clipping a overgrown nail

Hi everyone this is my first post. I have a moluccan cockatoo (lilly), he is 15yo and I've been the only owner since he was born.

Anyways I am embarrassed to say I have let his nails get a bit too long. Lilly does not mind the use of clippers and files to clip his nails. (THANK GOD!!). I have filed and trimmed all his nails down a bit over a few days time but I have come across a problem and would like some community advise. One nail (on each foot, the shortest toes) has grown to the point it looks like it is going to curl up into his own foot! I was able to clip some off (not much) but it still looks like its too long. I am afraid to clip any more.

After reading other online horror stories I am afraid to bring him to a vet to get his nails trimmed. also i have not tried a dremel but im almost sure lilly will not approve. trying to towel lilly is nearly impossible.

Am I forever cursed with his toe being this way? I wish I could see the blood vessel to know where to cut! (i know this sounds crazy but i was thinking x-rays lol, def dont have that kind of money though.)

Please help me!

As you file down, you'll start to see a dark black "wet' dot in the center as you're getting close to the vein. Just take off a little bit at a time, maybe over the next few days, with the file. You can take off a decent bit but without seeing it it's hard to say. You can probably get off a few more millimeters. You might also see where the nail starts to narrow towards the tip, you're usually fine to get up to that point, you also might see a channel on the underside of the nail as it gets closer to the tip.

What horror story have you heard about bringing them in for nail trim? I've brought mine in to have them done for years without issue. But follow the post above as it can be done slowly over time. In which I've been doing my own since I have a friend that can help me now.

Thank you for your replies they were very helpful. I will file them down over time and hopefully everything will be ok!

As for the horror stories I was reading, I guess they were not "horror stories" but just posts from people who have brought their bird in for a trim and ended up with a bleeding and unhappy bird. If a vet hurt my Lilly I would be extremely upset. Also a long time ago we brought one of my cockatiels in to get his nails clipped and he came back with NO nail on his back foot and a putty on it to stop the bleeding. The bird has never really liked anyone other then me since (maybie 8 years ago).

I guess this is why people should take it to themselves to groom their birds.
But on the other hand i'm sure not all avian vets are incompetent. I just wish the training was not on my babie.

snowblind said:

Thank you for your replies they were very helpful. I will file them down over time and hopefully everything will be ok!

As for the horror stories I was reading, I guess they were not "horror stories" but just posts from people who have brought their bird in for a trim and ended up with a bleeding and unhappy bird. If a vet hurt my Lilly I would be extremely upset. Also a long time ago we brought one of my cockatiels in to get his nails clipped and he came back with NO nail on his back foot and a putty on it to stop the bleeding. The bird has never really liked anyone other then me since (maybie 8 years ago).

I guess this is why people should take it to themselves to groom their birds.
But on the other hand i'm sure not all avian vets are incompetent. I just wish the training was not on my babie.

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I worked as a dog groomer for some time, so I learned a lot there, as well as experience with my own birds. My vet does do nail and beak trims, and for something like a beak if my birds needed it I would take them in, but doing nails is much easier to learn to do yourself.

FYI, the vet isn't hurting lilly! Reality check, you inadvertently caused the situation! A trained vet has to correct it and yes, lilly suffers. But that aside! You do have your baby's best interest in mind and am working to correct what is needed!!