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everything on nail clipping

BlueDoraBarry

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her nails are long, her toes are slightly twisted when shes on flat ground, how do I clip them, what do I use, and are there any natural ways to keep them short?
 

Clueless

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I take mine to the vet or have a very experienced vet tech do them.

I'm sure others will chime in. What type of bird do you have?
 

BlueDoraBarry

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IRN, she isn't very tame. She's young and i think shes going through the bluffing phase.
 

Clueless

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@Macawnutz @SandraK Do either of you do you're own nails? If so, can you give pointers?

I've been too scared to do mine. I've never wrapped then like a burrito (for fear I would hurt them doing that). I know if you cut too much, their nails will bleed. With the realization that a bird can pass away from a loss of blood, I would never try it.

Besides I think this still may scare my guys and that affects the trust I've established with them.
 

Brittany0208

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I trim Java's nails at home but his nails were overgrown when I got him, so I'm slowly taking off the very tip every few days to help the quick recede. However, I don't want to trim his nails too short because then he can't grip. His toes also turn to the side when he sits. I was using fingernail clippers but those tend to crush the nail. I tried a dremel once, after seeing the vet do it, and decided it was too much hassle to get someone to hold him while I try to figure out what I'm doing, so I stopped. Now, I use nail clippers for dogs (or cats), which works much better and quicker, and then I round the tip with a regular nail file.
 

Brittany0208

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I also forgot to ask, does your bird have clear or dark nails? That makes a big difference when learning to trim on your own. Unfortunately, Java has very dark nails so I'm always extra-careful when I clip them. Even shining a light on them doesn't make a difference.
 

SandraK

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We used to try and trim our own fids nails and it was not only a hassle but some of them held it against us. And someone usually got bitten. We take our birds to a vet tech who uses a Dremel for nails & beaks. The 3 we usually take have beak problems so they need their beaks trimmed every 2 weeks so that they can eat properly. Alicia also uses clippers for Beeker's beak because the lower portion is split all the way to the bone.
 

JLcribber

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IRN, she isn't very tame. She's young and i think shes going through the bluffing phase.
Its going to require toweling your bird because she isn't tame. The way you do this is take the bird to your vet and have them do it the first time. OBSERVE. Watch and learn. If you are comfortable doing it after that then take the task on yourself. If not back to the vet.

At this point they will need to be trimmed first in order for you to be able to "maintain" them in a more natural way.
 
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