Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[AJParrot]

Is it normal for their beaks to look dusty and all scratched up? After Paolo has had a rummage through his feathers or a quick scratch of his head, he will rub the sides of his beak on anything he can find, which is usually a rough perch, like its itchy or something? But this is making his beak all scratched up and looking rather ropey looking! Normal...??

[lizduncan]

Nico is sitting on my knee so I've just ben able to get a really good look at her beak and  dusty, a bit scratched and with a little "peeled" bit at the end describes it beautifully . 

[AJParrot]

Phew, sounds exactly like Paolos! Some bits look like they are going to flake off too?

[Pat]

Yes, it's perfectly normal, that's how they keep their beak trimmed.  Charlie has been scratching his on a concrete post in the garden today, it looks horrendous now 

[Martin P]

Perfectly normal behaviour, all birds do this its called "feaking"...yes you might want to look at that twice lol.
Birds do it to help keep the beak in good condition, they will often do it straight after feeding, to rid the beak of waste and as Plukie said they also fo it to maintain the shape of the beak :-)

[lovebirds]

in fact, if greys' beak becomes permanently shiny it is a good reason to take him to the vet for a check up. Greys' beaks must be dusty (most of the time, not after they dipped them in water of course, for example)