Overgrown toenails can easily become tangled in your clothing, the parrot's toys, or on the bars of its cage, any of which will cause serious injury to your parrot. Trimming your African Grey's overgrown toenails will prevent such injuries from happening and keep you and your parrot comfortable.
Things You'll Need
- Towel
- Small pair of pet or bird nail trimmers
- Styptic powder (or cornstarch or flour)
- Nail file (optional)
Instructions
Take your African Grey to a veterinarian who specializes in parrots or to a parrot groomer if you're nervous about trimming your parrot's toenails or are having trouble restraining your parrot for the procedure. If you're sure you want to trim its toenails yourself, you can have the veterinarian or groomer show you how to best handle your parrot and give you additional instructions and tips.
Restrain your African Grey during the procedure. Restraining your African Grey ensures that your parrot does not injure itself or you, as it is likely to be upset during the procedure. This is usually done by carefully wrapping your African Grey in a towel and positioning the bird on its back, then unwrapping the towel from around its legs so you can reach its feet.
Clip the toenails and smooth the edges with a nail file if you so desire. You'll want to take off as little of the nail as possible with each clip, as it's hard to judge where the quick ( the blood supply) is. Nicking the quick will be very painful for your African Grey, and you'll need to apply styptic powder (or a suitable alternative) and light pressure as quickly as possible to stop the bleeding.