pain anymore. We have an obligation as pet owners to keep our animals free from pain, it is one of the 5 welfare freedoms! I'm sure next time (hopefully there won't be a next time!) you'll be more confident to go in and do the job yourself. It's all a learning experience ;) ...and FYI, I can treat any bird except when it comes to my own babies, then I'm a wuss and I end up getting one of my colleagues to do it :D

And I agree, if he is comfortable, don't bother with the metacam. Now that the annoying, painful attached bit is removed, the pain/discomfort is minor.
User avatar
birdvet
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 122
Location: New Zealand
Number of Birds Owned: 4
Types of Birds Owned: Nanday Conure, Indian Ringneck, Crimson Wing Parakeet, Sun Conure,
Flight: Yes

Re: Broken beak tip, vet immediately or wait and see?

Postby entrancedbymyGCC » Sun May 15, 2011 1:42 pm

Hey, thanks birdvet! Out of curiosity, how exactly would you have handled it? I think if we'd gone after it ourselves, we'd have sterilized some nail scissors and had clotting agent handy, now I gather classic styptic wouldn't have been a good idea. I also think the shot of Metacam he had at the office helped him get over it very quickly, as he felt confident to eat and drink almost immediately upon coming home.

How long can a bird survive without water? How can you tell if a bird is dehydrated?
Scooter :gcc:
Death Valley Scotty :cape:
User avatar
entrancedbymyGCC
Cockatoo
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 2106
Location: Southern California aka LALA land
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Green Cheek Conure
(Un)Cape Parrot
Flight: No

Re: Broken beak tip, vet immediately or wait and see?

Postby birdvet » Mon May 16, 2011 12:23 am

entrancedbymyGCC wrote:Hey, thanks birdvet! Out of curiosity, how exactly would you have handled it? I think if we'd gone after it ourselves, we'd have sterilized some nail scissors and had clotting agent handy, now I gather classic styptic wouldn't have been a good idea. I also think the shot of Metacam he had at the office helped him get over it very quickly, as he felt confident to eat and drink almost immediately upon coming home.

How long can a bird survive without water? How can you tell if a bird is dehydrated?


Yip, just some clean scissors to snip the offending piece off. We use silver nitrate sticks to stop bleeders, not too sure how available those are? But good old pressure for 2 minutes also works (if he tolerates this and lets you apply the pressure of course :D )

Birds can't survive too long without water, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting a parrot go without for longer than 24 hours. Probably won't die after that time frame but the other complications - renal failure from dehydration as an example - could kill the bird.

Birds tend to get sunken eyes and more wrinkled skin on their feet when dehydrated...in general, hard to tell I'm afraid, not like a mammal where you can just tent the skin.

Hope this helps :senegal:
User avatar
birdvet
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 122
Location: New Zealand
Number of Birds Owned: 4
Types of Birds Owned: Nanday Conure, Indian Ringneck, Crimson Wing Parakeet, Sun Conure,
Flight: Yes

Re: Broken beak tip, vet immediately or wait and see?

Postby patdbunny » Mon May 16, 2011 2:13 pm

I've read a product called Clotisol is less caustic and safer than Kwik Stop. That's what I use. Also - I've always kept handfeeding formula on hand even before I was breeding. It keeps very well and very long in the freezer. Every once in a blue moon I'd make some up and feed it to the adult pets. They loved it. I did this so I could easily orally medicate or put weight on if needed.

So, a particular incident like yours I would have clipped the tip off; feed it some warm handfeeding formula from a syringe (more as a TLC gesture than anything else); and watched the bird for about 12 hours to see how the behavior was. The handfeeding formula can also be made up with gatorade instead of water if there's concern about dehydration.

Whoops - forgot the "stop the bleeding w/ Clotisol" part between clipping the tip off and feeding the formula.
Roz

There are in nature neither rewards nor punishments — there are only consequences. Robert G. Ingersoll
User avatar
patdbunny
Amazon
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 579
Location: east san diego county, CA
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: sun conure, parrotlet, cockatiel, african greys, eclectus, sun conures, jenday conures, indian ringnecks, parrotlets, bourkes.
Flight: No

Previous

Return to Health, Nutrition & Diet

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests

Parrot ForumArticles IndexTraining Step UpParrot Training BlogPoicephalus Parrot InformationParrot Wizard Store