Toe nail trimming trauma?

[kiwismom]

It seems there is no happy medium with Kiwi's toe nails. We took him for a trim on Saturday and I think she trimmed the nails a bit too short and now he can't grip really well and is (in my estimation) very frustrated about it.
I know he's not moving much around his cage (no droppings over there) during the day b/c he can't maneuver as well. What can I do to help him out?
You have to understand that his nails were wicked before and would dig into my arm and actually draw blood. He has plenty of perches that are designed to keep nails trim (cement, natural stick, etc). Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Peta]

The thing with our fids nails is that grow so darn quick, on some birds. I've never had to trim Bucc's ever, but the Linnies, wow they have to be clipped so often and I too have all the bits in their cage, it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Will Kiwi play with ropes and ladders, when we had trouble with the Linnies not being able to get a proper grip due to a bad nail trim, I tied rope round ladders and they seemed to get about a lot better. but they do love their rope to hang on.

I hope he soon gets used to the short nails, maybe he's just letting you know how disgusted he is with you for taking him to get them cut.

 

[kiwismom]

He loves his rope perches! I hung a little rope ladder for him but I've never seen him use it. Yesterday I put him on his play stand which has a smooth wooden dowel perch and the poor guy nearly fell off! I caught while he was just hanging on with his beak!
I do hope his nails grow back quickly because he was moody enough as it was! He's so strange for a bird in my opinion. He really wants to be in his cage and even when I take him other places in the house to be with me he just sqwacks, not super loud, but enough to be annoying. I really wanted a sweet bird and so far he hasn't been it for sure. But I guess birds are like kids, you never know how they'll turn out. I haven't given up on him yet though!

 

[Eclectica]

Please dont give up on him. I'm sure if you tried out some tips i gave you in previous posts, he'll turn out like the bird you want him to be.What is his age now? Trimming baby ekkies nails is not actually recommended as they are extremely clumsy when they are babies and need all the grip they can get.

I trim Kodies nails myself, it usually takes a while, i do as he wants, dometimes i just trim one nail, and 2 days later the other one. I first did it when he hung on the side of his cage, now he will hold his foot for me.

When Kodie was a baby with those needle sharp nails, i used to wrap a towel around my arm to let him ride on, he had better grip that way and i wasnt in pain.

 

[kiwismom]

Well his nails have grown out now and he's hanging up side down and foraging around and what not like a little monkey. He goes to bed really early! I feed him dinner and half an hour later he's ready to go to bed haha. He has a sleeping cage upstairs so I can use the living room after 8 p.m.
He's so much better. He lets me hold him on his back for a little bit. He hasn't figured out the bath thing though. He doesn't mind them, but he doesn't flap his wings and ruffle like you see other ekkies do. Is that a baby thing?

 

[Eclectica]

Hm, try a few ways of bathing.

- shallow bowl so he can bath himself
- spray bottle, spray him and see how he goes, may take some time.
- showers, what i usually do, is place Kodie above my head to perch, wash and what not and take him down, still in my hand, and let the water fall on my shoulder and direct it towards him then he goes nuts

Try out different methods, you'll find that one should work for ya, all ekkies loves baths.

How old is Kiwi now?

 

[Peta]

Thats great news, Kito loves his baths, but Bucc just sits on top of the shower curtain rod and glares at me whenever I get him wet. Kito has now realised that when he's been in the water and is soaking wet he can fly round the bathroom and get everywhere soaking wet.

 

[kiwismom]

I'll give the shallow bowl a try. So far I've used the sink, the shower, and the spray bottle...all to the same results. He'll let me spray him and he'll shake off but he's not really enthusiastic haha.

He's nearly 5 months old now.

Another quirk of the little fellow...he goes INSANE when I vacuum. He ruffles up and screams and flaps around, even when I'm on the other side of the room. Guess it's one of those birdie fears.

