Buying a gift for a friend, and want to make sure it’ll work before purchasing. Thanks.
Please do not do that. Please. Just don’t. NO. Absolutely NOT. Holy crap, I’m going to have nightmares all night just thinking about that…
What broomstick said. If they get the tiniest cut on their talons, they will bleed to death. You will have to try corn starch etc to stop bleeding but there is very little you can do.
There are some perches with sandpaper that may help . Also they like to scratch and chew on cuttlebone which makes a better gift.
No. Bad idea. Nail trimmers for a dog or cat are much too large for a bird’s nails. You would almost certainly cut into the quick. Also, birds won’t hold still for a nail trimming. You would have to hold the bird in your hand, and if you hold the bird too tightly, you might prevent his chest from expanding and asphyxiate him.
Do as am77494 suggested and buy some sandpaper perches and some cuttlebone. Parakeets in the wild don’t need to have their nails trimmed. They scratch on the ground and perch in trees and naturally wear away their nails.
OP, please send your friend a link to this thread.
If that doesn’t strike you as a sufficient gift, sent your friend a cuttlebone.
Say it’s for the bird.
My late spouse was able to safely hold little birds while I very, very, very carefully trimmed their nails. It was a two person job that required skill and patience. And the bird we have had were all bigger than parakeets. The smaller the bird the harder to do this safely.
Now that he’s gone I take them to a vet to get the trimming done. It’s probably less stressful for all of us and it’s done safely and properly. If you want to help get the birds’ nails done kick in for a vet visit.
Dog and cat nail trimmers are WAY too large for the species of bird in the OP.
Abrasive perch covers are not a good idea. Birds are on their feet 24/7 and sandpaper can cause tiny abrasions that can become infected, especially if the birds are on a efficient diet.
Human infant nail clippers work great for trimming budgerigar, finch, and canary toenails.
My experience is that they don’t work particularly well for dogs and cats, so even if you could use them safely on birds, I wouldn’t expect they’d work any better.
I may have chosen the wrong brand; there may be some that work, but my point is, you could pick a dud as well. However, I’d go with the people who say they aren’t good for birds, and just stay away for that.
ok, bad idea.
friend lives by herself and during covid, she’s not able to trim the talons as she normally does when her cousin would go over and help her trim. solo job sounds like a much tougher deal.
i guess the majority agreement is the abrasive coverings, but kayak’s comment is giving me pause. any other suggestions?
thanks, all.
Electric dog and cat nail trimmers? I have never heard of such a thing. Do you mean the electrical nail grinders? They don’t cut anything, just use a fast spinning widget covered with sandpaper to smooth down nails. I assume that it would still be an issue with a small bird.
yeah, that’s the stuff. i saw it on an infomercial.
looks like… manzanita wood perches would naturally file down the nails?
Manzanita is a very hard wood used primarily with birds like cockatoos, macaws, and others that chew aggressively. I wouldn’t use it with budgies.
For parakeets I’d supply branches from apple, peach, oak trees of varying diameter. Activity that leads to the bird grasping perch material of varying diameter is the healthiest for the bird’s feet.
We have a large flight cage with six budgerigars. Our current flock has been together around ten years and they’ve never required toenail trimming. We had a budgie hen at one point that developed an ovarian tumor that led to her not using one leg. That foot needed its nails trimmed every month or so.
Would the manzanita do them any harm or simply be unnecessary?
I too was rather startled at the thought of trying to use any kind of electric trimmer on Rick and Morty. I did put one somewhat abrasive perch in their cage in lieu of sandpaper (the cage Morty arrived in had a sandpaper-covered perch) - but they spend very, very little time on that perch. I figure their claws get worn down enough by their bouncing around among surfaces (their play tree, the windowsills, occasionally my hand). While their claws feel a little sharp on my hand, it’s never felt like anything needed to be done about it.
It is unnecessary, plus budgies won’t chew/gnaw the manzanita. I replace the limbs in our budgie flight a couple times each year. The birds do some chewing and seem to appreciate the new branches.