Macaw's Beak Surgery
Cassie is an plucked blue and gold macaw who was at the "Eye of the Eagle" wildlife rehab center in North Central Florida last December when my wife and I started to help with the cleaning feeding and watering chores as volunteers. Cassie's beak had broken off due to unknown factors and was found on the bottom of the cage. Dr. Miller rehabs mainly raptors and native wildlife but does not turn exotic avians away. Anyway, that Saturday I photographed operations reattaching Cassie's beak as well as broken wing-pinning on a barn and a screech owl. The attached pictures follow the operation from the broken beak tip, anesthetizing the macaw,, drilling the beak to insert a pin (same stainless steel pins as used in the wing pinning) thru her recovery. I mixed the dental epoxy (so there are no pictures of that, or when I cut the pin with the bolt cutters). The epoxy was placed to reattach the beak, the pin placed through for reinforcement and globs of epoxy put over the protruding pin ends and shaped to ensure there was no obstruction inside the beak. The bird came out of the anesthesia with no problem. The prosthetic beak came off in approximately two weeks through normal activity but this seemed to be enough time for healing to occur and new growth to start. The final picture is Cassie eating on the first of March. She also is regaining new feathering with her new environment and diet.









WWW by Cherane Pefley This site was designed and built by: Cherane Pefley Copyright © 1999-2000. All rights reserved