Post by ekkiemum on Dec 21, 2005 13:02:16 GMT 8
there are several things you will want to be sure to know about before attempting to trim your own parrot's wings or nails (also, before I get started, some of the links below might refer to BEAK trimming...Please DO NOT attempt to trim your parrot's beak...that should only be done by an avian veterinarian...it is unlikely your bird will ever need his beak trimmed. If you are concerned about his beak for any reason, ask us and we can suggest some ways to encourage him to keep his beak groomed in a normal/natural way).
I am going to try to outline these things one by one…please do not be intimidated by these different things…the first few times we clipped wings and trimmed nails, my Dad and I said these things out loud to each other as we coordinated together. Now we have done these things several times with his birds, and just do it by second nature…we each know what our “job” is and just do it…but at first, saying precautions and steps out loud helped.
First, read through the articles and information carefully and go over it in your mind a few times before actually choosing a wing clip style and trying it. Once you have chosen the style you want to use, think about it and how you are going to do it a few times so you have a mental picture of what you are going to do…even though actually doing something is always different from thinking about it, it helped us to do this when we were learning.
Second, you will probably want to enlist the aid of a friend. If you have never toweled or clipped a bird before, both holding the bird and doing the clipping can be too much for one person – and this is sometimes true even if you are experienced. Ensure your friend has also read through what you are going to do, so s/he has an idea of what is going on and what s/he is supposed to do.
Third, ensure you (and/or your friend) know how to towel (a gentle form of restraint) a parrot. NOTE: Some parrots can be trained to allow you to clip their wings without restraint...they have been trained to hold out their wings, and the human just snips off the long feather(s)....same with toenails...some people train their parrots to hold up their foot to allow toe filing/trimming.
When you towel, be sure your friend or whoever is holding the parrot knows not to apply too much pressure when holding the bird...parrots do not have diaphragms like mammals do to help them to expand and contract their chest to breathe in and out...parrots have to expand and contract their chest using their ribs... so if you hold a parrot too tightly around the middle, you may prevent him from breathing. Use a “three –point grip" around the head (thumb and middle finger gently but firmly around the back of the head, meeting just under the lower mandible, index finger gently either also to the same side as the middle finger, or more to the top of the parrot’s head) to prevent biting, and with the other hand, gently but firmly restrain the parrot near the feet…leaving the abdomen free to breathe.
If you have never toweled a parrot, let us know....you may want to practice toweling and holding the bird BEFORE attempting to clip the wings or toenails….please let us know, though…and we will suggest some games to play to help teach your parrot not to be afraid of towels, and how to towel….you don’t want to frighten or stress your parrot. IF YOU KNOW ANYONE who knows how to do this and is experienced, it is much easier to see how it is done than to try to read it, but we will try to help you.
When you gently extend the wing out from under the towel, be gentle…bird bones are very light and delicate…just extend the wing gently and naturally. You do not have to extend the wing all the way…and you can use your fingers to gently fan the first 5 long feathers just enough so you can clearly see the ends and trim them. IF THERE ARE NO BLOOD FEATHERS, you can trim a standard wing trim on one wing in one cut…then trim the other wing the same way. IF THERE ARE BLOOD FEATHERS in the first five feathers, you will have to trim on either side and NOT CUT the blood feather. Fanning the feathers instead of completely extending the wing can be very helpful if your bird is struggling, or if this is the first time or two that you have tried to clip.
Fourth, if you are not familiar with what a blood feather is, please let us know BEFORE you try to clip wings. One of the links below has a good photo of what a blood feather looks like (NOTE: That article says you can clip the already matured end of a blood feather, which is true, but if you are not familiar or not sure, please do not clip any part of a blood feather). Blood feathers are the living, growing feather, and have an active blood supply (the inside of a growing feather is sort of like a modified version of part of the skin of a bird…so it is alive and has blood and will bleed profusely if cut). If a blood feather is cut and bleeds, often the only way to stop it is to pull the feather out. This can be done, but there is a special way to do it, and it is simply easier to avoid this than to have to do it…so it is easier to simply avoid clipping blood feathers…just wait until the feather is grown out all the way (the plastic looking keratin sheath will be gone, and the quill will no longer look thick and engorged and soft) and then clip it.
