Aussie Finch Forum

Hi,
I have an very old Painted Finch his beak crosses over like sissors, I have been on the internet and they say to cut the end which I did just a little bit with nail clippers. His beak still crosses over a bit as I am not sure how much to trim. He seems to be blind in one eye, he still enjoys the aviary and sitting in the sun but with his beak like that would he be able to eat okay. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Lynn,

You can probably only trim the beak ends if they are overgrown. As soon as you cut the "quick" it will start to bleed.
If you file back the beak tip you are less likely to cause bleeding.

Check the bird's body condition over the breast bone- if it feels well muscled and the keel bone is not prominent then it is coping ok and eating well.

If it is thin then cutting/filing the beak back may help it to eat better. Also make sure that seed is placed in open dishes in multiple locations to make it easier for him to access it.

If the bird is thin and you can't trim the beak back then that is a bad sign and it may, unfortunately, be kinder to euthanase the bird before it starves to death.

Good luck with him.

Thanks for your reply, I will catch him tomorrow and access the situation and see if I can trim the beak a bit more as I said he is very old and that could stress him out. Will decide what to do tomorrow.