Cherry Headed Conure Questions/Concerns

[KiekosGirl]

I just adopted a Cherry Headed Conure from a Bird Show going on 3 weeks ago. I can tell that she is older, and was not very well taken care of by the man that I got her from, that had owned her for the past 5yrs. She was a rescue that he had taken in from Hurrican Katrina. Her beak was waaayyy overgrown, she could not come close to closing it. I trimmed the bottom so now she almost can but I am very nervous about trimming it anymore. First off does anyone have any tips about trimming an overgrown beak? She also had/has very overgrown nails, her right foot seems to be arthritic, or damaged/deformed in someway due to this. Which I would believe means that they have been that way for quite sometime. I barely clipped the ends of all her nails and almost everyone of them bled. I clip my Quakers toe nails the same and they rarely if ever bleed. Why is this, and how do I go about trimming them to wear they need to be? She also had this quiet squawk that she does continuously unless she is sleeping in her cage. She does it even worse when I am around and/or holding her, or next to her. I mean it is one after another. It sounds almost as if she is trying to call to someone/something over and over. I think I forgot to mention that she seems to be quite old, I dont quite know the true life expectancy of this breed of bird. I have heard different oppinions. Does anyone know how to get her to not do this noise constantly, it obviously is not a deal breaker she is here with us for good. But it can become quite annoying:( I love her so very much already, either way. I plan to take her into an avian vet after Thanksgiving sometime. She is coming around more and more everyday, she has never really been aggressive but she does seem quite scared:( At first I could only let her sit on my hand, and she would rush up to my shoulder and then try to get back to her cage. If anyone has any advice about Sassy it would be greatly appreciated

[cml]

Reading wall-of-text forum posts isnt that fun, and might be why noone has responded yet. Try breaking it up in paragraphs (nothing wrong with long posts as long as they are structured)! Just wanted to give you some advice for the future =)!

I just adopted a Cherry Headed Conure from a Bird Show going on 3 weeks ago. I can tell that she is older, and was not very well taken care of by the man that I got her from, that had owned her for the past 5yrs. She was a rescue that he had taken in from Hurrican Katrina.

Her beak was waaayyy overgrown, she could not come close to closing it. I trimmed the bottom so now she almost can but I am very nervous about trimming it anymore. First off does anyone have any tips about trimming an overgrown beak? She also had/has very overgrown nails, her right foot seems to be arthritic, or damaged/deformed in someway due to this. Which I would believe means that they have been that way for quite sometime. I barely clipped the ends of all her nails and almost everyone of them bled. I clip my Quakers toe nails the same and they rarely if ever bleed. Why is this, and how do I go about trimming them to wear they need to be?

She also had this quiet squawk that she does continuously unless she is sleeping in her cage. She does it even worse when I am around and/or holding her, or next to her. I mean it is one after another. It sounds almost as if she is trying to call to someone/something over and over. I think I forgot to mention that she seems to be quite old, I dont quite know the true life expectancy of this breed of bird. I have heard different oppinions.

Does anyone know how to get her to not do this noise constantly, it obviously is not a deal breaker she is here with us for good. But it can become quite annoying:( I love her so very much already, either way.

I plan to take her into an avian vet after Thanksgiving sometime.

She is coming around more and more everyday, she has never really been aggressive but she does seem quite scared:( At first I could only let her sit on my hand, and she would rush up to my shoulder and then try to get back to her cage. If anyone has any advice about Sassy it would be greatly appreciated

To answer some of your questions, some bird chatter is very normal but there are others here that have experience with conures that know better than me if it is a normal behaviour from your little girl. It can be that she wants to make sure that you know she is there. Does she change from that little noise to screaming if you leave the room with her cage?

When clipping overgrown nails, be VERY sure to just clip the top of the claw, just the very end of it. Then after a few days, clip the very top again. That way you will give the pulp time to move back in the claw.

I hope some other people here can help you with your other questions !