LINKS BELOW:
When you are looking at the photos and drawings of wing clipping in the links below, please keep in mind that models for the standard/traditional clip are not Eclectus…often the models are small, light-bodied birds like thingyatiels. thingyatiels are very good fliers even when clipped, so some people clip their wings fairly short, and clip more feathers than are recommended for Eclectus. Eclectus trims usually only involve the first five long wing feathers (primaries) and only one or two inches are trimmed off the tips. Short wing trims are not recommended for Eclectus.
You may also find that for at least the first time or two that you trim wings, the standard/traditional clip is easiest to learn. Once you have learned that, you can try the clips that clip the quill close to the body…
But Mary…you just said an Eclectus wing trim should be long…you are confusing me…
Yes, a STANDARD/TRADITIONAL clip should be long. As you read the information in the links, keep in mind that Eclectus are not as thickly feathered under their wings as many other kind of parrots are..so if you clip too short, the cut ends of the wing feathers may irritate the bird’s sides when the wing is folded back against the body. A long clip helps to ensure the cut end of the feather rests on a thicker “cushion” of underwing feathers when the bird’s wing is at rest against the body. But there is a style discussed and demonstrated in the links that clips the quills close at the base…you will see it when you look at the links… I personally am not experienced with this clip, but many knowledgeable and experienced people like it, and if you like it and want to try it, OK…but IMHO, try to get a little experience first.
The first link below is to an article by Dr. Margaret Wissman that also/further describes the one that clips the quills close at the base.
Wings
www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/clip.html
The link below also describes wing clipping, but shows a diagram of a parrot toenail. In Eclectus, the toenails are black or very dark grey, so it is hard to tell where the quick (living part of the nail) is. You may wish to just trim the very tips off the nails.
When reading articles or descriptions of nail clips, you may read about styptic powders or Quick-Stop or similar products. These are for stopping bleeding if you should accidentally snip part of the quick. If you snip the quick, sometimes it takes a little while for the drop of blood to form…it does not always bleed instantly when cut. BUT…you do not have to worry about these products…you can safely use cornstarch or even plain white flour to help stop bleeding from a nipped nail. In fact, many people do not use styptic powder or Quick-Stop type products on birds at all because they feel the product is too caustic (NOTE: Do not use styptic powder or Quick-Stop type products on torn or cut skin…it is much too caustic for that and will damage tissues).
If you nip a nail and it bleeds, just take a daub of dry cornstarch (or flour) onto your fingertip and gently but firmly press it to the bleeding end of the nail for a few seconds, then remove your finger, leaving the little bit of cornstarch there. The bleeding should stop with one application. Sometimes two are necessary. If that happens, put a thicker dab of dry cornstarch on your fingertip and hold it against the nail a little bit longer…the gentle pressure and the particles of the cornstarch should help the bleeding to stop. Then, just keep an eye on your bird for about half an hour to ensure the bleeding does not start up again (if it does, repeat the procedure one more time).
Although it is important to always keep perches and cages clean, take an extra minute before beginning the process of nail clipping to ensure perches or any places your bird might rest for the half hour or so after the nails have been trimmed are nice and clean…this will help to ensure no poop or other debris gets into the cut nails to cause any infection. NOTE: Infections from nail trimming are not common, but since you have limited access to veterinary care, I am just being a bit extra careful in mentioning these kinds of things.
Wings and nails
www.pionusparrot.com/Wing...ipping.htm
Final note re limited access to veterinary care….
You probably already know these things, but a few precautions can be taken to help ensure your parrot stays as healthy as possible….
