Trimming Cookie's nails?!

[mona]

There had been no need to trim their nails since past 1.5 yrs - they took care of it on their own or the perches did. I just observed her toe nails are grown longer than before. It has to be my fault for not setting up their home cage with natural perches and everything post relocation (in Feb).

I let them out today out of cage. Cookie's nails got stuck in clothes and a woven bamboo mat too. She's not tame. I don't have an avian vet around, doubting that any pet shop would be open to have that done there. My hubby isn't confident to grab the birdie, as he applies too much pressure on anything & he has no experience in grabbing birds earlier. I don't think I can trim it alone.

They have just shifted to their home cage and there are natural perches. Would the nail be trimmed naturally in some time? Please see the image for her nail length. She doesn't have trouble inside the cage, but outside the cage with clothes and similar non  natural stuff her nails get stuck. Please guide me on this one. I have read enough about quick and i can see that too. She'll  have a heart attack if I grab her. Last time, I had to she panicked too much and froze for sometime.. 😔

[tweetiepiesmom]

They do look a bit long to me. I think I'd be inclined to leave them alone and keep an eye on her when she's out of the cage. Do you have a pedi-perch? If so, you can put it where she's likely to sit on it. Once when my guys were covered for the night, Buddy jumped to the cage bars and got his toe caught in the cover. He started squawking and flapping his wings. Fortunately he's tame enough that I could hold him and unhook the toe from the cloth. It hasn't happened again. It'll be interesting to see what people with more experience think.

[Hezz]

Hens’ claws are naturally longer and sharper than the males for mating reasons. What do her feet look like when she walks on a flat surface? The claws are too long only if they cause the pads of the toes to lift off the table top, otherwise leave them alone. One claw looks like it might be a little too long, but check her feet on a table or bench top before deciding to trim.

If she was my bird, I’d leave well enough alone, but try to find some rougher and thicker perches for her to use every day.

[mona]

tweetiepiesmom I don't have access to pedi perches over here. I have added thicker rough perches and natural items of all varying thickness though. I have helped Cookie get her nail out of the cloth yesterday. I'm not covering their cage right now, due to the weather - just one side of the cage, where the night lamp lies. She isn't tame yet, but she didn't bite me, while I tried to help her get her nail off the cloth. I'm also inclined to leave her on her own to get her nails trimmed. I was just worried about her injuring herself by force to get nails off the clothes (that was my dress and the bedsheet). Their room is too hot right now, so they are in my room until June, when summer almost ends over here.

Hezz I haven't observed her nails on a flat surface. I'll check that out and see if the current perches help her nails trim naturally over time & will try add more variety..

Thank you both of you!

[mona]

Just an update: Her nails have trimmed on it's own with the natural perches.. Not too long now & I haven't seen her getting stuck in the cage cover at night too.. She also uses those natural perches to hang upside down and flap her wings at times.. that must have helped too..

I had moved the perches she uses the most with natural uneven perches.. I have got another bird safe wood too - yet to disinfect & sun dry it.. Will gradually replace almost all the perches with natural ones in the cage.. Also, thinking about using some of them to make some swings to hang on the curtain rod..

Gave the same feedback to the toy vendor too, but I'll prefer getting uneven branches on my own instead of buying them..since I have plenty available in this city..