Cockatoo nails and beak?

Question

Is there any natural way for a cockatoo to trim it's own nails and beak? I'm the only one he has anything to do with, and the vet said to spook them or put them under too much stress they are prone to heart attacks. And there is no way to sedate them. He likes to stand on my hand or go up my arm and stand on my shoulder,he likes it but it's starting to get rough on me. I hope there is an answer out there, would hate to keep him in a cage all the time

Answer 1

Cockatoo nails and beak, my advice to you is to put some natural apple tree branches in your pets cage or you can purchase shellgrit sheets from your local pet shop, very inexpensive and you wrap it around your pets original perch, but the natural branches are your best bet.

Answer 2

I would take your cockatoo somewhere where you will always do his nails, I take mine to the kitchen counter he knows now that when he is there he get's his nails trimmed. I started by using an emery board and filing his nails that way he got used to me holding his foot and working with his nails. After doing this three times a week for a month, I got regular nail clippers (the ones we use for our dogs scare him to death) and trimmed just two nails. He was a little scared, but when he realized it didn't hurt, he was fine. A couple days later I filed his nails, then cut two more and continued this until they were all done. After about six months of this, I've been able to cut all of his nails in one sitting without him getting scared. I also keep a plate with flour on it just in case I clip a little too much and it starts to bleed. If you do this, don't make the mistake of making a big deal of it in front of your bird, just put his foot in the flour like it's no big deal, otherwise he will get scared again.

Answer 3

I've have cockatoos for years and know what you mean. Get cement perches from the pet store. Put them up high where the bird will naturally roost. Over time it wears down the claws and the bird uses them to trim the beak. It'll take a month or so to dull them, but be advised they'll never be completely dull (they aren't supposed to be).

Answer 4

Whoever the idiot was that first suggested sandpaper on a perch 50 years ago when I started raising birds, Should be thrown barefooted into a room carpeted with broken glass. Sand paper will invariably cause injury to a perching bird. The skin is quickly worn away and infection can set in. Take your bird to an avian vet. There the birds' head will be covered during the procedure and it will not spook the bird. Be sure to transport the bird in a covered cage.

Answer 5

i would not like to do a cockies nails , but a good set of gloves and a thick jumper should do the tick . one holds the bird the other trims .
do it in a room with good light so you can see where the quick in the nail is . Do not cut to short , be careful of the small quick.
by the way , it will bite you , but I doubt it will have a heart attack .
as for the beak , i would not trim the beak .
lay sand paper on the perch and floor of cage , and put shell grit in his food .
alternatively , place beach sand in the floor of the cage .
Cock will where his own beak and claws down in time .
they need to chew , so give it something to wear its beak down while it does it

Answer 6

I think all birds are similar. For my parakeet I kept a cuddle bone in his cage that he constantly knawed on to maintain his beak. For his nails, you can wrap his perches in sand paper. The grit helps the birds file down their nails. Do not let the birds nails get so long that they curl back up to their foot and rub sores. If it does they can get infected very easily and the bird could get sick. If the nails are too long you can get scissors to trim them. Don't use just any scissors, use those ment for trimming pets nails. Make sure you do not hit the vein in the nail (you can see it). If you do, the nail will bleed from the tip and then it is traumatic. Keep stiptic powder on hand in case you do. Put the powder on the blood spot to stop the bleeding. If your too nervous, get a vet to do it and watch the first time. You will see it is not too hard.

Answer 7

that's a classic habit in Cockatoos they rub their beaks on many stuff,,I unquestionably have six Cockatoos. I in hassle-free terms trim their beaks as quickly as a year..except that's deform.. I additionally enable an vet trim their beaks..i will ,in spite of the undeniable fact that that's terrific

Answer 8

I bought a perch for my cockie that was made from some kind of calcium material, it said it was banana flavored. It was shaped like a tree branch and didn't go all the way across. He chewed on it and it helped with his claws somewhat. I also had a cuttle bone in the cage for his beak. I put sand paper covers over a few of his straight perches that went all the way across the cage. You can buy them just about anywhere. They are ready to slip over the perch and are covered with grit. Don't put it over all of the perches though, so he can get away from it and rest a bit. I didn't do all of them because I didn't want to make his feet sore.
It didn't sand them down all the way and I still had to clip him once in a while, but not very often. Mine was used to being handled by me that way though because I always clipped his wings as well.

Answer 9

give him plenty of wooden toys to chew on for his beak. For his nails I use sandy perches they have a sandy texture to them amd keep my birds nails trimed down. I still take them to the vet once a year to have their nails trimmed and tests done to make sure everything is ok

Answer 10

FIRST I WOULD FIND AN AVARIAN VET. THEY KNOW HOW TO DO THIS WITHOUT SPOOKING YOUR COCKATOO. ALSO I WOULD GET A PERCH WITH A BUILT IN NAIL SANDER. BUT I THINK MY PARROT ONLY MANAGED TO SHARPEN HIS BEAK WITH IT.