Ensure his cage, food and water cups, perches, toys and other environments he plays on, etc are cleaned daily and disinfected with a parrot safe disinfectant regimen about once a week.
Ensure his food is washed and clean, and any soft food is removed after about two hours to keep bacteria and yeast overgrowth to a minimum.
Ensure his water is clean and changed at least twice per day (like morning and afternoon), once before bedtime, and whenever it becomes soiled with food or other debris.
Ensure his diet is appropriate for an Eclectus…does not consist primarily of seeds, includes lots of fresh foods and foods containing lots of beta carotene, is primarily low fat (not NON fat)…there is a lot of information here at Land of Vos and the Message Board with ideas about feeding Eclectus a nutritious diet….
Ensure he has several hours of out-of-cage time per day to exercise and interact with his human family.
Ensure his cage is not too small, his perches are not too thin or too thick and are not made of dowels and are not slippery or smooth….if they are slippery or smooth, roughen them with a wood rasp to give them some texture – or find some branches from parrot-safe trees that have not been sprayed with insecticides, etc like organically grown pear and apple, willow and poplar with the bark on to use as perches.
Ensure he has gentle, lukewarm, soaking showers at least three times per week (no soap or detergent).
Do not expose him to other people’s parrots or wild birds as they may have diseases…some parrot diseases, such as PBFD and polyoma are infectious and incurable. Also, you may have problems having access to treatment for parrot diseases, parasites, etc that are generally easily treatable in the USA etc IMHO it is not worth the risk.
Learn the signs of a sick parrot. If you do not know what these are, please let us know and we will describe. Sometimes, if a problem can be recognized early (parrots are very good at hiding it when they are sick), it can be cured more easily.
There are some very good books available that may be helpful to you. You can order them online from Amazon.com. There is a booklist here at Land of Vos that lists these books (clicking on the books in the booklist will take you to Amazon.com to order them)..also, you can click on books here at the Message Board when they appear at the right corner on each Board forum…it is probably easier to order at the Land of Vos booklist, though.. I am not sure what your resources for ordering books are in Beijing, so please let us know and maybe some of our Board participants might know some other ways to get the materials.
I hope I did not make this sound hard…it is not hard…but when you first try to clip wings or nails, you may feel a bit uncoordinated and all thumbs.
I am going to try to outline these things one by one…please do not be intimidated by these different things…the first few times we clipped wings and trimmed nails, my Dad and I said these things out loud to each other as we coordinated together. Now we have done these things several times with his birds, and just do it by second nature…we each know what our “job” is and just do it…but at first, saying precautions and steps out loud helped.
First, read through the articles and information carefully and go over it in your mind a few times before actually choosing a wing clip style and trying it. Once you have chosen the style you want to use, think about it and how you are going to do it a few times so you have a mental picture of what you are going to do…even though actually doing something is always different from thinking about it, it helped us to do this when we were learning.
Second, you will probably want to enlist the aid of a friend. If you have never toweled or clipped a bird before, both holding the bird and doing the clipping can be too much for one person – and this is sometimes true even if you are experienced. Ensure your friend has also read through what you are going to do, so s/he has an idea of what is going on and what s/he is supposed to do.
Third, ensure you (and/or your friend) know how to towel (a gentle form of restraint) a parrot. NOTE: Some parrots can be trained to allow you to clip their wings without restraint...they have been trained to hold out their wings, and the human just snips off the long feather(s)....same with toenails...some people train their parrots to hold up their foot to allow toe filing/trimming.
When you towel, be sure your friend or whoever is holding the parrot knows not to apply too much pressure when holding the bird...parrots do not have diaphragms like mammals do to help them to expand and contract their chest to breathe in and out...parrots have to expand and contract their chest using their ribs... so if you hold a parrot too tightly around the middle, you may prevent him from breathing. Use a “three –point grip" around the head (thumb and middle finger gently but firmly around the back of the head, meeting just under the lower mandible, index finger gently either also to the same side as the middle finger, or more to the top of the parrot’s head) to prevent biting, and with the other hand, gently but firmly restrain the parrot near the feet…leaving the abdomen free to breathe.
