Dealing with Long Nails

[yorkee187]

Out of curiosity, how does everyone cut toenails? With an actual nailcutter? Has anyone seen those products for dogs that have the rotating nail filers/buffers? I was thinking about using those but don't know if it would be appropriate for a bird's nails considering the angle. I am too scared to cut nails myself (or wings even), especially on my smaller, more hyper birds and have heard that sand perches should not be used to file nails over time. Right now I depend on the vet but it is too expensive and doesn't last long enough.

Any thoughts?

[Ashling]

If you provide natural wood to climb on, this can help keep nails naturally trim, or at least they grow back more slowly and you don't need to trim as regularly. Sand covered perches can damage your birds sensitive toes. I use normal human nail- clippers (very small ones for children) and they have worked for me. I hold the nail up to the light to locate the quick (the small nerve/ blood vessel) so that I can avoid it, then cut on a downwards angle. My tiels and budgie I can hold safely in one hand and trim with the other, but it's always easier with a friend toweling them. If you cut the quick you can use kwik-stop to stop the bleeding. I use flour which I hold on there for a few minutes. I doubt that's as effective (but it does work). After I've cut it, I file the nail gently until it's smooth. I generally wouldn't do that for any bird smaller than a cockatiel. My lori loves her nails being filed and gets all excited and playful when I do it haha. I don't know about the rotating buffers but I don't think they're made for little birds! Maybe a macaw, but nothing smaller. I think it's a waste of money going to the vets if you know what you're doing. I don't think they should charge for it anyway!

[Renae]

How much is it at the Vets? the Avian Vet I see charges $5 a bird.. which isn't much, but I don't trust myself to clip nails so I'd rather them do it then me and have an accident with a lot of blood involved.

[NotEnoughTime]

I would *never* use sand covered perches for the reason Ashling stated. I use wood, cement and unfinished ceramic perches (one of my girl's food bowls is unfinished ceramic on the top as well). These keep her nails trim. An active bird should rarely need beak and nail trims IMO...

The one time that I've taken off a very small portion of one of my bird's nails I've used human nail clippers... It wasn't an issue - and I only took off a tiny bit - but it was a tiny nail (parrotlet).

[Ringneckmom]

Regular human nail clippers in different sizes depending on the bird.
I wouldn't use that rotating thing if it is the one that has been advertised recently. If you are talking about the one that looks like a dremel then that would work. You have to be very careful with the rotary tools though as they do have a lot of power and it is very easy to accidentally injure the bird.

I have Indian Ringnecks and I have tried all the different perches in different sizes through the years and they don't seem to work very well for long. My guys always have to have their nails clipped frequently as it does not take long at all form the oget sharp and get caught in stuff.

[angelicarboreals]

I have a manicure set that I use on a few of my birds (its basically a dremel) and the other birds I have a pair of nail clippers that I bought from Petsmart. There are only two birds I own that I take the the vet to have their nails trimmed, I cannot do it by myself. Whoever said their vet charges $5 is very lucky, my vet is $20 per bird (but that includes a wing trim if necessary or needed.)

[yorkee187]

Originally Posted by Renae

How much is it at the Vets? the Avian Vet I see charges $5 a bird.. which isn't much, but I don't trust myself to clip nails so I'd rather them do it then me and have an accident with a lot of blood involved.

My vet is an hour away so when I go it's for a full checkup which includes toes and wings. Thats costs about $90 for my conure and less for smaller birds

[yorkee187]

Thanks for the responses!

[Chief's Mom]

Pedi-perches/cement perches work for some of our birds but not for others, but every cage has at least one in them. My vet charges $7.50 to trim nails, which isn't bad, but he's an hour away, so it's not very convienient. What we try to do is file their nails regularly. When we cuddle at night to watch TV, I'll file a few nails just to keep them down. Most of my birds are okay with it, so it works out okay...Chief's the only one whose deathly afraid of a nail file(of course, the biggest bird is our biggest scardy bird!).

I doubt that most birds would sit still long enough with one of those rotary files because of the noise they make. For the small birds, I use a regular people nail clipper. For the bigger birds, I use a dog style nail clipper. You can use flour or corn starch to stop the bleeding if you do happen to clip too short. You can also purchase QuikStop, but do not use this product on their skin...it burns!

Honestly, if you don't feel comfortable doing it, it's probably better just to bring them to vet. Chief will let me file them every once in a while, but other than that, I bring her to the vet regularly. All the others only see the vet for nail trims twice a year.

[slv]

I can see clipping the nails of larger birds, but what about the smaller ones...I have a diamond dove (for about 8 months) and I have yet to clip his nails - are there any other dove owners on this forum, and how do you deal with this issue?