Do you clip your birds yourself?

[Kathleen]

Do you take your bird to a professional to get its wings, nails and beaks trimmed or clipped, or do you do these yourself? Do you use files or any other methods? If you do it yourself, describe how.

[Natacha]

I do Piper and Shade's nails because they trust me enough to let me do it. I've had these birds since they were very young and can do basically anything to them, specially Shade. I use animal nail clippers on them, although I keep thinking I should get a file to do the nails.

The other three I get the vet to do the grooming. One, I'm still working on trust with them and don't want to be associated with the "bad" that is grooming (they don't enjoy it) quite yet.

[greatgriffin]

I don't clip anything. There is enough stuff in the cage (eg. squid bone) to chew on - that should take care of the beak I guess.
The nails wear naturally too, mostly. I have had one occasion after a molt that her talons got really scratchy so that it hurt us. I did not want to restrain the bird so I invented a method: take some fine sandpaper in one hand and hold it at a sharp incline, and hold some treat in the other. Then make the bird try to crawl up the sandpaper to reach the treat.
The nails had been taken care of in about 5 mins, no stress to the bird.

I never clip feathers.

[Michael]

Is it species specific then? Because I feel like I have to get Kili's nails cut every 2-4 months or I feel them dig into my shoulder through my shirt! She has concrete perches and I file them every so often but that only prolongs the duration till they have to get cut anyway. So probably 2 months without help but in 4 months, they just get too long and sharp anyway. Does everyone else with poicephalus have the same experience?

[MissLady9902]

I feel like I have to file Noodles toenails every 2-3 weeks or so.
I do my own feather cliping myself. Noodle and I have worked on wing trust and he's really good about it.
Marvin however, I will probably have the vet clip and trim nails until I'm sure he'll let me
do it without stress.
Chicken and That Guy don't really need their nails trimmed because their
swings are concrete.

[ColleenM]

Beak Trim
Not on any of the birds. Someone once told me that the grinders used on beaks can cause brain damage by the vibrations.. I haven't had time to check that out yet... Has anyone else heard this?

Wing clipping
I have before on an Amazon my friend owned. The Amazon would dive bomb people when he got possessive of my friend's cockatoo... I don't clip the hyacinth's wings. They don't go outside & it's amazing to see them fly. One of them goes down in the basement with us to workout each day. The bird flys the length house & gets great exercise himself! I don't clip my cockatoos. Their active life tends to lead to enough broken feathers that they stay clipped themselves... Jasmine especially cause she sleeps under the covers & gets zipped up into my jacket when it's winter & we're heading in or out of the car.

Nails
I use bird nail clippers & a nail file. Clip first then file the rough edges. I have to clip the nails. They get razor sharp... and the macaws have such a strong grip that they can dig in deep.

My cockatoos, Jasmine & Petey... Jasmine is the easiest.. I've done her's since she was little. She'll hold the file in her beak & run her own nails up & down it.. Not as effective though as when I do it. Petey is slowly learning to deal with the process. I started clipping one or two nails as he was inside his cage & holding onto the side bars. This is still the easiest with Petey. I've only had him 5 years & don't think having him held in a towel would be right for him now. I have managed to clip a few as he stood on the bathroom floor too. Any method though, is get a few one day & a few more the next.

With the hyacinths, my friend will put a large towel over them & then lay them on their back onto his lap. The hyacinths will lay on their back for him when he plays with him so this position doesn't add stress. My friend will hold their beak with one hand and feet with another. I can then clip & file their nails. Definitely want someone with a strong grip holding a hyacinth's beak. They are really really strong.