Parakeet Eating Problem

Question
I've got an adult male parakeet that seems fine except when he eats.  He'll grab a seed out of the dish then climb back onto his perch and act as though he's chewing on the bars.  Almost as though the seed is stuck.  He'll do this repeatly then hop back down, grab a seed and it starts all over again.  Other than this is he is his usual social, happy and noisy self.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi, Darlene,

I picked your question up from the question pool.

I don't know exactly what you mean by "act as though he's chewing on the bars."  Birds hull their seed then eat the soft inside.  Perhaps your bird does have a seed hull stuck in his mouth.  However, I don't understand why this would happen every time the bird eats.  Could your bird have some type of sore in its mouth and it has to eat this way?  You may need to consider taking your bird to a certified avian vet for an evaluation or at least look in the bird's mouth with a flashlight to see if you can see anything abnormal.

Chrys