If you have never toweled a parrot, let us know....you may want to practice toweling and holding the bird BEFORE attempting to clip the wings or toenails….please let us know, though…and we will suggest some games to play to help teach your parrot not to be afraid of towels, and how to towel….you don’t want to frighten or stress your parrot. IF YOU KNOW ANYONE who knows how to do this and is experienced, it is much easier to see how it is done than to try to read it, but we will try to help you.
When you gently extend the wing out from under the towel, be gentle…bird bones are very light and delicate…just extend the wing gently and naturally. You do not have to extend the wing all the way…and you can use your fingers to gently fan the first 5 long feathers just enough so you can clearly see the ends and trim them. IF THERE ARE NO BLOOD FEATHERS, you can trim a standard wing trim on one wing in one cut…then trim the other wing the same way. IF THERE ARE BLOOD FEATHERS in the first five feathers, you will have to trim on either side and NOT CUT the blood feather. Fanning the feathers instead of completely extending the wing can be very helpful if your bird is struggling, or if this is the first time or two that you have tried to clip.
Fourth, if you are not familiar with what a blood feather is, please let us know BEFORE you try to clip wings. One of the links below has a good photo of what a blood feather looks like (NOTE: That article says you can clip the already matured end of a blood feather, which is true, but if you are not familiar or not sure, please do not clip any part of a blood feather). Blood feathers are the living, growing feather, and have an active blood supply (the inside of a growing feather is sort of like a modified version of part of the skin of a bird…so it is alive and has blood and will bleed profusely if cut). If a blood feather is cut and bleeds, often the only way to stop it is to pull the feather out. This can be done, but there is a special way to do it, and it is simply easier to avoid this than to have to do it…so it is easier to simply avoid clipping blood feathers…just wait until the feather is grown out all the way (the plastic looking keratin sheath will be gone, and the quill will no longer look thick and engorged and soft) and then clip it.
LINKS BELOW:
When you are looking at the photos and drawings of wing clipping in the links below, please keep in mind that models for the standard/traditional clip are not Eclectus…often the models are small, light-bodied birds like thingyatiels. thingyatiels are very good fliers even when clipped, so some people clip their wings fairly short, and clip more feathers than are recommended for Eclectus. Eclectus trims usually only involve the first five long wing feathers (primaries) and only one or two inches are trimmed off the tips. Short wing trims are not recommended for Eclectus.
You may also find that for at least the first time or two that you trim wings, the standard/traditional clip is easiest to learn. Once you have learned that, you can try the clips that clip the quill close to the body…
But Mary…you just said an Eclectus wing trim should be long…you are confusing me…
Yes, a STANDARD/TRADITIONAL clip should be long. As you read the information in the links, keep in mind that Eclectus are not as thickly feathered under their wings as many other kind of parrots are..so if you clip too short, the cut ends of the wing feathers may irritate the bird’s sides when the wing is folded back against the body. A long clip helps to ensure the cut end of the feather rests on a thicker “cushion” of underwing feathers when the bird’s wing is at rest against the body. But there is a style discussed and demonstrated in the links that clips the quills close at the base…you will see it when you look at the links… I personally am not experienced with this clip, but many knowledgeable and experienced people like it, and if you like it and want to try it, OK…but IMHO, try to get a little experience first.
The first link below is to an article by Dr. Margaret Wissman that also/further describes the one that clips the quills close at the base.
Wings
www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/clip.html
The link below also describes wing clipping, but shows a diagram of a parrot toenail. In Eclectus, the toenails are black or very dark grey, so it is hard to tell where the quick (living part of the nail) is. You may wish to just trim the very tips off the nails.
