Todays trick

[InTheAir]

Heyo,

I have run out of memory in my phone so I haven't videoed this one, it's not very cute or funny either.
Today's trick is Nila holding his wee footsy up so I can trim his nails!

I realised his nails are a little long last night, since he may need his nails clipped multiple times in the course of his life, I decided it was time to follow Barbara Heidenreichs example and train him to accept it.
As Nila waves with both feet already and is comfortable when I touch his feet, so all I had to do was get him used to me holding his toes and wiggling them around and introduce the nail clippers. Easiest trick we have tried in ages! Nila didn't blink at the clippers, he was not very impressed with the emery board though. I am trying to add pedicure to his vocabulary now, but I'm not sure he is completely sold on that idea.

I will get the boyfriend to take some pics and post them tomorrow.

For anyone looking to train a new trick I recommend this one.

Claire

[ellieelectrons]

Good job Claire! A very useful behaviour!

Ellie.

[MissK]

What a coincidence - I did the doggie nails yesterday. Please see if Nila can have a word with my little fraidy dog! Twelve years old and still thinks I'm coming to chop off her toes.

-MissK

[ellieelectrons]

lol... maybe Nila could become a pet therapist

if he can make time around his musical and art prodigy-ness.

Ellie.

[InTheAir]

Lol.
Poor Lil doggy, it's funny how scared dogs can be of nail clippers. Nila says peekaboo. I hope that helps.
I'd love to get Nila answering taming questions on here, I should get him an ipad and set him lose.
Q: my owner won't leave me alone, even though I bite it heaps. I want to stay in my cage. What can I do?
A: just climb up it's arm and sit on the shoulder. This is not hard, or scarey. When your owner relaxes, just drop a bomb right on the shoulder. The owner will put you in the cage while it changes its shirt.

[Skyes_crew]

This is the first thread I opened after coming back today and I almost fell off my chair just now!!!!

That is sound advice Nila

Can you get Nila to wear little spectacles?

[Skyes_crew]

MissK...my doggies think the nail clippers are a cue to run and slam themselves Into the patio door repeatedly. Maybe I should get on all fours and have my husband come at me with the clippers just to see what's so scary about them

[MissK]

Seriously. One of my two just lies down and closes her eyes (she thinks she's at the spa) and the 'fraidy one actually tries to dig through the floor to China, and it's Not Even Her Turn! If I send her from the room, she digs wherever she ends up.

I swear she has never been hurt from grooming!

-MissK

[InTheAir]

Melissa: Nila loves making humans laugh! He even laughs along now.

Aww missk, my collie was like that about a bath. This is the same dog that loved chasing the water out of the hose and getting sopping wet, when the shampoo came out she would try to scrabble through the nearest wall!

[jmlw7]

Can I bounce off this as a nail thread and ask for any suggestions on how on earth to trim Remy's nails? Her nails are REALLY REALLY long... and we have gone to the vet three times since we got her in April just to trim her nails. The vet says, "oh how nice, this is an indicator of a really great healthy diet". Yea great... and convenient for them that they charge us for it. And we need to make an appointment. So how can I start cutting Remy's nails myself without toweling her or making her mad at me? I've just started picking her up completely by holding her entire body in my hand, but her feet kick and she grumbles so she isnt used to it and wont let a foreign object touch her nails although she lets me play with them sometimes. Anyway, the getting used to me handling her that way thing will take time. Any suggestions on how to clip her nails right now? Our appointment isnt for another two weeks. Did I mention her nails are really long! She looks like a raptor!

[InTheAir]

In the short term, can one person grab her and cup her in their hand while the other does the clipping? I find making a v with my first and second finger around Nilas neck keeps him pretty well restrained. And give her some nice treats to help calm her down might help.
Nila is pretty easy going and doesn't struggle if he is being held firmly..

In the long term start by teaching her to let you touch and pick up her feet.
I used the wave trick to start, when he picked up his foot and rested it on my finger he would get a big praising and then a treat after it was back on the perch. If he stepped onto my finger he would be returned to the perch with no treaties.
As she gets more comfortable with it you can start wiggling her toes and holding them gently. Then introduce the clippers.
Let me know if you want me to break this down into smaller increments or explain it better.

