Shaun777 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 My african grey is now 18 weeks old. When would I need to clip its nails? I have already clipped the wings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane08 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 We don't clip our birds nails as he looks after this himself. We have alot of different perches that he runs around on and that seems to file them down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun777 Posted January 30, 2008 Author Share Posted January 30, 2008 Thanks jane. My greys nails are fairly long, and it becomes a bit sore when he digs in his nails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane08 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 oh yes it is sore. When we first got ours he was the same and our arms looked like we had been in a fight with cats. We got alot of comments from people at work about all the scratches. It took about a month on the perches for them to become filed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun777 Posted January 30, 2008 Author Share Posted January 30, 2008 Thanks, yes my arms are also torn to shreds. When I put her on my shoulder she always seems to go towards the neck and places her nails just above my tshirt on the skin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Y0u could take a small Roto type nail trimmer and just take the sharp tips off. That's what we did. It worked great and only need to do it every 2 months or so. Also, as others said, if you have concrete perches or such, it will slowly dull those sharp tips. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Just so everyone knows, just because the nails are not sharp does not mean they don't need a trim. When you put your grey on a flat surface like a table the entire bottom of the toes should be on the table...when the nails are too long the tips of the toes will no longer touch the table. I have the cement perch in Elmo's cage and his nails are never sharp, but in the next week or two I need to bring him in for a pedi because his nails are getting long. If you wait too long before getting the nails done and they get overgrown it will become very difficult to get them back down the the right length. My store does wing and nail clippings and I can't tell you how many birds come in with nails that are just WAY to long, and the owners always say "well, they are never sharp so we figured they didn't need to be done." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jopalis Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Where can I find a place that will clip the talons? I have not had them done in 4 yrs! Vet that does birds too but all animals will charge $78.50!!! I can't afford that right now. HELP I am in So. CA. Plus she will be difficult about it sand bite who is trying to do it.... Post edited by: Jopalis, at: 2008/01/31 00:58<br><br>Post edited by: Jopalis, at: 2008/01/31 00:58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teluhlasmom Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Wow I didn't know that even if their toes arn't sharp that they may still need trimming, great to know! How often do you normally trim your babies nails BMustee? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibibi Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Good job BMustee I've always used the flat surface test too. Karma for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Well, I go by the "flat test", so it can differ. It's been about 4 months now sense his last trimming, and he'll be going in for one on Monday. We have birds at the store though that need it almost once a month...their nails grow like there is no tomorrow. Now, if you have a bird that's nails are overgrown then you need to do it a little more often to try and get them down to size because you can't take it all off at once or else you got a painful bloody mess. I always take off an 8th of an inch at a time...some birds like Macaws you can go a little more, but not much. As for where to get your birds trimmed, my pet store trims nails and wings so if you have a "bird shop" in town that you trust you could see if they offer that service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Great post BMustee, the flat test is also what we go by. It seems to be the best indicator that is listed on this topic in most books and Internet posts. Another source of helping you trim your birds talons until you are comfortable with doing it yourself is your breeder. This of course only works if they are near by, but it is a thought. Our breeder trimmed Dayo's nails the first 2 times and taught us how to do it using a roto-drill, which Dayo seems to like for some reason. :-) Karma to you !!<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/01/31 14:46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 LOL...I have noticed that some birds do like the roto a lot more than the nail clippers. What I like to do with birds that have long nails is clip as much as I can without cutting the quick (cutting an 8th, and then shaving little by little after that) and then go back over them with the roto. Sometimes the nails can feel just as bad after a trim as they did before if you don't file them. Another thing that I have noticed is a lot of birds are calmer if you let them "hold" your hand. When I'm the one holding the bird I will give the bird my thumb to hold and they don't seem to struggle as much...works almost every time with the greys and Amazons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now