Scaly face ?

[tanja]

Hi everybody,

I have a question, but first I can't provide a clear picture from FinFin's cere and beak, it's always totally unclear when I try to focus on him while the macro is very much zoomed... But maybe I can describe what I can see.
When I bought FinFin his beak and cere was so beautiful and clean and shiny. Now I have him here with me since December the 2nd and I started seeing that his beak got some kind of white cracks right and left where the beak tip is. Looks like it's breaking there or something. which does go away for a bit, when he drinks water. But today I saw that on his cere, when he sits in the right light of the daylight, that shines in that there is some kind of whitish over his beak on the cere. I don't know if it's maybe because the cere starts changing the color a little bit, he has also a few little pinnies on his cheek pads. Just wondering if that is something to worry about.

[skysmum]

Im having the same worry with Chilli tanja. Ive put a pic on is it like Chilli's.

[tanja]

Dec 14, 2013 21:01:35 GMT skysmum said:

Im having the same worry with Chilli tanja. Ive put a pic on is it like Chilli's.

skysmum, I checked Chilli's picture. But FinFin's beak looks different. It's quite shiny on top , but the edges right and left beside his beak tip seem to crack. His cere looks quite normal, except if he is sitting in the daylight on the right side of his cage, then it looks like some white skin on top of his blue colored cere. I don't know if that is something to worry about

[skysmum]

I have PM'd Barrie Shutt and asked him to take a look at Chilli's pic, hopefully he will be able to confirm for me. I did wander if it had anything to do with coming into central heating. If you can put a pic up it would help.

[tanja]

Believe me I tried to take a picture. But FinFin does turn away from the camera. Even when I put it on Macro and zoom in, it's never a clear picture. I have no idea why that is, because my camera is supposed to shoot 16 mega pixel pictures...

[tanja]

Okay I just got the answer back from the Canoga Discount Birds shop, where I bought FinFin. he still has brothers and sisters there who are all fine and healthy. He wrote back:

The cracking and peeling is normal the cere could be turning because it is just changing as they get older. 

So maybe it is normal with younger birds, that the cere peels and shows light skin parts in some kind of white color that peels off, because the cere is changing. So maybe after all it is not what I thought it would be.

[tanja]

Okay I took 2 picture now which are a little bit better from the quality and are quite clear too. On this picture you can see the little white cracking at his beak in the edge



and here it seems normal, for some reason. It only seems to be whitish in a specific light of the sun. it could be that Dawn from the bird shop is right and the cere is peeling for change?

[Marianne Marlow]

I think it's just a little dry. Doesn't look like scalyface to me. Has he been treated with spot on or ivermectin?

[ffiscool]

Bailey has the white on both sides of his beak. It's been there from soon after I got him. When he went to the vet for something else, a) I forgot to even mention it and b) am sure the vet would have commented if something wrong

I can't comment re the cere

[GoldieNYC]

Looks like something I just went through, recently, Tanja. It may be part of FinFin's maturation (approaching mating mode), but that would make FinFin several months+ old (6 or 7, from what I'm told) at least. Currently, her cere is reverting to its cleaner, lighter topology and shade. I was concerned for a while.

[tanja]

Marianne, thanks maybe it is just dry like you said or like Goldie said he is going through a maturing change. The answer I got back from the owner of the pet shop where FinFin is coming from and how old he is was:

Yes one of my private breeders and he is under 6 months old!!

I have to say I asked him this question, because FinFin does not have a ring around his leg, which could tell me how old he may be. So I was wondering for a longer time how old he really was. He still has very dark eyes, except when he is scared then I can see a light grey iris around his black eyes. and I think the head bars are still over his cere, just doesn't look like it on photos. The head bars are very light, so not that easy to see.

The question for Ivermectin I can't answer, because I don't know if he was treated with that. What the owner said was that his brothers and sisters there are all healthy. And they seem to have a doctor there who checks the birds. So I guess they should be healthy. So maybe I read too much about scaly faces... and it scared me, without any reason.

[GoldieNYC]

Also, Tanja - the "scaly" generality seems to cause a lot of fright in inexperienced bird owners like us. I would think the nares would be even more important to check. Hezz can confirm this. How are they? In the picture they look quite clean. Goldie had such a pure cere (as you can see from my back posts), that when she started getting the scaly edges, I reacted. Happily, she's herself, and the cere merely continues to slowly change hues. I'm hoping the same for you and FinFin (who looks kind of feminine in that last shot you posted -- with a tan cere?).

[tanja]

GoldieNYC
yeah it can be quite of scary right? Well he is himself very happy chattering, flying out as soon I open cage etc. So no signs of itchiness or anything like that. His cere is blue, it depends totally on the light, When I got him in the pet store I could see the blue on it very good, so I don't think he turns into a female now. He does not bite in the least he so calm and gentle. That doesn't really speak for a female budgie. It's kind of sad that I have this warm light here, it does not show colors correctly

[Hezz]

The areas that look like cracks on the beak are more than likely due to the beak growing ...... they are like fingernails in a way. You know how a fingernail will flake a bit if you don't look after them and keep them blunt; cut and filed?? Mine do, anyway. I have shockingly weak nails, they flake with any amount of decent work. The beak is like this too. Whether this is more common as young birds, I haven't noticed, but these things that look like cracks are of no issue, really.

Scaly mites burrow into the beak and cere, causing little holes and giving these areas a honeycomb appearance - this is the best description I have seen or heard to describe this. They can also be seen on the legs and feet as well as little white raised spots, like a blister but with no fluid. There are some truly awful photos of birds with untreated scaly mites, but don't panic if you go looking at these. These poor birds will have been like this for years and years and will never recover properly. Early treatment is easy and very effective and the affected areas grow out very quickly.