Happy Nail Clipping! (and advice for moulting please!)

[Viatrixa]

Yesterday we clipped Simo's little nails for the first time ever.

I'm happy to report that absolutely everything went ultra smooth. I had this nice big cloth, and I made to sure to show it to him before gently grabbing him with it. He made a protesting squawk but other than that, nothing else. He was calm and didn't flail or anything. I spoke to him calmly and whistled at him while I held him wrapped up carefully in my lap. Held his sides (because any pressure on the "tummy" or front of the bird is bad as it constricts their breathing). Gently slid my finger between his toesies so he perched on them and my husband carefully snipped the tips of his talons.

No problems, no issues what so ever. We had emergency supplies ready just in case of course but there was no need for them.

Only thing worth mentioning was that a few of his tail feathers fell out (not pulled out, they kind of just dropped) but, then again he is moulting. Just in time for easter, his little feathers will make for wonderful easter decor! He also had some pinned feathers so we were ultra careful.

However, I would like to mention that even though I'm not an expert on pet parrots (YET!!!), I'd recommend a person less experienced with pets in general to absolutely not risk it and go to the vet for the first time nail clipping. I've spent my entire life with cats and dogs and have always succesfully clipped their nails without any issues. While birds are different of course, the principle is the same: don't cut too far, and watch out for the blood supply. We own a pet snake and because she has the UV light, it provided an absolutely wonderful aid and we could easily see where the "no cut" zone because of the blood supply is.

After, instead of just "releasing" him from the cloth, I gently set him on the bottom of the cage and pulled a part of the cloth off of him so he could crawl out of his own. He did; but for a moment or two he kept looking up at me in confusion (since he was technically in a vulnerable position) and seemed a bit surprised that I didn't "attack" him. So he kind of just calmly wiggled out and climbed back onto his favorite perch quite happily.

I hope I didn't everything right with the whole "setting him" down thing. From the body language I at least understood that he realized he wasn't in any danger despite being in a vulnerable position, so I at least ASSUME this is some form of trust.

But yeah! Glad to report everything went well with his nail clipping. To be frank I think I was more nervous than he was

Now that having said, he is moulting - is there anything we can do to ease this? Mist him more perhaps? Add some supplement to his food? Noticed some pinned feathers on his head too but didn't of course touch them.

.... poor baby looks funny with a shorter tail though!

[liz]

You did good. He may even come to you the next time you use an emery board on your nails. Three swipes with an emery board prevents the sharp tips.

[Wolf]

You did very well as far as I can tell. However do not expose you precious bird to any UV light or full spectrum light that is intended for use with a reptile. The UV output is much too strong for a bird and may cause severe burns or even blindness with even relatively short exposure times, I use a full spectrum light for my birds that is 5000 to 5500 K Temp with a CRI of 94+ a UV output of 2 or less and I believe that it is like a 30 watt bulb. The main thing is to make sure that the K Temp, the CRI and the UV output are in the ranges stated above, any other could injure your bird.

[Viatrixa]

You did very well as far as I can tell. However do not expose you precious bird to any UV light or full spectrum light that is intended for use with a reptile. The UV output is much too strong for a bird and may cause severe burns or even blindness with even relatively short exposure times, I use a full spectrum light for my birds that is 5000 to 5500 K Temp with a CRI of 94+ a UV output of 2 or less and I believe that it is like a 30 watt bulb. The main thing is to make sure that the K Temp, the CRI and the UV output are in the ranges stated above, any other could injure your bird.

A bit of a late reply but:

The lamp we use for our noodle isn't a "heat" one (we use a heating pad for warmth for her, she seems to prefer that anyway). Her vivarium is placed on the floor also, so the light is actually way below Simo's eye level. It also has a knob for adjusting it, reason being that summers in Finland are extremely sunny. Plus a half pipe cover that basically makes it so that if we want we can direct the light only inside the vivarium which can be removed though. He was gently wrapped up in a towel too so we only used it for a heartbeat to see his little dino toesies well

[Wolf]

