This poor little fellow also had to have a toe amputated due to swelling. The breeder reassured me that this will not hinder the bird in any way and I should not have any problems with it. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

--Sharon Barber

A small hole that’s been patched and sealed to prevent infection should not weaken your macaw’s beak. In fact, with luck, the defect eventually will disappear.

Have you ever hit your finger with a hammer and suffered a blood blister under the nail? You might remember how as your nail grew, the bruise "traveled" to the tip and finally disappeared.

Something like this should happen with the patched hole in your macaw’s beak. The surface tissue covering a parrot’s beak is similar to a human nail. As long as there is no damage to the “quick”--the germinal layer that forms the underlying beak tissue--a defect will travel toward the tip and eventually be eliminated.

As for your bird’s missing toe, I wouldn’t worry about this, either. Young birds sometimes develop constricting bands of tissue around a toe. When the band shrinks, it disrupts normal circulation and the rest of the toe swells.

Sometimes these constrictions can be cut and normal circulation is restored and the swelling subsides. Sometimes, however, the swollen toe needs to be amputated. Birds, like most other creatures, are very adaptable and rarely have problems with part of a toe missing.

James Harris, DVM is owner and medical director of the Mayfair Veterinary Clinic in Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia. He founded Montclair Veterinary Hospital in Oakland, Calif., and has served as medical director and chairman of the board for the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Berkeley. Dr. Harris' numerous professional honors include California and National Bustad Companion Animal DVM Awards.

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