 

[Peta]

Kito is the same with the vacuum the floor but his is more to be heard over the top of it. Bucc loves to ride around, perching on the handle Then goes in when we've finished and has a bath in his water bowl.

 

[TexDot33]

I am thinking about attempting a clipping of 'the boys' talons, they have become little needles ... I am kinda nervous about it and I am not sure I want to do it ... I know I should, and I know that it's easy ... I just don't want to hurt them...

 

[Minzer84]

Not to worry you Tex, but I tried clipping Iggy's toenails way back when and I took off such a small piece you couldn't even see it, and he made the worst surprised/angry noise...I thought he was being a baby and faking, but then I looked, and he was bleeding That was about 3-4 years ago...I've never taken clippers to him since...do you have those concrete/sand perches? Those work wonders for Iggy.

 

[TexDot33]

Yeah, Ham has one in his cage, by his food dish too and it doesn't really help ... he's got little needles ... I can always tell when it's time to get the boys clipped because Chrsity and I break out into this interesting rash on our hands ... hehehe

 

[Minzer84]

Ah yes, I know that rash well...

 

[TexDot33]

I bet it's even worse with a 'zon ... can't imagine that rash ...

 

[Peta]

Yeah I felt the same way, I will do most of my little guys but will not do the Linnes they move to much and that is a real problem for me.

 

[Foxy]

It seems there is no happy medium with Kiwi's toe nails. We took him for a trim on Saturday and I think she trimmed the nails a bit too short and now he can't grip really well and is (in my estimation) very frustrated about it.
I know he's not moving much around his cage (no droppings over there) during the day b/c he can't maneuver as well. What can I do to help him out?
You have to understand that his nails were wicked before and would dig into my arm and actually draw blood. He has plenty of perches that are designed to keep nails trim (cement, natural stick, etc). Any suggestions? Thanks

I know I'm abit late on this,anyways do you play alot of towel games with your little Eclectus? This is a fantastic way to sneak in a toenail clip if he is comfortable with it. It's always a good idea to get a young parrot use to towels as soon as possible due to the fact that most vets will come at them with towel and wrap when a toe nail clip is due,same with petstore groomers.

I make towel games a regular part of Jade's (my Eclectus) playtime. It helps to desensitize him of "towel terror". Whenever his nails are due for a clip I bust out the towel and bring jade in a neutral room (bathroom,whatever) and slowly start playing peekaboo with him. I'll cover him up and rub on his toe's (gets him use to me touching his feet) rub on his head...all that jazz. Then when I go and cover him up with the towel I just softly grab his foot and rub on it gently speaking to him and just pick a nail to clip (one at a time) once he sneaks his way out of the towel (he was covered,thus could not see the big scary nail-clippers) I just slowly start playing again and repeat the "game".

He never has any clue what I'm doing. Also I never clip them short enough to bleed. Just enough to take the tip off. This makes for more frequent nail clips but it's better for him cause he walks away with no trauma whatsoever.

-Mark

 

[Mariahs Mom]

Hi: Im new to the forums, but I cant deal with clipping either. I use a regular old fashioned emery board. I let whichever one of them needs a trim to sit on arm or lap and just do toe by toe! It takes off the shapness without that startling "clip" sound.

 

[Redballoon]

Skippah would rip me to pieces if I tried to cut his toe nails.
I am am going to let the vet do it.
While at the vet I am getting,....
An ID ring put on his foot
Ask about "pinioning" his wing.
DNA test him.
Weighing him.
Find out about a ring that you permanently attach to his foot so I can attach a leash when we go outside.
Poor vet.

 

[K C's Mom]

I blow dry K C every day, I blow dry all my birds,once they get used to the blow dryer it's no big deal but I never had any problems out of him my Quaker hates the blow dryer lol

 

[ashley]

Because he already loves to, I get Tucker to lay on his back in my lap and then I just take the very tips off his nails with a soft emery board. Works great for both of us because I don't have to worry about going too short.