My love bird died after 3 years, now what can ı do?

Question

I kept on asking what ı can do to stop its nails from bleeding and now it died. I want to buy another but ı'm afraid that the same things will happen again. Do you cut the nails of your own birds? Is this really necessary? Their beak sometimes grows a lot, do we have to take them to a vet doctor?

I never cut my birds nail and now I wanted to know if ı did wrong or not. I mean its nails were so long that it used to cause a great problem for him. And lastly the nail fell

Answer 1

You shouldn't have to trim the bird's nails or beak if you keep the right equipment in the cage.

Don't use the normal tiny perches that come with the cage -- these are useless when it comes to exercising your bird's feet and keeping their nails trim. Instead, you can either cut your own perches from the branches of certain trees (make sure the kind of tree you use is non-toxic to birds -- fruit trees work well), or you can buy natural perches. They should have bark, and they should be thick, but also have varying thicknesses to exercise your bird's feet. Most parrots will also chew their perch if it's appetizing enough (and natural perches usually are), and this is good for their beak.

Also get your parrot a mineral block and cuttlefish bone to put in the cage. These are not only good for giving your bird important minerals, but the chewing helps keep their beak trim. Get some wooden toys for the cage so your parrot can chew on them.

Usually, just having the right stuff in the cage should keep your parrot's beak and nails in check. But sometimes it does become necessary to trim them anyway, if you notice that they start getting too long and curling under. If you've never done this before, you should take your bird to either an avian vet or your local pet store to have them trimmed. It's very uncomfortable and even dangerous to let your parrot's nails and beak get overgrown.

Answer 2

My sympathies for your bird.

The first time you try and do anything, go to an avian vet ( http://aav.org/vet-lookup ) and ask them to do it for you so they can show you how it's properly done. When clipping birds' nails, or any animal's nails, it's always trickier if they're dark coloured. You can't see where the vein is so there's always a risk you may cut too far, as what appears to have happened in your situation.

As was already stated, you may never need to have a trimming done as long as you have things in the cage to prevent overgrowth. Natural brances/perches are great, and the dowel ones, as said by Steel, suck. They don't provide birds with any muscle exercise and will more than likely cause arthritis. Also, cement perches are worth an investment. Not many, just one or two so that the bird has choice between natural perches and the cement perch. Cement perches, if the only kind used, will have the same effect as sand perches. Perches with sand on them or sand paper covers aggravate the skin, sometimes causing skin tearing and bleeding and obviously some discomfort. However, with cement perches, they're thick enough so that the feet can't wrap all the way around and their claws are dulled down on them. The texture also feels neat, as opposed to constant smooth surfaces like dowel.

Steel covered everything well. To keep beaks trim, look into mineral blocks (I highly recommend Manu blocks - they have a ton of awesome nutrients that birds typically don't get in captivity), cuttlefish bone (replace every 3 months or when soiled), and wood toys. Especially with lovebirds, they love to chew, so wood toys work wonders.

If ever something happens again with another bird where it begins to bleed, use styptic powder for bleeding toes. For skin or broken blood feathers, you can use flour or corn starch and pack it onto the area to stop the bleeding. Make sure your bird is toweled for its safety and not squirming everywhere while you do this.

Answer 3

Very sorry about your lovebird-here are some ways to keep that tragedy from happening again.
If you accidentally cut your bird's nails too short, and it bleeds, you can scrape the bleeding end of the nail on a normal bar of soap. This prevents profuse bleeding. If you don't want to cut the nails, buy a rough perch that specializes in trimming your bird's nails. Such brands as Polly's Pastel Perch are good for this. Make sure to avoid concrete perches that are not recommended by vets, because they can suck moisture from your bird's feet. Also, if your bird's feet are bleeding even when you don't overtrim them, it may be because its perch is the wrong size.
For a bird's beak, you can take it to a vet for a beak trim if the situation is extreme. However, if a beak trim is not performed properly, it may permanently damage the beak , so make sure you think about the pros and cons before commencing with surgery. In order to prevent an overgrown beak, supply your bird with plenty of toys it can chew (i.e. wood toys such as manzanita or pine, etc).

Good luck with your future birds

Answer 4

Yes, anyone can cut a pets nails improperly, but here is what we do as Bird Breeders. Hold the bird securely so that it's claws will extend over your finger. Use nail clippers that are for birds, and clip about a quarter of an inch below the curve of the nail, at a angle similar to the current pattern. Any lower and you will hit the vain that goes to the claw, and you have a major no-no. If you don't have any styptic powder, try some Corn Starch from your spice cabinet. Good Luck !!

Answer 5

You said your bird was flying around the kitchen the day before it died. There are many hazards in a kitchen, in particular, Teflon fumes from non-stick cookware. Some other items in the kitchen which can give off Teflon fumes are broiler pans, woks, waffle makers, coffee makers, and crock pots. Self cleaning ovens also contain Teflon. That could be the cause of death. The only way to know for sure would be to have an avian vet perform a necropsy.

Answer 6

You have to keep their nails trimmed and their beak trimmed. Keeping a cuttle bone in the cage will help and a vet or groomer can trim the nails for you.

If you decide to trim the nails yourself i suggest having a vet show you at least once the proper way as you do not want to cut below the quick.

Good luck, sorry for oyur loss

Answer 7

it's not your fault, the bird had a disease. you can cut the nails but don't cut them to short because they have a blood supply in them. I would suggest sand paper you can buy it at any pet store. What the sand paper does is files the birds nails. DO NOT USE REGULAR SAND PAPER!! This sand paper is used for this kind of thing.

Answer 8

I don't even attempt to trim my own birds' nails. They're not mean, but two of them have black nails and I'm afraid I'll cut too short and I do not want to hurt my babies.
The vet I take them to charges $20, but he also clips their wings, dremels their beaks and gives them a nice polishing manicure after the nail trim.

Answer 9

I do not cut the nails on my small birds, but what I do put in there cage are sand perches. They are rough, but my birds seam to like them, as when the hold on, like a nail file it keeps their nails trimmed nicely. Best part is they have the choice when to use this perch verses the others.

Answer 10

You need to keep a cuttle bone in the cage. Birds love this and it keeps their beaks healthy. You can also get a sand paper type platform for the bird when it feeds and this will keep the claws from getting too long. When in doubt, as the pet store.