Trimming Your Lovebird's Nails

Video Transcript

" Hi! I’m Sarah and I’m here at Extra Care Animal Hospital today, and on behalf of expertvillage.com I’m going to tell you a little bit about owning a lovebird. As far as nail care goes for you bird, we do recommend having the nails trimmed several times a year. It’s variable from bird to bird. Some bird’s nails need to be done anywhere from every other month to twice a year, depending on the bird. Just how you have people who’s hair grows at different speeds, same thing goes with birds. Generally, if your bird is walking on you and it’s uncomfortable or painful, then you should have the nails done. First, your nail trims should be done by your veterinarian, and if you so desire your vet may show you how to do the nails at home. Usually avian veterinarians rather than trimming the nails will use a dremel with a small grinding stone and dremel the nails down versus actually trimming them. dremeling the nails or using a grinding stone on the nails serves to make them shorter and smoother. If the quick, which is the blood supply to the nail, is hit with the grinding stone the grinding stone will serve to also stop the bleeding. If you decide to do the nails at home, when you are trimming them and you happen to hit the quick and see blood coming from the nail, don’t panic. It might look like a lot of blood but it’s not. Your bird can not bleed to death from a nail being trimmed. If you have some sticks powder, like you would use on a cat or dog nail, or you can use some flour or cornstarch. Pinch it between your fingers and hold it on the nail. That should help stop the bleeding within a minute or two. Generally, the easiest thing for you to do is to take your bird to a veterinarian’s office for the nail trims, that way it’s somebody else doing the traumatic stuff and it’s not you. That way it helps your bond with your bird, and they don’t associate you with that unpleasant experience. "