Quaker Parrot Beak

Question
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Followup To

Patt,

Thanks for your reply.  Our quaker does have a mineral block and I do give her vitamins.  But your suggestion to supplement her diet with egg yolks (which I never heard of before) and a second variety of feed made a lot of sense.  I guess I woudn't want to eat the same food day after day for three years!  I give my cats and dogs a variety of different foods, but never thought about doing this for the parrot. We do give her an occasional piece of fruit or vegetable, but only about once a week.  Usually she won't eat it, and throws it out of the cage.  I always thought parrots could only eat parrot food, canaries only canary food, etc.  Our quaker has lots of toys to play with, but nothing she can really chew on except the cuttle bone (and I guess she just doesn't like it).  I'll try some wooden spoons and the rock as you suggested.  Thanks for your quick response.

Val

PS:  I wanted to rate you but it stated that you were not accepting ratings.  That's a shame 'cause I was going to give you a perfect 10.





Question -
Our 3 year old parrot is having an odd problem. Have taken her to the vet and he says it's nothing to be concerned about. All of a sudden her beak is starting to grow, just like a human fingernail. The vet cut her beak and filed it, charged us $100 and said she was fine. Since I can't really afford $100/month to get her beak cut, we've been doing the cutting ourselves now with fingernail clippers. If we don't, her beak will keep on growing and then she has a difficult time eating. It just seems so strange that after having her for over 3 years, her beak has just now decided to grow. She has cuttle bones and a variety of toys she could use to file her beak, but she just doesn't use them. Any idea what is happening? Is is normal for a quaker's beaks to grow like this? I always thought birds filed their beaks themselves. We've had canaries and cockatiles for years and have never seen this before. Could she just have gotten tired of taking care of herself, or are we perhaps giving her and improper diet? Your insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.";

Answer -
Hi Valerie
Get some wooden spoons, plastic things for her to chew on or chew up.
Perhaps she needs some vitimans, a good fruit seed mix?  I give my grey parrott mix and then i buy a good cockateil mix and give in another feeder.  Zulu has two picks, plus we keep a stone for him to sit on so his feet wear down.
Also, just try getting a file of steel i bought one at the dollar store for my feet callus and file the beak back.
The main thing is diet, give some hard cooked egg yolk daily, hard boil a couple and keep in fridge, pick a piece off daily and she will learn to love this. GET A MINERAL BLOCK AND PUT IN HER CAGE.

Kind Regards
Patt
WWW.SCHREKNHAUS.COM

Answer
HI VALERIE
WELL THANKS HONEY FOR THE KIND WORDS.  I GET PEOPLE FROM ASKME THAT RATE ME LOW AND MAKE REPLIES TO QUESTIONS I NEVER GET, LIKE I WILL NOT GIVE LIQUOR TO MY DOG TO FLIGHT IT AND I NEVER EVER STATED ANYTHING OF THE SORT.  I GOT TIRED OF BEING HARRASSED EVERYTIME I SNEAK AND LET ONE SITE OPEN FOR RATINGS, THEY COME ALONG WITH STUPID SAYINGS.

YES, EGG YOLK IS GREAT FOR BIRDS AND GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO LEARN TO LIKE IT.  IT MIGHT TAKE TWO WEEKS, REMOVE WHAT IT DOES NOT EAT WITHING 3 HOURS ALSO.  KEEP PUTTING FOOD IN A DISH, VEGGIES, FRUITS, PIZZA, HAMBURGER COOKED, MOST ANYTHING WE EAT I FEED MY BIRDS.  THEY MUST HAVE MORE FOOD THAN SEED AND SOME OF OUR MEALS CONTAIN LOTS OF NURSIOUSMENT FOR THEM.

KIND REGARDS
PATT
WWW.SCHREKNHAUS.COM