Also make sure you have appropriate sized natural wood perches for her. They should help keep her nails a bit more worn.

Is your vet an avian vet?

[ellieelectrons]

Barbara Heidenreich has a video on training for the nail trim. It's the one about training for a veterinary exam. Her approach is similar to Claires and it involves desensitising the bird to the clippers and having you touch her feet, etc.

I don't trim my birds nails. I try to give them natural wood perches and cement perches to trim their nails down. I do, however, have a few marks on my arms from their scratches. I have a friend who tells me that if you use the right perches, the nails shouldn't need trimming.

Ellie.

[Skyes_crew]

Just to elaborate on the perches because I had a similar problem. My birds nails were growing long too quickly but I had natural perches and cement perches. I got rid of the cement perches when my vet told me they can cause sores on their feet. And the natural perches aren't enough to wear down nails if they aren't coated in bark. My vet recommends Birch because of the texture of the bark. Haven't had an issue since

[ellieelectrons]

Interesting, thanks for that Melissa. My birds don't have sores on their feet but I will consider removing the cement perches. I read something a while ago recommending them but not other forms of perches marketed as nail trimming. The article said they make them sharper and can hurt their feet.

I've always found the conflicting information about perches confusing, although I've never heard anyone say tree branches are bad, so I guess that's your best bet. That makes sense about the bark. I wish I were handier to make my own perches. Every time I try it doesn't seem to work very well.

My guys always have claws that are a little on the sharp side. Someone filed back Janey's once too much, and the poor bird couldn't grip properly and she fell out of the tree in her cage. I've never had them done since.

Ellie.

[Skyes_crew]

I had never heard of the cement perch causing sores either. There is a very smooth cement perch, but I guess that would probably be useless in wearing down nails lol. My three favorites so far are dragonwood, grapevine wood, and Birch. But honestly, just pick what works best for you. My vet scared me sufficiently enough with the sores to take out anything that didn't resemble a natural habitat except for the toys. And even those I've been switching to natural woods and bamboo and coconut shells. But that's a personal preference I guess the avian world is constantly changing. So hard to keep up sometimes.

[InTheAir]

We swear by bottlebrush perches. And he loves playing with the bark too.
We only had to trim one toenail on each foot, i think it was cos Nila has slightly wonky toesies and he doesn't grip evenly. ..

[jmlw7]

I had never heard of the cement perch causing sores either. There is a very smooth cement perch, but I guess that would probably be useless in wearing down nails lol. My three favorites so far are dragonwood, grapevine wood, and Birch. But honestly, just pick what works best for you. My vet scared me sufficiently enough with the sores to take out anything that didn't resemble a natural habitat except for the toys. And even those I've been switching to natural woods and bamboo and coconut shells. But that's a personal preference I guess the avian world is constantly changing. So hard to keep up sometimes.

Do you have these native in Hawaii? The dragonwood, grapevine and birch? It sounds like its impossible to buy clean, safe branches with bark still on them - but rather fresh from the outdoors. I'm lost with knowing which tree is what outdoors and being in the dead of summer, Im reluctant to take branches from the forest or something for fear there are tons of critters in them and then after washing or baking, find out its not a safe tree. Maybe in the wintertime... but until then, if anyone knows where I can buy clean branches with the bark on them, that would be great.

I again had to push Remy's nail appointment as we've been so busy, so her claws are really ridiculously long - we have a cement perch, with the top of it smooth, so the roughness on the sides are supposed to trim the nails, but Remy barely sits on it. They say to put it near her food dish or somewhere she wont sit all day, but she instead sits on her actual dish rather than the perch and doesnt spend much time on them.

Anyway, we dont seem to have any avian vets left in New England - only vets who work with exotics. Everyone seems to have retired and all of the lists online are incorrect.

Sigh.

[Skyes_crew]

Amazon .com is my best friend you can find anything for birds on there. For local wood I get Hale Koa wood and guava, but all the others I mentioned I buy ready for use right off of amazon. What trees do you have local?

[MissK]

Is this at all helpful?