It has nothing to do with heat. you can get just as bad of a sunburn on a cool cloudy day as you can on a bright, sunny and hot day and in just about the same amount of time.
Light is governed by its frequency, it is what make light red or blue or infrared or ultraviolet. the UV or ultra violet light spectrum is invisible to us but not to parrots as they see into the ultraviolet light spectrum, but it is the ultraviolet light that causes sunburn which is how they can get burned so easily if the UV output of the light is to strong. The warmth that we feel from the sun is a product of the infrared spectrum but sunburn is caused by the UV spectrum. Now as far as the blindness that can be caused by it a parrot is born in the dark and stays in the dark until it begins to start trying to leave the nest and this is because they are very sensitive to light and their eyes need time to develop before they come out into the light. This is one of the mistakes that many breeders make and that is without even using a UV or full spectrum light, they bring the baby parrots out into bright lights to feed them after removing them from their parent birds and in many cases this does result in birds with impaired eyesight.
I understand that you are using precautions, which I did not know about when I replied, but I don't know if they are really effective with UV light. Still I was not intending to criticize you, I was simply sharing what I know, or think I know, the same as now. I con only share what I have learned, it is up to you to research it further if you think you should. In the end you have to do what you think is best, just as I do and just as with me both I and my birds must live with the results.

[Viatrixa]

It has nothing to do with heat. you can get just as bad of a sunburn on a cool cloudy day as you can on a bright, sunny and hot day and in just about the same amount of time.
Light is governed by its frequency, it is what make light red or blue or infrared or ultraviolet. the UV or ultra violet light spectrum is invisible to us but not to parrots as they see into the ultraviolet light spectrum, but it is the ultraviolet light that causes sunburn which is how they can get burned so easily if the UV output of the light is to strong. The warmth that we feel from the sun is a product of the infrared spectrum but sunburn is caused by the UV spectrum. Now as far as the blindness that can be caused by it a parrot is born in the dark and stays in the dark until it begins to start trying to leave the nest and this is because they are very sensitive to light and their eyes need time to develop before they come out into the light. This is one of the mistakes that many breeders make and that is without even using a UV or full spectrum light, they bring the baby parrots out into bright lights to feed them after removing them from their parent birds and in many cases this does result in birds with impaired eyesight.
I understand that you are using precautions, which I did not know about when I replied, but I don't know if they are really effective with UV light. Still I was not intending to criticize you, I was simply sharing what I know, or think I know, the same as now. I con only share what I have learned, it is up to you to research it further if you think you should. In the end you have to do what you think is best, just as I do and just as with me both I and my birds must live with the results.

Ooh, I somehow thought you were referring to the heat lamps! With reptiles, you have -SO- many choices of lights that regardless of the specific type that's mentioned it's still enough to oftentimes confuse me.

This is the kind of thing I mean; except ours is black. Do you think it's not enough? If so, what would you suggest?

I never actually think anyone is ever confronting me on these forums but just handing out important information because people truly wish to see birds thrive here! Its gorgeous and sunny today so we were pondering about rolling his cage onto the balcony - in such a way that the light reaches only about a quarter of his cage so he can hop into the shade if wants to. Hopefully this isnt a terrible idea?

[Wolf]

As long as your bird has a way to get out of the sun and into the shade it is a wonderful thing. They need the unfiltered sunlight to make vitamin D-3 and it also helps with calcium absorption. I would also try to provide a way for him to bathe and play in the water while you do this for him as it is fun for them and provides an additional way for them to cool off if they start getting too warm.

[Pajarita]

Yes, indeed! Nothing better for birds than sunshine! Just don't put him out around noon and always give him a shady spot (remember that parrots are not desert animals so they are not really exposed to strong direct sunlight for long).

[Viatrixa]

Indeed!!!

I have severe sensitivity to light (eyesight wise) so I kind of try to gently apply certain rules to Simo concerning sunshine. Quarter of his cage in the sunlight, the rest of the 3/4 in the shade so he has an easy time to just cool off. And he LOVES to bathe when it's sunny; normally he's in front of a large window anyway (but aways from it, placed so that once again only about a quarter of his cage is bathed in direct sunlight, but it's window filtered so not the same as placing him on the balcony). It's been super sunny as of late and when it is, he loves to bathe. Instead of having him take dips in his food bowl (into which he still makes soup) I got a little bird bath that I can hang on the inside of his cage. I always place it where his 2nd food bowl would be (since we give him his veggies in a foraging ball).

He LOVES to bathe when it's sunny. I think it's just a natural thing for birds in general. I mist him too and he loves bath time, but I think it's important he takes dips himself too. He also left us a feather in the bath today. Moulty baby.

(Edit: what do you kind folks suggest for the light situation?)