Prosthetic beak offers new hope for parakeet
Abu Dhabi vets are creating a prosthetic beak for a parakeet that suffers from a condition that affects his ability to eat and drink.
The three-year-old greencheeked parakeet, which is being treated in the Khalifa City A branch of the British Veterinary Centre in Abu Dhabi, suffers from scissor beak, which means the top and the bottom of his beak do not align.
The centre has been trimming the small bird’s beak regularly to ensure he is still able to eat and drink easily, but it cannot do this indefinitely because the parakeet has to be sedated, which is stressful for him.
“The idea is to attach the prosthesis and leave it on for a certain amount of time until the fibres changed direction, which would be the correct way you want them to grow,” said Uzi Kamora, a registered veterinary nurse who is assisting the South African vet who is creating the prosthesis.
“Once that happens they can be taken off and hopefully the beak will grow back in the normal way and the bird can eat properly.”
The parakeet has suffered from the condition since birth.
If he lived in the wild he could die because the beak, which is made of the same material as human nails, would continue to grow incorrectly until he can no longer eat or drink.
The vet creating the prosthesis is based in South Africa but travels to the centre every few months to see special cases. He last visited earlier this week, hoping to fit the prosthesis, but it did not work because the shape of the beak had changed too much.
He took another mould of the bird’s beak and will start working on a new one when he returns to South Africa. The prosthesis will be glued to the bottom of the bird’s beak.
“It will be brought back here, maybe in January, with the specialist, and we will attach it again,” Mr Kamora said.
“By then maybe the beak will have grown a little bit more, again in the wrong direction, so it will have to be trimmed and the whole process will start again until we can attach the prosthesis and leave it on.”