Nail clipping help

[KJsChicken]

Hi! I'm a first time bird owner, had my rescue cockatiel for about 3 months (I was told she was around 2). We've had very little problems. Her nails aren't too bad right now, but I'd like to train/get ahead of the game when it comes to nail trimming.

I don't feel like taking her to the vet for this (if it's necessary in the end, of course I will) but I'd prefer learning myself. I've tried holding her feet and I won't use a towel to grab her ever. I've seen people train their bird to shake hands with you, then work to holding their feet and clipping. She's a pretty touchy bird, and I was able to give her scritches early, but she strongly dislikes having her feet touched. I assume she's probably had some negative experiences with grooming, having 2+ homes before me. When trying to cut her nails, there's a lot of biting, and I'm worried she'll hurt herself.

I was wondering if anyone had a good way of approaching nail trimming myself, in a way that won't ruin my relationship with my bird, as permission based as possible, that can incorporate training. I can't seem to figure out where to start. Has anyone else been in this situation and found a gentle way to approach this? Or is it best that I try a vet when the time comes?

Any help at all is appreciated

 

[Shezbug]

There is honestly nothing wrong with using a towel to safely restrain your bird for things like nail maintenance if it is needed- done properly it is one of the safest ways to hold them. Holding onto a foot (especially on a bird who does not like feet touched) can actually be dangerous- easy to cause serious damage to bird legs.


Find your birds favorite treat for a start- many smaller birds like millet, safflower seed, or other small seeds. You will need to train your bird to allow feet touching, then holding, then allow the clippers near- this really is safest done with a towel so there are no accidents where a leg gets twisted.

I find it quite easy to coax my birds onto the side of the cage (all mine are comfortable with me touching and holding feet) grip a toe gently and file away. I prefer to use a file on my large birds and my little guy does his own nails on well placed perches.

With this being your first bird I would strongly suggest you have an avian vet show you how to safely do nail maintenance.

 

[Spearmint]

I would recommend having an Avian Vet show you how to do it correctly first.

As for the training, might be worth training your tiel to lay on their back, and hold millet or something. I've tried to cut Spearmints nails once, but I made a mistake of almost forcing him into it, so it became a negative experience unfortunately. Remember, consent from your bird is important too, forcing him into anything will simply make the experience bad.

 

[KJsChicken]

There is honestly nothing wrong with using a towel to safely restrain your bird for things like nail maintenance if it is needed- done properly it is one of the safest ways to hold them. Holding onto a foot (especially on a bird who does not like feet touched) can actually be dangerous- easy to cause serious damage to bird legs.


Find your birds favorite treat for a start- many smaller birds like millet, safflower seed, or other small seeds. You will need to train your bird to allow feet touching, then holding, then allow the clippers near- this really is safest done with a towel so there are no accidents where a leg gets twisted.

I find it quite easy to coax my birds onto the side of the cage (all mine are comfortable with me touching and holding feet) grip a toe gently and file away. I prefer to use a file on my large birds and my little guy does his own nails on well placed perches.

With this being your first bird I would strongly suggest you have an avian vet show you how to safely do nail maintenance.

Thank you so much! I didn't know that using a towel was more safe than holding their feet, and I'll check out an avian vet. Thank you again.

 

[KJsChicken]

I would recommend having an Avian Vet show you how to do it correctly first.

As for the training, might be worth training your tiel to lay on their back, and hold millet or something. I've tried to cut Spearmints nails once, but I made a mistake of almost forcing him into it, so it became a negative experience unfortunately. Remember, consent from your bird is important too, forcing him into anything will simply make the experience bad.

Thank you! Not breaking my trust with my girl is the most important to me, so I appreciate the info.

 

[Spearmint]

Thank you! Not breaking my trust with my girl is the most important to me, so I appreciate the info.

Of course!
I wish I realised sooner than birds can say yes and no to things, we'd be a lot closer if I did.

 

[Shezbug]

Thank you so much! I didn't know that using a towel was more safe than holding their feet, and I'll check out an avian vet. Thank you again.

It pays to teach your bird to be accepting of being toweled- when they are toweled it is very hard for them to be hurt by us catching a feather and pulling it the wrong way or having a wing slip out and get broken etc- it is necessary for many vet procedures so best to have them at least ok with it happening now and then. We also tend to hold them tighter when they are likely to escape our grip so toweling helps to make it harder for them to wriggle to the point where they need to be held tighter- can kill them if their chest cant move enough.

You can work with your bird to hopefully get to the point where he will let you trim nails without a fuss but not all birds will get to the point of being ok enough for it to be safe to hold onto a toe to work on it (which needs to be done so it does not get broken).

So easy to pull legs out of joints or break them tiny fragile bones which is why vets will towel them.

You can get some quite safe perches that will grind toe nails down, let us know if you are interested in them (and what country you are in) and we will give you a link for the safe pedi perches. I find them useful for my macaw but of late I have not been able to find a new one in his size in stock when I have gone to purchase supplies for him.

 

[KJsChicken]

It pays to teach your bird to be accepting of being toweled- when they are toweled it is very hard for them to be hurt by us catching a feather and pulling it the wrong way or having a wing slip out and get broken etc- it is necessary for many vet procedures so best to have them at least ok with it happening now and then. We also tend to hold them tighter when they are likely to escape our grip so toweling helps to make it harder for them to wriggle to the point where they need to be held tighter- can kill them if their chest cant move enough.

You can work with your bird to hopefully get to the point where he will let you trim nails without a fuss but not all birds will get to the point of being ok enough for it to be safe to hold onto a toe to work on it (which needs to be done so it does not get broken).

So easy to pull legs out of joints or break them tiny fragile bones which is why vets will towel them.

You can get some quite safe perches that will grind toe nails down, let us know if you are interested in them (and what country you are in) and we will give you a link for the safe pedi perches. I find them useful for my macaw but of late I have not been able to find a new one in his size in stock when I have gone to purchase supplies for him.

Thank you very much, we'll definitely be practising that. I purchased a pedi perch, the one with a smooth top and rough around the rest, so it won't hurt the bottom of her feet, but I think I need to size down to the smallest. Thank you for more information on the towel. When I saw vets doing it, I couldn't really stomach it. Getting through that uncomfortable fussy part is tough, I'm just super nervous I will give her a bad experience. Thank you so much for the information, this is really important to me!

 

[Shezbug]

Thank you very much, we'll definitely be practising that. I purchased a pedi perch, the one with a smooth top and rough around the rest, so it won't hurt the bottom of her feet, but I think I need to size down to the smallest. Thank you for more information on the towel. When I saw vets doing it, I couldn't really stomach it. Getting through that uncomfortable fussy part is tough, I'm just super nervous I will give her a bad experience. Thank you so much for the information, this is really important to me!

Do make sure you have the right size pedi perch for your bird, too large and it will do no good, too small and it will damage delicate tootsies.

With your little one the vets are probably more likely to use a handtowel than a huge bath towel. Good idea (once you have gained some trust) to desensitise your little one to all the types of things they do at the vets to make visits less terrifying or stressful for you both- the more accepting of being toweled a bird is the less horrible it looks.


I am super pleased you joined, I bet you will get a lot of support and help from our awesome members

 

[Shannan]

I concur with Shezbug, teaching a bird to handle toweling is a life skill that will make all procedures less stressful. I know that Walter did not have any problem with being toweled and it does make the nail trim so much easier for everyone. For a while, I had to towel Walter daily to do his Physical therapy and he got to where it was no big deal as it would usually end with his favorite treat.