# nails



## johnw1666 (Dec 1, 2011)

Hi everyone  I'm looking for some help.Im looking after my dads cockatiel and I've noticed that his nails are really long. They are that long that one of them has started to sprial. Im really worried about them can someone please help me? I am prepared to trim them myself. With abit of help and advice. ie How much to take off. how often ect any help would be great many thanks john.


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## geenz (Apr 4, 2011)

Are the nails a dark colour or a pale colour? If pale coloured you should easily be able to see the vein running through the centre of the nail. Avoid clipping the vein and you should be fine. If you happen to clip the vein then you can put a dab of flour on the end of it to stop the bleeding. There are also some commercial products available but corn flour does the trick quit well. If the nails are dark coloured it can be a bit harder to tell how short to trim them, you could try just doing a little at a time, or if you aren't comfortable with that then a vet, or most pet shops are able to trim the birds nails for you


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

if the nails are spiraling, the quick may have grown with the nail. you might have to take a little bit off at a time.

these are properly trimmed nails at the length they should be at. so over the next little while trim them slowly back to where they should be


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

It's also a good idea to have something on hand in case you cut the quick and need to stop the bleeding. You can use flour, cornstarch, cayenne pepper, or commercially-sold Kwik Stop powder. It's not a big deal if you do cut the quick accidentally, but they bleed pretty fast, so you'll want to be prepared in case this happens. (Trust me, I made this mistake last weekend, and my bird has very light nails.)


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## geenz (Apr 4, 2011)

Yeah it happens pretty easily. I've thought oh yeah thats far enough back and then woopsadaisy its a little too short, but having the flour on hand fixes it up as quickly as it started most of the time


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

geenz said:


> Yeah it happens pretty easily. I've thought oh yeah thats far enough back and then woopsadaisy its a little too short, but having the flour on hand fixes it up as quickly as it started most of the time


Yep, that's exactly what I did. But like you said, it's no big deal if you're prepared to stop it immediately. Would've been a HUGE mess if I hadn't been prepared.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

ive had the bird squirm right as ive clipped. mango lost a good chunk of his nail for doing that and ended up in the sick bird cage because he kept reopening it lol

so it happens to all of us, trimming too short. i use corn starch  but cayenne pepper powder is good too because it is also an antibiotic


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

Good luck nail trimming!


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Since his nails are far too overgrown, just cut a little little at a time. Like mentioned, the quick does grow as the nail grows. So the quick will be longer than on a more frequently trimmed cockatiel. If you hit the quick on one nail, you can use that one as a guide to cut the other nails. It also may be a good idea to have on person hold the bird while the other trims the nail. This should decrease the likeliness of you cutting a "chunk" off like DallyTsuka did with mango..lol.

Let us know how it goes.  good luck!


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

accidents can happen regardless of who is holding the bird. i did not mention i was holding mango alone. toes still squirm, they still are unpredictable. so be aware it can happen regardless of who is holding the bird. have corn starch or flour on hand


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

That's true. I just feel like having 2 people involved makes the process easier.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

DallyTsuka said:


> accidents can happen regardless of who is holding the bird. i did not mention i was holding mango alone. toes still squirm, they still are unpredictable. so be aware it can happen regardless of who is holding the bird. have corn starch or flour on hand


My mom was holding Roo when I quicked her nail last weekend. Didn't make one bit of difference. It was just a matter of judgment on my part, and not knowing how much the clippers were actually going to take off.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i take off so little when i do mine, just enough to dull the tips. i cant even find the trimmings after im done.


has this bird seen a vet and what perches does he have? does he have a variety of perches? natural branches are best (make sure they are bird safe and pesticide free and make sure you bake them in the oven before using them--you dont want mites) and rope perches are comfy on the feet, but natural branches are best for nails. dowel perches are not too good on their feet. and pedi perches and sandy perches can abrade the birds feet and do not trim nails. best to be safe and avoid those all together.

as for asking about the vet, often times when a bird has an overgrowth problem of the nails and/or beak, there can be underlying liver disease at the root of it. how does his beak look?


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## johnw1666 (Dec 1, 2011)

Hi everyone thank you for your help. Just to answer a few of your questions he hasn't been to the vet. He is 8 years old and to my knowledge he has never had his nails clipped. They are dark in colour. He's beek looks fine and he seems livey and happy. His perches are two tree like branches and two plastic ones? Should I swop the plastic ones to wooden tree like ones? I will have ago at trimming his nails over the weekend with flour in hand thank you all very much for your help. John


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Good luck with the nail trimming. A rope perch is good to add too. It won't help with the nails, but is soft on the bird's feet. My rehomed tiel never had one before and we recently got him one and he loves it. It's now what he sleeps on. (I would say yes maybe get rid of the plastic ones. I never heard of that before but maybe someone on here can comment better than me as to those.)


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i would get rid of the plastic one.

look for perches like this at the petstore:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147216

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752752

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752750

and rope perches and some other good ones for extra variety

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147211

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147408


these perches are NOT GOOD for birds feet. so if you have any of these, i would avoid using them:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147226

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147213



you want variety in perches to help the birds feet. natural perches are best at keeping the nails from over growing, especially with their varying diameters


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