Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 10/13/2007

Question
Hi Chrys,
I am worried about my parakeet. He grows a brown crust on the left side of his beak. I remove it every few days with a q-tip dipped in warm water but it grows again. It is clearly bothering him and he continiuosly scratches it with the side of his feeder. I took him to his avian vet a few month ago and after scratching him the vet said that it was just some dirt or poop that he had gotten accidentaly. She also said that it could be a deposit of calcium form the calcium stone that he bites all the time. I moved the stone to the other side and he was normal for a while. Now it's back and it seem to grow back after I remove it. I looked at the pictures for scaly face mites and it does not look quite the same. His crust is confined to the left side of his beek and it is of dark brown color. Do you have any idea of what might be going on? I appreciate the help.
Barbara

Answer
Hi, Barbara,

If you are able to remove this stuff with warm water on a Q-Tip, it must be dried on food or something similar.  If it were scaly face mites or a tumor or cyst, etc., you would not be able to remove it, as these types of things grow into the tissue/skin.  What type of diet is your bird on?  I feed my keets a variety of healthy, nutritious soft foods daily and often times, the birds get food caked on/around their beaks/face which, if dried, resembles what you are describing.  I would recommend carefully observing your keet to see if you can determine what your bird might be doing to cause this.  Also, observe your bird to see if s/he might be regurgitating, regurgitating to another bird (perhaps a mate) and some of the regurgitated food might be sticking to the bird's beak.  But again, if you are able to remove this stuff easily without any blood or soreness in this area, it must be something the bird is eating/regurgitating, etc.

Is there any chance this bird is female?  Female's ceres become dark brown and crusty when they are in breeding condition.  Could it be this is a female who is in breeding condition and the crustiness on the left side of the beak is actually part of a brown, crusty cere of a female?  However, in this case, you shouldn't be able to easily remove it with warm water and a Q-Tip.

Chrys