beak of African Grey

Question
I have a 4 year old African Grey.  I have noticed that his beak is growing long and is not smooth.  Does this indicate that the parrot is not healthy?  Should we take him to a doctor to have his beak filed?

Answer
Good observation! Whenever it's noticeable - it's something best attended to by a professional (veterinary doctor).  
 It could be something as simple as your bird not caring to groom with cuttle bone or mineral block, which happens on occassion.  You may need to offer him more in the way of chewing wood in different hardnesses.
 One of my clients had a houseful of parrots and none of them had any cuttlebone OR natural wood to chew.  I asked why and the owner said, "They just keep destroying it". This person had NO idea that this is what birds do. And NEED to do.  They had been scraping the cuttlebone onto the birds' food rather than letting the birds have the whole cuttlebone access.
 Once these things changed, no more vet visits were necessary specifically for beak clipping.
 Beaks can also overgrow as a result of health problems so it's wise to see your vet about this to rule that part out.

 Find out more about how we keep our birds - perch needs - toys and everything else at www.4AnimalCare.org (click on the bird tab)