Diamond Dove with cross beak..help!

[KieksterChicken]

My diamond dove's beak has recently began growing out curved at the very tips, bottom one way and top the other.He is over 3 years old and never had a problem with this until the last 2 months. He won't touch the cuttle fish bone that has been strapped to the side of his cage since I purchased him. Any idea what needs to be done to correct the issue? I'm afraid filing it down with a small dremel tool at the vets will scare him to death and he'll actually die but I'm supposing that is the only solution?. It's not severe at all and he still can eat and drink with no problem and is super healthy but obviously it's a problem that will get worse and I want to fix it ASAP. Help?

 

[lightchick]

Can you post a pic? I don't think pigeons can eat off cuttle fish bones. I never give mine any.
If your worried about a lack of calcium then I'd give him oyster shell grit that's used for chickens.

 

[jak2002003]

Don't worry.. Its easy for you to sort this out. I have a female diamond dove that had the same problem. I took her to the vet the first time and it cost me a lot of money, and the vet stressed the poor bird out badly. even making her beak bleed.

So I decided to do it myself next time.. it was very easy!!!

Just wrap the dove in a light weight cloth to keep it still and stop it injuring itself. Not too tight! Keep the cloth over her eyes too.. than they stay really calm. Just let the beak stick out.

You can put the 'wrapped up' dove on the table of get someone to hold it.

Use a small nail file to gently file down the beak to the correct shape.

Its important to keep filing in ONE direction.... out from the birds head. Don't go back and forth like when you do you own nails.. otherwise the beak can start to splinter. Put a finger on the opposite side of the beak as you do it.. to hold it still.

Don't take too long. You don't have to do it all in one time. After a couple of minutes put the doves back in the cage to recover. You can do the same again the next day if you need to.

The doves beak is very soft so its easy to file down quickly.

Look at another dove, or a photo on the internet so you can see how the beak should look.

Don't do it too much otherwise it will hurt the dove and it will bleed.

When they get this cross beak thing its due to genetic problems, or an old injury. It will keep coming back.. But usually very slowly. So just keep an eye on it and file it down before it gets too long.

Hope she will be better soon!!!

 

[KieksterChicken]

Thank-you very much for the information Jak2002003 and Lightchick..I already give him grit which I thought had calcium in it but I'll check again to see if it does. . If not I can get some small grain calcium fortified chick grit from the feed store to add to his diet. I'm wondering if he flew into the side of his cage and knocked his beak and injured it 2 months ago or so and which I didn't notice and which is causing it to grow crossed? He has flown into the side of the cage before in a panic but has never injured himself. He never had any signs of crossed beak until 2 months ago and he is over 3 years old so I am puzzled as to the cause. If it was genetic I would have thought the problem would have shown up much sooner than after 3 years. If it was a lack of calcium that would have shown up a long time ago too because I haven't changed his diet and I really go out of my way to make sure he has the best nutrition. I even keep his cage on the window sill (window closed though) so he can get natural sunlight. His mate did die 3 weeks ago after panicking and smacking into the side of the cage. : (. I'll have to go read up on crossed beak causes..lol and then will enlist my husbands help to file his beak down. It won't take much and I doubt it will even get near the quick since the problem is so mild.
Again, Thank-you all.

 

[jak2002003]

Sorry to hear about his mate. They can be very flighty birds. Mine used to have 'nightmares' and go crazy at night and not settle down until I turned on the light. There was never a reason for them to get scared!!!

I found that a dim light near the cage at night helped them to not panic.

On a side note.. your dove will not get the 'natural' light through a closed window. The glass filters out the UV rays. Its better to open the window on a warm day.. of take the dove with you outside in the yard for a while. They don't actually 'need' this natural light.. but its great to maintain good heath.

Your birds diet seem good too. I don't think it was lack of calcium that caused the cross beak.. it is usually only the females that suffer from calcium deficiency as they are laying eggs and need the calcium for the shells and feeding young.

I think you are right about it resulting form an injury when he flew into the cage.

Have you thought about making a cage for him yourself? Its easy as these birds don't chew through wood and stuff like parrots.

You can make a frame from wood.. and then instead of using metal bars you can use some soft netting. Black looks great and you can see the dove better without the bars in the way.., the soft netting will also be safe if he panics again. You can put a flat tray of pan of sand as the floor of the cage.. and sprinkle it with grit and oyster shell. They love walking about pecking in the sand.. and having dust baths.

You can tell my hobby is pet birds.. I love trying new things out for them.