I wonder what it is that predisposes her to that? Is it the neglect of the original owner so that she didn’t learn to use cuttlebone, or is it astronomical growth rate, or something else?
From what the vet said, it was malnutrition. When I got them, they had no names, had never been covered at night, had no gravel or cuttlebone, and the cage had newspaper on the bottom. They were fed dollar store food, and were five years old when I got them, but Beaker was so small, I thought she was a juvenile.
I bought them gravel and a cuttlebone first thing that day, bought better food at Walmart (I still can’t afford the pet store kind) and added a conditioner, I also got some liquid vitamins for them, and an insect killer can. (You know, the flat ones that hang in the cage?)
They were also given Las Vegas water which causes kidney stones in humans after a few years, so I buy distilled water. When I first looked at her I saw that her beak had been trimmed straight across, instead of pointed, so she couldn’t eat properly. I almost cried.
The woman said she got them from a breeder who was indiscriminate about which birds mated, as they were all in one big cage. That’s all I know. It was enough to make my blood boil. Neither woman had a clue how to take care of birds.
Within two weeks of getting them, Beaker had grown and put on weight and they are now a bonded pair.
I’m sorry about the long-windedness, but I keep thinking if I had known what condition they were in, especially her and her beak, I wouldn’t have taken them. But I would have, because I rescue parakeets.
The vet did an amazing job on her beak, and I’m hoping that in time, the abnormal beak growth will slow down, and I won’t have to pay $100 a pop.