Beak Trims

Beak trimming is not something you “normally” do for parrots. Birds should naturally file and groom their beaks to the perfect shape. Having proper enrichment also helps keep their beak groomed, as when they are destroying, they’re filing their beak down. I sell handmade enrichment on my website found here.

But there are a wide range of reasons as to why your bird may need a trim. There are a lot of medical concerns that cause increase in beak growth that need to be diagnosed by a vet and treated/managed. If you ever see a lot of beak growth, you should always immediately take your bird to your vet. Beak injuries or deformities from growing up are also a common reason for needing trims. For munchkin, it’s a birth defect. Neglect of the beak shape and length can also lead to needing to trim a lot and misshaping the beak.

Never trim at home without being educated. I’ve been educated by my vet and have been doing corrective trims on hundreds of birds (parrots and coping raptors) since 2015. You also never want to use clippers for a beak unless you’re trained because you can easily split a beak in half. You don’t want to use rotary tools on super small birds because of the vibrations. You need to know the desired shape and length, as well as if you are correcting for a disability what trims to make where.

The video I have is super hard to see because I focused more on Munchkin, my double yellow headed amazon, than camera angles. But all I’m doing is tapping for about a second on the beak with the Dremel to be sure I don’t do a friction burn. I’m also holding his beak closed cause he can never control his tongue. Earlier in the trim, I had his beak open to file the sides down and blocked his tongue with my finger. Munch has been trained to sit and let me manipulate his head and beak with ease. He’s in a towel because he’s towel trained and it keeps him from wiggling too much, which would increase stress and be dangerous trimming. His upper mandible doesn’t grow, so if I nick that, it’s never coming back.

I’m posting this for educational purposes and not a “how to.” If you need a how to, please set up a consultation with your vet to show you