The beak is made of keratin (the same material nails, horns and hair are made of) and tends to grow to an uncomfortable size when the bird is in captivity. This not only looks unsightly, but interferes with the parrot's ability to eat. Trimming the parrot's beak will keep the bird healthy -- and pretty.
You can save plenty of time and money if you learn to do the trimming yourself. With a little practice, you can do as good a job as any professional.
Things You'll Need
- Small (about the size of the bird in length), thick towel
- Sharp scissors (medium size)
- A helper
- Corn starch/ Styptic powder
- Hemostats/ Needle-nose pliers
- Dremel tool
- Light-sanding attachment
- Telephone number of an avian veterinarian
- Mode of getting to the vet clinic quickly, if necessary
Instructions
Wrap the parrot in the towel loosely enough not to constrict its breathing, yet tight enough to keep it from struggling. Hand over the parrot to your helper to hold, while you slowly remove one of the wings for trimming.
Extend the wing gently so you can see the primary flight feathers. These are the feathers you'll need to trim. As you extend the wing, you'll see two distinct rows of feathers. As you look from the tip of the wing toward the body, the primary flight feathers are the first row of feathers. Leave the first two long feathers in the row for esthetic reasons. From the third feather, move inward and trim five to seven feathers. Use the second row of feathers as a guide for where to cut; you need to cut just about one inch above the second row.
Repeat the process on the other wing. Be very careful that you don't cut a "blood" feather. A blood feather is one that's still growing so is being supplied with blood. Once the feathers are fully grown, the blood supply is cut off. It's easy to identify blood feathers -- look at the shafts. If they're white or translucent, they're fully grown; if they're dark, they have blood supply.
Remove the blood feather immediately if you cut it by mistake or it will continue bleeding. Use the needle-nose pliers or hemostats to grab the feather as close to the skin as possible and pull out the feather in one smooth movement. Apply pressure and corn starch or styptic powder to the spot that's bleeding, which should stop the bleeding. If it doesn't, immediately take the bird to an avian veterinarian.
Fix the light-sanding attachment to the dremel tool and get ready to trim the beak. Hold the beak closed and steady with one hand, while your helper continues holding the parrot in the towel. Gently file the beak of the parrot using soft and smooth movements. Run the dremel tool in one smooth movement all over the beak -- sides, top and bottom -- to remove the extra growth. The extra growth may be asymmetric; the tip of the beak may be too long; the lower beak may be overgrown. It's necessary to know how the beak looks normally before you begin this step. You may want to take photos of your parrot after it's just had its beak trimmed by your vet; you can then refer back to them when you're the one doing the trimming.
Although the extra growth will be clearly visible, undertake this task only after you've seen it done three or four times by a professional -- by then you should have a good idea about how to do it on your own.
Check for rough edges and file them if you find them. Be patient while filing; continue until you get the correct size and shape. To determine the correct size and shape, keep in mind the way your parrot species looks. As in Step 5, refer back to photos if you've taken them.