hello from texas

[sazm1219]

Hello ya'll glad to be here!! There seems to be a wealth of info about our feathered friends that is useful. I have recently aquired a blue crowned conure whi was used as a breeder and it appears ( as the vet says ) that her beak was bitten half off and she is very underweight. She appears to have been on a stricktly seed diet since she wont have anyhting to do with the pelleted varieties that are availavle. She is pretty aggressive but seems to be coming around as she dosent try to attack me when I put fruit in her enclosure. She also tends to stay on the bottom of her cage and again the vet says its due to her being so underweight and weak. It was suggested that I feed her baby bird food to try to "fatten" her up a little but she spits it out at me!! Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can offer "Jenny" to help her regain her strength? Does anyone know if there is any possibility her beak may grow back?? It dosent seem to affect her eating since she can crack a seed without any problems and if it dosent grow back its not a big deal just wondering it it could regenerate.

[Lisa B]

[catschair]

Welcome to you and your new friend! We are delighted to have you join us here on BB, and I am sure you will find a lot of folks with great advice to help you get your girl in the very best shape possible!

[Tobysmom]

welcome to BB

[tweet52]

HELLO

[ROYJOY]

feed plenty of seed and nuts, til weight is good. dont try to change the diet till the bird is healthy again. the beak will grow back in time, if it wasnt damaged too severly, if not and if your bird doesnt get better and wont take formula, some times a bird has to be put down for beak problems, sad but true. the beak is very important to bird survival, if it wont take soft food.

[Monica]

It certainly does depend on the severity of injury... although many a bird have learned to eat with malformed or mutilated beaks!

Charlie's one of them!


I loves to eat formula off of a syringe, and gets jealous if I eat something without sharing it with him.... however if I add some to his cage, he could care less! Even if he doesn't like something, so long as *I'M* eating it, he's going to eat it, too! Even with only half of his lower beak, he can still bite down pretty hard! And he's even learned how to crack seeds with his malformed beak (due to a blind macaw bite in foster home). The only problem is, is that when he gets his beak trimmed (I do it myself), he can always bite harder (although then again he hates the dremel.... and I probably royally piss him off by using it...) and he sometimes needs to "relearn" how to crack seeds (more or less of testing out the beak when it gets groomed).

In truth, many people find it hard to see him disabled as he acts so normal, as if he hasn't gotten a deformaty... but again many have asked if he has any problems eating, and in truth, he doesn't. He acts as if he has no disability, and sadly, it's quite the truth!


All I can say, is that if the beak is healed, and not freshly damaged, then she may very well be able to eat hard foods on her own, if she has learned how to eat them, that is. However, it doesn't hurt to offer soft foods either, including cooked brown rice or steamed vegetables. You could even use the water from the steamed veggies to cook the rice.

[sazm1219]

Jenny is now perching and making noises although not sure if she has gained any weight but she certainly does love steamed carrots,apples and any grapes she can get her beak on!! Have tried to gradually introduce the zupreme pellets (which smell like fruit loops to me,,,lol) and it seems like its hard for her to eat those. So will keep her on seeds and such for now. Shes making MUCH progress!!!! Thought ya'll might wanna know...

[Kevin]

Welcome|!!!