OUCH! Sharp Toenails!!

[Lessadalinar]

How do you clip your birds toenails and what do you use?

[Quinroxox]

you can use just normal clippers, but you can also buy bird ones at pet stores. wrap the bir up in a smallish towel so there will be no blood (from bites) and make sure hes secure before you clip. hold him under intence licht so you can see the small blood vein in the toenail DONT CUT THAT it will never stop bleeding. just cut the very tip of the nail, slowly one at a time. over time, the vein should grow back in the nail, but just do the tips! you can take it to a pet store to get it professionally done so theres less stress on you.

[kellywess]

You have a large Macaw though dont you Lesadalinar? If so, it may take two people and a coarse nail file. Do you have pedi-perches in his cage. We very rarely have to do our Miligolds nails. We make sure the ped-perches are by his food dishes. We have had him three months and only had to do a couple of nails once. He is very good though. I just prop my leg up on the chair and let him sit on the leg and play with his piggies... hes usually pretty good about it.

[Ina246]

For my bird I use dog nail clippers. I do a little snip at a time. I also have my husband Jezz in a towel. Make sure your birds beak is covered well. She seems to bite harder when you are clipping her nails. If you do just a little bit at a time there should only be your blood that is shed.

[macawlover]

I bring mine to a groomer, who uses a dremel. It works very well, and it allows you to round the tips of the nails so that they aren't sharp anymore. It also cautarizes (sorry, spelled it wrong I know) the nail, which prevents bleeding for the most part.

[LoveMyBeak]

Heh heh- Hannah is another story when it comes to toenail clippin! we need three to four people to do her nails-two to hold her down,one to hold the legs and feet,and one to to the art work.
I feel so bad for when she has to go through this, she acts like we are killing her, we have to do one foot then let her rest cause she fights so hard that she is out of breath and gets to panting. And then when the whole ordeal is over she just goes into her cage and sulks and mopes its really pathetic but the next day she is back to her ol'self again....wierd..........LMB

[phonelady61]

I would not reccomend a first timer doing that . I would reccomend an avian vet doing it and you watching them do it and then maybe you can do it . as long as your bird is halfway tame the vet should have no problem . good luck .

[Lessadalinar]

Thanks for everyones replies Yes, they are macaws... that have RAZOR SHARP claws. I'm pretty comfortable snipping the very pointyist part off. Other than that I can handle the pain of dull toenail digging in my arm. It's the razor dagger that digs in and makes a mom grit her teeth and think all kinds of colorful words!

I'm going to look around online for some perches like that. I've always worried that it will sand their feet and make them raw, but putting them in front of the food dishes is a great idea!

I have another Scarlet hatching in 9 days!

Kellywess, Great memory!

[wildirish]

When you go to buy the perches, make sure her feet can't curl all the way around it, her toes need to reach only about half way or a little more, that way when gripping the toenails are "dug" into the sand part.

We use this and love it!

Pedi Paws pet nail trimmer Official Site, As Seen On TV

[Irish]

Have styptic powder or cornstarch handy and within reach, as well as a clipper and a sandpaper-based nail file. If your bird isn't used to having its nails clipped, so that it won't stand and let you do it while it sits on a perch, towel the bird , leaving nails and the eyes and nares uncovered. You'll probably need a helper. One of you hold the bird gently but firmly (you don't want to cause it undue stress by hanging on TOO hard), immobilizing the head by gently wrapping your hand around the back of its head, and holding both sides of the lower jaw (not the beak) with either side of your hand.

Clip just a bit off the nails of one foot. If any bleed, cover the toenail in styptic powder or cornstarch, pinching the bleeding nail between your fingers until the bleeding stops. Then file the nails until there are no rough spots. Repeat on the second foot.

If your bird is very stressed, you may want to give it a break between feet. Unwrap it, let it get calmed down, then back to the birdy burrito again for the second foot!

That said, sometimes it's just easier and less stressful to have an experienced person do the job for you. That's what I do--a friend of mine who has been clipping nails at a pet store for YEARS does our goons. Z or I hold, she clips. It works out just fine, and it's worth the very few dollars it costs to have someone else do the actual nail clipping.