Young Sunconures claws

[grzegorzmachowiak]

We've recently became a happy owners of a sun conure.

The bird is still young, according to the breeder, ca 4 months old.
Its claws from the beggining were quite sharp but recently they become even sharper and seemingy longer.

I cannot find anywhere any trustworthly info on how long it should be and how to recognize the need of trimming in Sun Conures case.

All I've found is a little vague and refers to parrots in total - in short - look for blood vessels and trim 1 mm further away. However, no matter how carefully I look no blood vessels are visibile.

Hopefully, you'd be able to give us some hints on whether or not its toenails need trimming and how to look for "the trimming signs" in future.

Thank you for your help in advance.

Grzegorz

 

[wrench13]

Standing on a flat surface , the claw should not cause the toe to raise up from the table. If it does, a nail file should be used to blunt the sharp end a little, until the toe sits flat. No clippers , no dremel tool please. They can easiy cut toomuch and cause a blood vessel to be damagd, and possible bleed thebird out.

Baby parrots have VERY sharp claws - helps them get around the nest and tree. Just blunt them a little so the toe sits flat on a table .

 

[Flboy]

Hi! They don’t look too bad in that photo! We pay our vet to do the dirty work, only a 9 dollar charge for just a clip!

 

[Aratingettar]

Fellow Conure owner, welcome on-board
What I do to Cytrynka is to file her nails using a fine-grained nail file. If you do this on a regular basis, there's no need to trim them on the length, just make their tips blunt, less pointy. And using the file, there's almost no risk of damaging the blood vessels.
By the way, please post some more pics of your cute featherball so we all can enjoy your sweetheart

 

[Rudustin]

What used to be called an Emory Board (shows how old I am) is just fine. I have always done my birds wings and feet myself. They didn't enjoy it but they let me do it. Fine grain for a small bird. My Hyacinth actually liked it! It was attention for him. Good luck.

 

[ChristaNL]

Yup, nailfiles all the way.
Just blunt those little needlepoints, thats all you really need.

Having some of those concrete perches usually helps a lot - its auto-filing.
And it gives them a great place to clean and shape their beaks as well.

Parrots will gnaw their nails when they get too blunt, but sometimes also when they get too long (well normally they do not need to anyway because claws wear down with use).
So: the moment you finish filing them - the parrot wil try to make them all nice and pointy again, for the optimal grip.

One way of making sure the nails do not get too long: regular filing.
Just make sure you stabilize the nail when you do that, somehow it really makes them uncomfortable to have a piece of their toe swaying back and forth. (at least all of mine had/have that issue) and is provoking them in pulling away.

 

[GaleriaGila]

This is a long-term solution/suggestion, but it's my usual contribution...

I really recommend getting those nail-trimming perches... they can eliminate nail-trimming, which was always so stressful for me and the Rb. It took a few years, but I eventually established a pattern/rotation that keeps him trimmed. I haven't had to do his nails in 20-plus years. I keep a dowel as the main "highway" down the middle of the cage, but the special cement/trimmer/textured perches are all over.
A few brands... but there are many: Polly's Sand Walk... Pumice Perch... Trimmer Perch...
Be sure to introduce them gradually: they're abrasive to their tender feet at first. I LOVE them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These are smooth on top and abrasive underneath. Very easy to install/clean, too.
Sweet Feet and Beaks Pedicure Perch xsmall for parrots, Feather Fantasy
May take a while to get the right combinations/locations, but was worth it for me and the Rb.

Good luck!

 

[EllenD]

Yes, please don't clip your bird's toenails if you've never done it before, and also unless you have some "Qwik-Stop" and/or Cornstarch ready to stop any bleeding, as your bird unfortunately has black toenails, and it's much more difficult to see the veins when the toenails are black. And you always must have the Qwik-Stop or the Cornstarch ready and at your immediate disposal before you clip their nails, because once they start bleeding, they don't stop. It's an open vein at that point.

As already mentioned, your bird's nails aren't long at all, just pointy/sharp. So if you're able to handle him and he'll let you (or if you want to use a towel to hold him while you do it), you can simply use an emery-board/nail-file and file the point/tip on each nail and that will solve your problem.

For future reference, if his nails do ever get long enough that they need to be trimmed, please do not do it yourself if you have not been properly taught to do-so. Instead, have your Certified Avian Vet do it for you during his yearly "Wellness-Exam", keeping them trimmed in-between his "Wellness-Exams" by buying him a concrete/sanding perch for inside his cage to keep them trimmed-down.

 

[grzegorzmachowiak]

Hi All,

Many thanks for your priceless hints. We managed to blunt his toenails and just a little.
We're going to buy the mentioned cement perch so as to avoid this stressful process in the future.

And just a few pics of our new family member.

 

[Aratingettar]

Beautiful Sun! Have you checked his/her sex? What's his/her name?
I really fall in love with his "innocent" look Precious feathered gem!