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Post by lidiam on Jul 20, 2005 2:57:07 GMT -7
Can anyone throw any light on this?
A couple of days ago, completely out of the blue, Joshua started opening his beak very wide, very, very slowly, to take the tip of my finger in, and then he slowly 'gums' it (so to speak). He seems to be deliberately doing this.
At first, I thought maybe his beak or jaw was hurting him, but this does not seem to be the case, he is eating and acting normally otherwise.
He's never ever done this before.
Any ideas?
???Lidia
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Post by Jane on Jul 20, 2005 3:44:40 GMT -7
As he is 16 and has never done this before it seems quite strange. It sounds like an exaggerated action that is usually associated with wanting to be fed, although Monty likes to nibble on my finger all the time, just holding it in his beak and sort of slowly stabbing at it with his tongue. Mitzi doesn't do it. I don't know whether Joshua might have got some other problem inside his beak which is irritating him.
Jane
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Post by lidiam on Jul 20, 2005 3:59:23 GMT -7
Jane,
It's not the same as the holding and jabbing with tongue action, he does that too when he's being playful and/or exploring something.
It's a real slow-motion movement, almost as though he has decided to be particularly gentle with my finger. It's just that it is an entirely new movement.
There does not seem to be any stiffness of jaw associated with it, nor any swellings, rawness, discolouration inside the beak or under it, and he is eating normally.
I tested how far he could open his beak to bite down on something by giving him half an apple to destroy, and he chewed it with no difficulties whatsoever.
He can still bite down hard, by the way, no change there.
Lidia
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Post by Jane on Jul 20, 2005 8:26:49 GMT -7
It doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong with his beak then. The other thing they sometimes do is that exaggerated yawny thing where the beak is opened very wide and the neck extended but it doesn't really sound like that either. Perhaps it is just a new game he thought of.
Jane
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Post by tweetiepie on Jul 22, 2005 9:42:24 GMT -7
It sounds a bit like what Jane just suggested, The bit where they extend their neck for a yawny thing... this is when they have a seed or something stuck in their throat (so im told) but they (birds) do this regularly-ish. I dont know anything about parrot anatomy as such.. well I know bits, but... do they have tubes in their ears which run to their nostrils like us? (i cant spell the tubes we have). If this is the case, maybe he might have an inner ear problem??
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Post by lidiam on Jul 22, 2005 10:28:05 GMT -7
Mystery over, he is missing a little teensie sliver from the tip of his beak, and I didn't notice it until I saw his beak open against the light.
He's absolutely fine, and eating a polo mint as I type this!
Lidia
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Post by Jane on Jul 22, 2005 11:07:06 GMT -7
Ah that explains it.
Monty once had to have his beak ground down. When he came home he spent ages running his tongue over the inside edge of his beak, getting used to the new feel of it.
Jane
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