# Green under beak



## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

All,

I am new to this site and I am actually happy that there is a Cockatiel forum. My fiancee is sort of flipping out, we noticed the other day that our female (just recently laid 7 eggs) has green under her lower beak. Is this something that we should be concerned about? Any suggestions or comments would be great. I am hoping that there is someone out there that has experienced this in the past and can help us out. Thank you


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

does she have any green calcium perches or anything green she can knaw on


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

no she doesnt. My fiancee just told me that about a week and a half ago she gave her some lettuce and was wondering if that is bad for her


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

lettuce contains alot of water and can cause diareaha


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

what kind of diet is she on, any green pellets or other died food


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

thats a good thing to know. have you ever experienced any of your cockatiels having green around the bottom of their beaks. My fiancee is really starting to get worried. The only thing that I know of that she eats is the Cockatiel food that we get from the pet store. And every once and a while we will give them fruits, like apple and orange slices and watermelon....is that okay to give them also?


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

nope because they refuse fresh food (will bury it below newspaper) and are on a seed diet, and yes lettuce can cause temporary coloration


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

so is this something that we sould be overly concerned about? how long can the coloration last?


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

i dont know i only know its temporary, ive asked another breeder to come on and see what she thinks but, ive not personally come across it, and if your going to give your bird lettuce go romaine


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## shelagh (Nov 2, 2010)

I wouldn't worry as long as the dye is naturally derived...


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

@nwoodrow, I think that we are done giving them lettuce.

@shelagh, what do you mean by that


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## shelagh (Nov 2, 2010)

I just meant that if your tiel is consuming green foods then a green beak wouldn't be such a concern. However, I might wonder about coprophagia as well...sometimes they will consume their own fecal matter in an attempt to grab the vitamins they need. The phenomenon is known as coprophagia; have you ever had dogs who raided the kitty litter box for "tootsie rolls"? Same notion...


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

Birds who eat their own poop are lacking calcium and you will notice it more in breeding birds, a cuttle bone is not enough, they need calcium in their water.
the reason i say you will notice it more in breeding birds is because they use alot of calcium to produce eggs, and well if you avairy breed, you may not notice them picking and scrapin the bottom of the cage, which is the first sign that they need calcium


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

well the lettuce is the only green thing that she has eaten but that was about a week and a half ago. Now that you mention it since she just laid eggs she has been picking at her poop that is on top of the nesting box that we have in their cage. How do we get her to stop that and will that also turn the feathers under her beak green? If so we will probably have to wash her face then right?


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

she is getting calcium the only way she can, you need to start adding calcium to her water, a cuttle bone wont cut it. the only way you can stop it is by giving her the calcium she needs, when you do this the calcium water is the only water dish available, do not give her options otherwise she may not get the calcium


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

this is all really good info to know. So what can I add in their water for the calicum? My fiancee told me that she has had her cockatiels for about 4 years now and this is the first time they have laid eggs


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

these a powdered calcium supplement called calcite, but your basically going to have to go to your bird store and ask for a powdered calcium for birds


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

If it is inside the mouth, and under and surrounding the tongue it could contain either a fungus or bacteria. You should be able to dip a Q-rip in vinegar and blot off the excess, and gently swab the effected areas. If it acts like it is adhered to the skin swab the mouth area several times a day.

If a bird of millet will get this build-up on the inside of the lower beak. if not corrected it can cause beak problems.


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

I will go to the bird store tomorrow and get some....now for our male, since they are in the same cage will it be bad for him to be getting extra calicum? Also, will the green just over time go away or do we have to clean her face??


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

no the extra calcium will not hurt him , and as to the green did you read the post srtiels posted


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

@srtiels, the green is not on the inside of her beak, it is surrounding the lower part of her beak


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

I just did..thank you


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## shelagh (Nov 2, 2010)

Make sure to provide full-spectrum lighting; their bodies don't accept the vitamins that they're given unless they have the nutrients with which to process them.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

my males drink the same water that i give my hens and ive never had a problem, just change the water once a day, you can give them calcium water in the morning, then regular water at night then calcium water the next morning, but usually until up to a week after the last egg is laid my female is provided with calcium water and then if i plan on letting them go for a second clutch i start giving them calcium water when those first chicks reach 5 weeks of age, or if i pull for hand feeding at 2 weeks of age i continue the calcium water up until the 7th day from the last egg being laid in the second clutch, you can also give her hard boiled egg yolks and whites and even crush the shell into the mixture


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

thats true about the full spectrum light even for birds near windows as the glass blocks most of the uv rays. if unsure what type is best ask the store owner at the bird store.


