Training

[Dooley]

Hi can anyone help ,I’ve been taking my African grey to the vets to get her nails trimmed ,but it’s too stressful for her so I want to try at home but I’m struggling she doesn’t like being in a towel,I’ve put the towel on my knee with some toys on to try make it not as scary for her ,i really want her to be ok with it for future vet treatment ...I just wondered if anyone had any help thanks

[Pajarita]

Hi, Doley and Gray (you did not tell us her name), welcome to the forum and thank you so much for worrying about her stress! Stress is inevitable in captivity and avoiding any extra strain is the best we can do for them (keeps them healthy -stress depresses the immune system and stressed out birds get sick more often), especially for grays that are naturally high-strung birds.

Now, first of all, yes, we can help you. Michael has instructions on how to get a bird used to being toweled and here is the link for it: http://trainedparrot.com/toweling/

But, secondly, you might want to use a different perch for roosting (the one she uses for sleep) that would wear down her claws (I recommend Sweetfeet - don't use concrete or sand, please, they hurt their feet) as well as natural tree branches (and I am not talking about manzanita as it does nothing for their nails, I am talking real natural branches, with the bark on them) AND you might want to re-evaluate her diet so her nails don't grow at a higher rate than normal.

Let us know if there is anything else we can help you with.

[Dooley]

Hi thankyou for that ,she’s called Lottie she is 1 year ,she sleeps on a flat perch ,I’ll have a look at some different perches for her nails .thankyou

[Pajarita]

Awww, Lottie is a wonderful name for a gray! And, yes, please do change that perch! No wonder her nails were becoming overgrown - it's the flat perch that is doing it, my dear. There are no flat branches in nature and, aside from the fact that a round one would allow the nails to 'wear out' naturally as they 'bump' against the rough surface of the branch, they need the roundness to be able to lock their toes correctly so they don't fall off the perch when asleep (same way that horses lock their knees to sleep standing up, birds lock their feet to sleep perching). Always try to emulate nature as much as possible because even when we don't know why things would need to be the way they are, there is always a good reason for them. As smart as we think we are, Mother Nature always knows best.