When reading articles or descriptions of nail clips, you may read about styptic powders or Quick-Stop or similar products. These are for stopping bleeding if you should accidentally snip part of the quick. If you snip the quick, sometimes it takes a little while for the drop of blood to form…it does not always bleed instantly when cut. BUT…you do not have to worry about these products…you can safely use cornstarch or even plain white flour to help stop bleeding from a nipped nail. In fact, many people do not use styptic powder or Quick-Stop type products on birds at all because they feel the product is too caustic (NOTE: Do not use styptic powder or Quick-Stop type products on torn or cut skin…it is much too caustic for that and will damage tissues).
If you nip a nail and it bleeds, just take a daub of dry cornstarch (or flour) onto your fingertip and gently but firmly press it to the bleeding end of the nail for a few seconds, then remove your finger, leaving the little bit of cornstarch there. The bleeding should stop with one application. Sometimes two are necessary. If that happens, put a thicker dab of dry cornstarch on your fingertip and hold it against the nail a little bit longer…the gentle pressure and the particles of the cornstarch should help the bleeding to stop. Then, just keep an eye on your bird for about half an hour to ensure the bleeding does not start up again (if it does, repeat the procedure one more time).
Although it is important to always keep perches and cages clean, take an extra minute before beginning the process of nail clipping to ensure perches or any places your bird might rest for the half hour or so after the nails have been trimmed are nice and clean…this will help to ensure no poop or other debris gets into the cut nails to cause any infection. NOTE: Infections from nail trimming are not common, but since you have limited access to veterinary care, I am just being a bit extra careful in mentioning these kinds of things.
Wings and nails
www.pionusparrot.com/Wing...ipping.htm
Final note re limited access to veterinary care….
You probably already know these things, but a few precautions can be taken to help ensure your parrot stays as healthy as possible….
Ensure his cage, food and water cups, perches, toys and other environments he plays on, etc are cleaned daily and disinfected with a parrot safe disinfectant regimen about once a week.
Ensure his food is washed and clean, and any soft food is removed after about two hours to keep bacteria and yeast overgrowth to a minimum.
Ensure his water is clean and changed at least twice per day (like morning and afternoon), once before bedtime, and whenever it becomes soiled with food or other debris.
Ensure his diet is appropriate for an Eclectus…does not consist primarily of seeds, includes lots of fresh foods and foods containing lots of beta carotene, is primarily low fat (not NON fat)…there is a lot of information here at Land of Vos and the Message Board with ideas about feeding Eclectus a nutritious diet….
Ensure he has several hours of out-of-cage time per day to exercise and interact with his human family.
Ensure his cage is not too small, his perches are not too thin or too thick and are not made of dowels and are not slippery or smooth….if they are slippery or smooth, roughen them with a wood rasp to give them some texture – or find some branches from parrot-safe trees that have not been sprayed with insecticides, etc like organically grown pear and apple, willow and poplar with the bark on to use as perches.
Ensure he has gentle, lukewarm, soaking showers at least three times per week (no soap or detergent).
Do not expose him to other people’s parrots or wild birds as they may have diseases…some parrot diseases, such as PBFD and polyoma are infectious and incurable. Also, you may have problems having access to treatment for parrot diseases, parasites, etc that are generally easily treatable in the USA etc IMHO it is not worth the risk.
Learn the signs of a sick parrot. If you do not know what these are, please let us know and we will describe. Sometimes, if a problem can be recognized early (parrots are very good at hiding it when they are sick), it can be cured more easily.
There are some very good books available that may be helpful to you. You can order them online from Amazon.com. There is a booklist here at Land of Vos that lists these books (clicking on the books in the booklist will take you to Amazon.com to order them)..also, you can click on books here at the Message Board when they appear at the right corner on each Board forum…it is probably easier to order at the Land of Vos booklist, though.. I am not sure what your resources for ordering books are in Beijing, so please let us know and maybe some of our Board participants might know some other ways to get the materials.
I hope I did not make this sound hard…it is not hard…but when you first try to clip wings or nails, you may feel a bit uncoordinated and all thumbs.