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

that is really good info. I will go to the bird store in the morning when they open. I will try to clean her beak tomorrow, but the only fear I have with that is they will land on us and things like that but as far as petting them or anything else like that they will fly away from us. So I just might have to take her in to get it cleaned, unless you all may know of a better way or technique to accomplish that


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

my breeders bite, they dont like people period, i wear gloves from doing anything from putting food in one pairs cage to banding them when i get new birds to transfering them from cage to aviary. if your birds are cage birds and not aviary birds you might clip thier wings for the time being, they will grow back, so no harm done and this way while their breeding they cant fly away when you inspect the nestbox daily, you are checking the box and conditioning your pair to become used to you going in that box right. have you ever hand fed, cause even if you never plan on hand feeding its an awesom bit of knowlege, i usually handfeed when my chicks are 2 weeks old, but i got a shock when i had to pull the 5 and 7 day old cause they are the size of hatchlings (parents had a clutch of 7 hatch) because they got dehydrated and stunted.


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

no we havent been putting our hands in the box. how can we condition them, just out our hands in there from time to time. I have noticed that they have been really protective of the box thats why we havent tried. We have not hand fed them either. None of the eggs have hatched so is this something that we should start doing right away? I dont think that she wants to clip their wings, she will let them out of their cage and fly around the house. But since they have laid eggs they will fly around but they will stay really close to or even stay on top of the cage. Is that usual behavior?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

No they're being protective of their box...start conditioning them by opening the box everyday and looking inside. Hens are less likely to bite so you can check when mom is in the box and dad is out. You can candle the eggs to see if they're good, this will get them used to your hands going in the box and messing with things. When were the eggs laid?


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

while the hen is sitting on eggs you really shouldnt be letting them out cause they are in the breeding cycle and after 10 days of first egg, if you wish to see fertile eggs she really needs to be sitting on that egg before that 10th day. after she is sitting tight, meaning only one bird out of box during the day then count 5 days then you should be able to candle them


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> But since they have laid eggs they will fly around but they will stay really close to or even stay on top of the cage. Is that usual behavior?


They're protecting their nest - perfectly normal. 

When Buster and Shodu are nesting, I'll let one out of the cage while the other is doing egg-sitting duty. Don't force them out against their will of course, but it's good exercise and a nice break for them to come out. In the wild each bird would be flying around and foraging for food when it's not their turn to sit on the eggs.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

thats true except that in breeding cockatiels youd only be letting the female out cause they do night duty and the males do day duty. or at least thats how my pairs do it, so is it really fair.


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

they laid the first egg a few weeks ago. they havent been sitting on the eggs all day. I have noticed that one will sit on them for a while then they will both be out then the other will go in. At night it is hit and miss whether they are laying on them or not. We arent sure if it is because we keep our place nice and hot and it is hot inside the cage...any ideas?


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

You have what most of us have to deal with at one time or another a virgin pair with no parental instincts, it usually passes, but if the first egg was laid a few weeks ago, it only had 10 days to be brooded on for it to show if it is fertile, so those eggs are probably not any good now, but keep them in thier anyway, at least for 28 days or until the abandon them completely. as you dont want her laying more just to replace that clutch. With experience they will get better, another posibility is that they know when they need to sit so those eggs could have been laid and not have been viable to begin with, if you candle the eggs a non-fertile egg will throw a yellowish cast, a fertile eggs shell will deepen the white and throw a pinkish cast that will turn into red once the egg has been brooded on for 5 days straight.


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

that is something we didnt know. Thank you for the insight. We have noticed that the eggs that were laid first are getting bigger, does that not mean anything? As you can see we are new to this just like our birds are...lol


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

pictures would be a good thing so i can see what you mean, really small eggs carry no yolk and not fertile


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

okay I will try and take some later when I get home and post them


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

sorry I havent been able to post any pics yet. They have been layingo n the eggs more than normal lately. I did, however, take our female (Lucy) to the vet yesterday and they said that she is lacking vitamin A. So I have been hand feeding them broccoli....again every one thank you for your help. Alot of info that I have recieved from here that we didnt know...again thanks


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

good luck with the eggs and hopefully you'll have little fuzzies soon.


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## michael.wilson (Mar 25, 2011)

thanks...we are hoping so also. she just laid a few more eggs over the past couple of days also


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