Perches Rocky also uses: http://www.petco.com/product/105617/Pet ... Perch.aspx
Where to buy: http://www.mystore411.com/store/view/97 ... h-Portland
Fir on safe woods list: http://www.birdsafe.com/woods.htm

Additional list for you to cross-reference against bird safe wood list - Guide to American Hardwood Species http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/articles/view/pro/24/267

I also, for what it's worth, favour natural materials. AND they're much more soothing to the human eye.

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

I have that first one too MissK, but I found it cheaper in a local store here and at longer lengths. The natural woods here that we can harvest are great...if you can find them already off the trees. It's illegal to cut trees that aren't on your property. And all I have is kukui, hale koa, guava, and banyan. I would love to get my hands on some hard wood Koa, monkey pod, and rainbow eucalyptus. Also some black bamboo. I found a pet store here that actually had huge pieces of grapevine wood that were for sale in the fish section to be used for tank displays. I bought two of them and I'm currently making a play gym out of them. Ill post pics when it's done.

I don't remember where you live Josie, but most of the natural perches with bark that you buy online are bird safe as long as they're coming from a pet supply place. And if you refer to the list that MissK gave you, you can harvest locally and just bake the wood either in the sun or in the oven.

[InTheAir]

Also, if you see a nice branch in someone else's yard, sometimes people are really happy to allow you to lop a bit off if you ask nicely, especially if they have a pretty overgrown yard.

[jmlw7]

so I realized we've already had a grapevine perch in Remy's cage this whole time.. the bark was very minimal when we bought it and it still looks the same. It had a much rougher surface than manzanita and an odd shape to it, so we bought it for her feet exercise and she spends a lot of time on it but it hasnt done much for her nails. Her sleeping perch is actually that exact fir perch that MissK mentioned as well. There is indeed a thin layer of bark on it, and she sleeps on it every night, but it doesnt do much for her nails, she doesnt pick at it or chew it either, i think she just thinks its comfortable. Dragonwood I've noticed, looks to be smooth? I dont see a layer of bark on it - but the bottle brush perches look great! If I buy a couple, I'm not really sure which perch to replace to ensure she spends a good amount of time on it to trim her nails. Her nails are almost an inch long... its really crazy. I'm so chicken to cut her nails myself.

Can Nila teach Remy how to let me cut her nails please

[MissK]

Brainstorming......

Maybe it's time to reach out to other bird owners in your local area? There is a swell woman in my bird club who will cut your bird nails at the regular meeting, for free, just because she's nice. Maybe there's someone as nice as her where you live.

Can you teach the bird to scratch like a chicken? If yes, get out that sandpaper, a block of wood, and the stapler, and have a scratching block! Could that work?

Check your neighbors - maybe someone has experience and will help out.

Um..... if you find an effective perch, place it by the favourite toy?

Yours in

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

There are two types of dragonwood. There is the sandblasted type. That's where the bark is removed. Then there is the natural. This is my dragonwood T-Perch. I don't know if you can see it, but the wood is very rough



If all else fails though, you and Brian can clip Remy. Have Brian hold her with her feet wrapped around his fingers facing out towards you. Take small nail clippers or cuticle nippers and clip just the tip off of each nail.

[Melika]

Input on the concrete perches- they'll only cause sores if the bird is on them ALL the time. Like if it's the sleeping perch. I've used the Safety Perch, Polly's Twister, and Polly's Sandwalk over the last 8 years.

The Polly's Sandwalk is my favourite of all the them because it isn't solid concrete so isn't cold. I buy in a slightly too large diameter so that the nails will actually hit it. It's near the top of the cage, but it's more of a getting from point A to point B perch. So it gets used a lot, but in moving through the cage instead of just sitting on it.

I also like perches with bark, as other members have said.

[InTheAir]

To make nail clipping less scarey for you, you can gently squeeze the clippers on the tip of the nail. If she reacts to that move the clippers closer to the tip. If you are just nipping a sharp point off she will probably not even feel it. Or use an emery board, it would be pretty hard to go to far with an emery board!

[InTheAir]

Update with a video: http://youtu.be/_Pkzouh1RnU
This is sapphires third session with the whole concept. ... The hard part is trying to stop her eating the clippers!

[MissK]

Nice work!