We’ve had Scout for over a year now. Runt of the litter, small and scrappy, but cute as hell. Anyway, we’ve never had his wings clipped or his toenails trimmed. The wing situation is fine. He has a blast flying around the room, landing on our heads and playing with his toys. We have no intention of grounding him. On the other hand, we’ve noticed that his nails are quite long and he tends to get them caught in material (like t-shirts, even) that never used to give him problems before. I don’t want him to injure himself, obviously, but there’s no way I’m cutting them myself! (Poor little Peg Leg!) A vet once told me that, even if a bird’s healthy, it could be traumtic to put him through the whole trip to the vet (you know, into a box, outside, car ride, other animals, being handled.) So, I really don’t want to take him to a vet just to get his nails trimmed. Can this actually be done at home? I’d never forgive myself if something went wrong, but I’d hate to see him get stuck and injure himself. Any suggestions? Thanks from Hazel and Scout!
It’s very tricky-- if you cut too short they will bleed bleed bleed, which is bad. There are special nail cutters to use, but I’d be too chicken to try. If you can manhandle him you might just emory board them a tad. They tend to get particularly long and sharp for a short while and then just perching wears them down to something reasonable pretty soon.
When I had parakeets, I clipped their claws with a bird claw clipper that I bought from my veterinarian. Pet stores may carry these, too. The clippers come in several sizes; the smallest ones are perfect for parakeets. You have to be very careful not to cut into the “quick” of the claw.
Another option is sandpaper perch covers, but my veterarian was vehemently opposed to the use of these. He said that the sandpaper can cause irritation to the bird’s feet that can lead to sores and infections.
The one time I tried one of those it caused sores on my bird’s feet. They’re a bad idea.
Does your parakeet have dark claws or light claws? It’s easier to see where the blood vessels stop with light claws. If you try it yourself, make sure you have some styptic powder to stop the bleeding in case you cut too deeply.
Thanks for the info! Scout has light claws. I would like to get a styptic pen or the powder. Can I purchase these at a pet store or do I need to go to the vet?
You can probably get it at a pet store or drug store. Personally, I think the powder would work better than the pen. If you’ve nicked the quick (heh) you’ve basically cut a vein, and a lot of blood (for a small bird) can come out quickly.
Also, I’ve been told that if you keep them clipped, the quick will retreat. If they get long, the quick will grow further out. So it’s best to keep them pretty short.
Oh, and you didn’t ask, but don’t poo-poo the idea of clipping her wings too quickly. There’s a lot of (dangerous) mischief a flighted bird can get into around the house, including toilet bowls, cooking aparatus, smacking into windows, etc. And be careful using non-stick cookware; it can overheat and outgas fumes that’ll kill you’re little lovely quicker than anything. And no avocado. Or chocolate.
Styptic pencils are one of those things that can nominally be found in your ordinary drugstore, but good luck actually finding them. One of those things that’s somewhere in the store, only no one knows where.
I haven’t yet clipped my parakeet’s claws, but I wouldn’t hesitate to do it. The thing is, when the vet does it, they clip a fair amount, because you don’t want to be going there every week. But if you do it yourself, you can clip just a small amount, knowing you can do it more frequently. That way you won’t have to worry much about bleeding. I wouldn’t think you’d need special clippers.
I think the technique is to get the bird in your hand with its head between your index and middle fingers, such that your thumb is free to extend the leg. That’s the theory, anyway.
We have a budgie whose claws sometimes grow a bit oversize and get hooked up on fabrics and stuff - we generally find it’s only necessary to trim a tiny little bit off the end (perhaps a millimetre or so) and after that, they start to wear normally again - it’s almost as if the tip of the claw turns extra hard and prevents natural wear occurring.
BTW, the bird doesn’t like having this done, so we have to hold him loosely wrapped in a soft cloth to prevent him struggling and injuring himself.
In many larger cities, there are pet groomers who will cut a birds’ claws for you. That still involves the stress of a trip there. But often, you can pay them to do a house call (at least, more often than a vet).
Many of them are also willing to train you in how to cut your own birds’ claws. You watch while they do some, then you do the rest under their supervision. Expect to have to pay more for this service, because they are teaching you as well as doing the trimming (and probably also losing you as a future customer).
And as Sal said, you can clip a little bit each day until they are short enough. Trimming just a little bit really reduces the risk that you will cut deep enough to cause bleeding.
There are abrasive perches that aren’t harsh on the feet like sandpaper. My Alvin has a Parrotopia Sandy Perch, and I haven’t had to get his nails clipped in the past 6 years.
I have had a parakeet living in the same cage for 12 years now, and I haven’t had to clip his nails once. The secret: he has three natural branches to perch on, one going lengthwise across the end of the cage and one diagonally across each of the opposite corners. One of the parakeet care books suggested this, and it works. The idea is that they’re of varying diameters as he moves around on the perches (as opposed to dowels, which are the same diameter no matter where on the perch he stands), so his nails wear naturally.
I went out and walked around the back yard, found three suitable fallen sticks from our ash tree, disinfected them with straight Clorox, baked them in the oven for an afternoon for further disinfection, installed them in the cage, and never looked back.