parakeet beak problems due to parents feeding

Question
When my parakeet parents fed their babies they made a mess on their beaks. I didnt realize it right away. so they were a few weeks old before i was able to remove the crusty covering on their beaks. Two of the babies have small beaks that turn up at the end instead of hooking downwards. They are able to eat and drink but they look like they have had a nosejob. Is their anything i can do to help their beaks grow out normally? Clip the upturned end Or file it somehow? or just leave it alone.

Answer
Hi, Annie,

You can clean off the mess on babies beaks at any time...you don't have to wait until they are a couple weeks old.  This is important because I've seen babies die from inability to breathe due to their nostrils being covered with food.  When you clean out the nesting box (which should be at least several times per week) would be a good time to check the babies over for problems.

Bird's beaks grow like our fingernails do.  However, in order for their beaks to grow out properly, you really need to take these babies to a certified avian veterinarian and have the bird vet trim the beaks to the correct configuration so when the beaks do grow, they grow properly so the babies don't get scissors beaks or some other beak abnormality.

Chrys