Sun Conure beak

[Jolene Lightman]

I hope i'm posting this in the right place, I always thought sun conures were part of the macaw family!

Anyway my sun conure has lost the bottom half of the top layer of his beak, is this a problem that needs adressing? I thought it could be some sort of deficiancy in his diet or is it normal?

Thanks,

Jolene

[birdlady49]

It could be a serious problem. You may be seeing the normal flaking of a beak, then again it could be something more serious. Can you post photos?

Parrots are in the Order Psittaciformes, then in the Family Psittacidae, then in the Subfamily Psittacinae (parrots, parakeets, macaws, and relatives). Macaws are in the ara genus. Sun conures are in the Genus Aratinga (neotropical parakeets). The sun conure species' latin name is Aratinga solstitialis. So you're correct in assuming a sun is related to a macaw until you reach its genus!

[Monica]

If you can hybridize an aratinga conure and an ara macaw, then yes they are related.

Photos would help, and more information on the bird... what is the birds diet? His age? Does he have any toys?

[birdsnreps]

conures are genetically close to mini macaws.

[Valo's Moirana]

photos would help a lot....

the beak flakes naturally, and if they don't trim the beak you will see a rim developing... i saw the same thing with valo and asked the vet - she said he was a little sloppy with his beak hygiene , and recommended a sandy perch for him to rub his beak on.... the rim is gone since

however, if you're not sure, i'd get the opinion of a vet

[Jolene Lightman]

Thanks for the replies. Heres a couple of pictures and some more info on him. He's 8 years old and has lots of toys in his cage. He's also got a big toy in another room that hangs from the ceiling. With regards to his diet his main food is a fruity parrot mix with seeds, nuts and dried fruit. He has satsumas or necterines once or twice a week aswell and has bread a few times a week. He also has a bit of most things that I eat aswell like cereal and crisps and I try to give him the vegetables I eat. I think he is lacking lots of vegetables in his diet but I can't seem to find any he likes at the moment.

In all other respects he does seems very happy and healthy =]

Oh an what is the rim that develops and why does it?

thanks

[gbird]

It looks ok to me, but if you have any doubts, go see your vet. He sure is a cutie! Beaks are like our finger nails, and they do peel.

About the vegies. I do a vegie mash, that I mix with his other food so I know he's getting some veggies. If you have a food processor, just take kale, carrots, broccoli, ginger, apples, zucini, red, yellow & green peppers....basically whatever you want, and grind it up, NOT SOUPY. I also mix in his pellets, corn, beans, peas and some fruit & nut mix, and some frozen fruit. He loves it on its own even. You can freeze it in little foil packetts of a serving each.

[Valo's Moirana]

yip, beak looks normal to me.... the lower end of the beak is the new beak material coming in, while the rim is the older beak material flaking off... a sandy perch in a good location (i have mine next to the food dishes as they wipe their beaks when eating) should smoothen this out....

cute sunny you have there
regarding the veggies in the diet - i "cheat" them in similiarly to gayla - maybe you wanna make some birdie bread too... it's another way of getting them to eat veggies and various recipes can be found on this board