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My male red sided eclectus seems to have too long of a beak, but I was told that was normal. How do I know for sure without taking to a vet?

Do you have a picture of his beak?

Some birds naturally have longer beaks than others... however, if a birds beak is overgrowing, there's normally a cause of it.... which is normally liver and kidney damage. Things to help keep a beak in shape are plenty of toys to shred, a good diet, exercise, etc.

Here's a slight guide for posting photos from Photobucket...

You can either use the 'Img' button above the reply box, in which case you'll have to use the URL Link from Photobucket to put inbetween the IMG tags...

Or you use the IMG Links directly from Photobucket itself....



Old pic but that should help you understand....
The URL link is for linking to images, especially good in e-mails and instant messengers.
The Tag link is good for putting photos up on websites, or places that don't use BBC code. The Tag is also known as HTML. The difference between HTML, other than some different codes, is that HTML uses greater and lesser signs <> where as BBC code uses brackets [ ] .
The Img link is BBC code, and works best in forums.


here's the code for the above image...

Code: Select all

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/MonicaNFids/UP/Tags.jpg[/IMG]

If you have a rather large photo (I'd say anything bigger than 500x300 pixels) then it may be easier to link to the image using a thumbnail... Here's an example, just click on the thumbnail to view larger!



The thumbnail URL is the little picture in your photobucket galleries that displays all the small images... in short the thumbnail link should read th_(image name). Such as the above image is called Fids023.jpg, the thumbnail name is th_Fids023.jpg. And the code to show how to make a thumbnail and link it back to an image is below...

Code: Select all

[URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/MonicaNFids/The%20Fids/Noel%20N%20Casey/Fids023.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/MonicaNFids/The%20Fids/Noel%20N%20Casey/th_Fids023.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Now, as far as your eclectus beak goes... Indeed it is rather long... too long I'd say. I suggest getting an appointment with an avian vet who can trim his beak. If the vet says it's "normal", I suggest you find another avian vet, one who knows what to look for.

Also, the problems with overgrown beaks is that they are normally caused by liver or kidney damage, which is directly related to diet... normally caused by an all seed diet or rather a diet high in fat... as well as a pelleted diet (although more or less seen in pelleted diets.... birds can still suffer from an all pellet diet). With eclectus especially, they do have a special diet that they should be fed, due to the fact that many are more easily prone to issues, especially those caused by food dyes and food allergies.

Now, I'm going to link directly to the larger image, and put up a couple other links to show you what the beak SHOULD look like...

Your guy...



Other male eclectus beaks...








My suggestion is to speak with a knowledgeable avian vet about diet (try to stick away from pellets... or if you do feed pellets, go with all organic, such as Harrison's, TOP, or other organic pellet manufacturers [if there are any]), and to also speak with Carolyn Swicegood... her website is here.

I have read that the female ekkie is the dominant bird. Mine will chase the male away from the food dishes so she can eat. He moves away fast from her. At times, however, I see her swinging upside down from the cage to get his attention,etc. I was told they were a breeding pair, however have not received the papers yet. We have to get their nest box set up for them yet. The way he is afraid of her in the cage makes me wonder now. Is this a normal tendency for them or was I duped on this purchase. Thanks.

By the way, thanks for the input on the males beak length. will take him to the vet and hopefully a trimming is all it will take and nothing serious is wrong with him.

These are great pictures for examples. Typically, the tip of the upper beak shouldn't be any longer than the 'bottom' of the lower beak.

A review of their diet and nutritional needs is always a good thing too.
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