suedazwood Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Hi My girlfriend and i have a six month old grey and this is our first bird. His claws seem very sharp and it can hurt when he is standing on bare skin and he seems to bite them alot, is this normal? If not do we need to take him to a vet to get them cut or is there something else we can do? Any advise would be much appreciated Regards Darren and Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
she Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Hi. Greys need fairley sharp claws for grip.I know what you mean about them hurting though.I often have scratches on my hands from Charlies claws. Have you got a perch in his cage designed to trim the nails, if so move this to a more promanent perching place for a while.I have never had to have my greys claws trimmed but if they needed it I would get the vet to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notsu Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I agree with She, I have never had to have Notsu's nails done. She has an sandy perch as one of the high perches in her cage and she uses it all the time. Not sure but I thought the biting of the nails where an sign of nervousness. I may be wrong about that though. If I am sorry.:unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I got Shanti an expensive filing perch and put it in a prominent place, but he rarely gets on it and certainly doesn't use it to do his nails. I'm reluctant to clip them too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyparrot Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 My arms are now so calloused because of Mistys untrimmed claws that they act like a natural sandpaper to keep his claws in check. Just let Guiness crawl all over you and the sharp claws will wear down in a year or so. Seriously though I believe that nail nibbling is just part of your Greys natural grooming. She is right about getting abrasive perches for your Grey They need to be wide enough so that his claws don't meet underneath.He will also need a variety narrower perches for comfort just like he might have in the wild. Misty has these as well as hard fruit wood branches on is play perch. These all help keep his claws in check. I have never had to have them trimmed. Make sure Guiness has plenty of suitable surfaces to climb on. Normal cage bars are no good for wearing down parrot claws. Bad claw trimming will cause great discomfort so if you must have it done go to a vet or at least some one experienced. Steve n Misty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerlily Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 hi. yes nail biting is normal and i think looks quite cute! i have great problems with Tigerlilies nails, having tried every perch going and tried filing them myself but tigerlily was far from impressed with that! she's now been 2 the vets 2 have her nails trimmed 3-4 times and the vet really knows what she's doing and only charges around £10. Although Tigerlily doesn't like the experience, it hasn't freaked her out in any major way and she recovers in no time. it also gives the vet chance to give her a quick general check and for me to ask questions. so i'm probably resigning myself to a trip to the vets every 2 months or so to keep her nails and a more comfortable length for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyric Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I've had great success with mine using the perches designed to keep the nails trimmed down. I like the Pedi-perch and the safety pumice perch. Both are available from www.drsfostersmith.com or in pet stores. You may need to move the perch around in the cage to find the place where the bird will like to sit on it. If your bird uses it while inside the cage it should help with the sharp nails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suedazwood Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 Hi, Thanks for the advice, I am going to go out today and buy some new perches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tycos_mom Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Tyco is a very heavy bird and her nails where so sharpe she would put deep holes in my arm everytime I picked her up. I took her to my vet and had her nails dremeled just enough so they didn't cut my arm and that was 6 months ago and haven't had any problems like that ever since. I must say though it too about a week for her to get used to her nails not being sharp and hed a few problems with holding on but she soon learned how todo it and now everything is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I've worked at getting Dorian used to me playing with his toes. Every once in a while one of his talons gets needle sharp and while I play with his toes I take a pair of trimmers that I use on my cat and trim off the very tip, but take off less than a milemetre so I'm never close to the quick. This plus a concrete perch keeps the flesh puncturing to a minimum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suedazwood Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 Just a quick update on our greys claws, we went out and bought Guinness a sandy perch, he was frightened of it to start with and wouldnt go near it, but two weeks later it is his favourite perch and it has filed his claws down nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Thats good news! Thanks for the update. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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