Do you trim your fids nails?

[mdg1109]

Good morning all. So I have noticed that Charlies nails are getting a little too long. After taking the advice from several members I switched out a lot of his perches so he has a natural wood perch, a rope perch and one sandpaper/concrete perch. His nails are getting too long and need to be trimmed. I am terrified of hurting him so on my to do list for this week is make an appointment to take him to the vet to get his nails trimmed, I was just curious as to how many PP members trim their own fids nails?

[Macaw Lover]

Of my 3, Jody would go into a full blown attack mode stance. She has to be toweled and held by a second person. Being that I am single, that answers that.

Kalea is my little monkey who won't just sit still, she has to be in the middle of things and check things out and when I tried using the dremmel, I could not keep her beak/tongue safely away. I have those glass pedicure files but she could snap that in two before I could even get a No out. She sees you holding the nail clippers and you are not coming near her with those things.

Donovan, I have not even tried anything with him. He has a history of biting, that along with the fact that when he came here, anything he was unsure of he would turn his head, scream and hit with the beak. I am not risking all the progress we have made these past 3 years getting another bite from that guy, especially if he means to do a serious bite.

I don't like the concrete perches, too rough on the feet. The pumice perch that Dr Foster and Smith sells has the smooth top side so the tender skin is not getting sore there and that one works best on Jody. Takes a while for the needles to come back on her. Kalea and Donovan still need trims even with those but they still prolong the times.

[PlaxMacaws]

I trim everyone's nails here except Salsa's. Salsa snips his own nails on a regular basis and actually keeps them blunt enough and quite reasonable in length. He has much the same response as Renee's Jody if I try and get the nail clippers near him. Maybe it's a GW thing . One interesting thing about Salsa and nail clippers, though, is that each time he sees them he begins snipping his own nails with his beak. I've always been amazed by this. It's like he's thinking: "get those damn things away from me! I'll do it myself!!" With my other three, I just put each of them on a perch stand and snip off the pointy tips. I typically don't file them. They're a bit scratchy that way... but I can take it

[Penny]

Ooo.. I trim the dogs nails, but I was always afraid of trimming Kiki's. I took her to the vet to do it.

[Dragonlady2]

I hate clipping nails so I try to make sure there are lots of different perches in their cages. Their nails might get a little long, but I think they need a little length due to them not being clipped. Gives them a little more gripping power....when they fly and land on something.
I would occasionally take them to a pet store who provided clipping services. I got too concerned about the same Drexel tool being used on different birds without knowing the health backgrounds so I started trimming nails myself.

[The Pinkertons]

I trim their nails myself. It can be tricky for sure, I found it less stressful for the bird and myself using a large coarse grit nail file, the kind used for Acrylic Nails that helps to blunt the tips. if you decide to take the plunge and clip you will probably need assistance holding Charlie in a towel,

I encourage people to get their bird used to being Swaddled for events such as Nail trim and Vet exams, Emergency's and so on.

Some Ideas to get familiar with =

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIoh7eP_3FI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cW0k6Bmn_M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Aaes3H08k

[mdg1109]

I trim their nails myself. It can be tricky for sure, I found it less stressful for the bird and myself using a large coarse grit nail file, the kind used for Acrylic Nails that helps to blunt the tips. if you decide to take the plunge and clip you will probably need assistance holding Charlie in a towel,

I encourage people to get their bird used to being Swaddled for events such as Nail trim and Vet exams, Emergency's and so on.

Some Ideas to get familiar with =

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIoh7eP_3FI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cW0k6Bmn_M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Aaes3H08k

Charlie is odd, he likes being swaddled by me, especially after bath time. He has only been to the vet once and received the towel and that was because he was not too happy with the stethoscope coming at him, but he calmed down quickly. I am going to try the nail file (NOT the dremmel, or clippers) I am not confident enough to do that if the nail file doesn't work then it will be a trip to the vet as I have more confidence in them. Thank you for the links I will look into it!

Thanks everyone for the information.

[The Pinkertons]

Good Night

[lolsavannahh]

I actually just trimmed Nash's beak right now! It was getting far too sharp and was hurting even if he didn't bite me hard, so it had to go. I didn't have to told him still or anything.. just showed him the trimming scissors and he was biting at it and put his beak in and I just snip! he did have a little freak out, but I barely cut ANY off and he is back to normal now!(:

[Lady]

I think if I trimmed Lady's nails she would kill me. She doesn't like anything touching her feet.