Melody, 1. Her Momma, 0.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

That's the score for a certain rotten little lovie hen who needs her toenails clipped in the worst way.

Both birds have typically been pretty good about taking care of their own nails with the help of a sand perch. However, lately I have had birds "stuck" to my clothing more times than not. I decided to give a very slight trim to the longest nails to see if that helps at all.

Milo has pretty much resigned himself to the fact that sometimes the momma has to do stuff he doesn't like, and the sooner he holds still, the sooner it's over. He then gnaws on my thumb just hard enough to let me know that he has suffered a great indignity and is deeply unthrilled with the situation. And that's fine. The result is that his nails have been oh-so-slightly trimmed, just enough that he no longer sticks to my silk sweaters. Yay!

Melody, on the other hand, despises being manhandled and reacts by biting the cr*p out of me. Call me a wimp if you will. But when she plunges that beak of hers into my thumb, blood oozing from the cuticle, it's difficult to concentrate on what I'm doing. It's even more difficult not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the fact that this is a 2 ounce bird causing this much pain. I've tried everything I can think of and/or feel comfortable with. Before I give up and call the local vet for a nail trim, I thought I'd ask if anyone else has any advice for clipping the toenails of a hard-biting hen.

Here's what I've tried:

Just let her bite. I have a reasonably high threshold of pain. This worked great until she discovered that a direct hit to the cuticle makes the momma say Very Bad Words. For a drama-loving lovebird, this is just icing on the cake.

Hold her like a pro. There's a way to hold the bird without being bitten. I've seen the picture. Darned if I can get her little head between my fingers before she's latched onto my thumb again.

Wrap her on a washcloth. No go. I really felt uncomfortable with this because I can't feel how tightly I'm holding her and I do not want to risk smothering her.

Gloves. I thought of using a leather work glove. Again, I wouldn't be able to feel how tightly I'm holding her through the glove. And is it really worth losing her trust to not be bitten?

Ask hubby to hold the bird while I trim, or vice versa. A short story. One day I asked hubby to hold my mom's dog for me while I trimmed her feet with electric clippers. The dog was scared of the clippers, you see, so I just wanted him to hold her and tell her it's all right while I did what I needed to do. I turned on the clippers, hubby let go, the dog stood up and walked away. I said, "What did you let her walk away for? You didn't even try!" His response: "I felt bad. She was scared." :roll: So ... no. Hubby will not be participating in this venture.

Pay the vet tech to do it. This is my current "best" option. Anybody have anything else?

PS Ironically, I have no problems getting the little monster's wings clipped, it's just the toenails that get me.

PPS I have accepted that my cuticle is probably never going to grow back. :lol

[Susan27]

PPS I have accepted that my cuticle is probably never going to grow back. :lol


I would just think of this as a free manicure.

Seems like you tried everything I would have thought of to try

I have no suggestions, I haven't had the courage to wing clip or nail trim...that's what the vet tech is for....:rofl: ;)

I would love to hear what others will suggest!

Good luck

[Tango's_Mom]

I haven't had the courage to wing clip or nail trim...that's what the vet tech is for....:rofl: ;)

Good luck

I'm with you Susan, it's funny since I work as a vet assistant and I have no trouble doing dog or cat nails, baths and brush outs, the odd doggy foot trim, but as far as I'm concerned trimming anything on my bird is a job for the vet tech, which is great since it's a 10-15 minute car trip to the closest vet that I trust to touch my bird (alot of the vets in town say they can do bird nail, wing and beak trims, but I don't really want someone who handles birds, probably a couple times a year trimming anything on my bird), and I'm way to paranoid that I might make him bleed if I do them myself, plus bleeding bird nails are not like bleeding dog nails, my dog is probably in the top 5 for worst behaved dog for nails trims that I know, (don't know why, he came like that when we adopted him with no history whatsoever at 6 months old), and I do him myself without help as both my parents always seem to make the situation worse (they let go, because he's scared, it must be hurting him, he's not scared he's a spoiled border collie husky cross, he's being a dominant little ... well you know what he's being) so I do occasionally cut him, but that's easy, just quick stop it and move on, he weighs 75 pounds, that tiny amount of blood lost is not going to hurt him at all, a teeny, tiny little bird though, a little blood is alot for them to lose, so I let the vet or tech do it, that way I know at least if THEY hit the quick, they can stop the bleeding right away, of course me being an overprotective momma, I always have two bottles of quick stop (the same one my vet used on Tangos one bleeder nail at the appt) on hand, on for Tango and one for Drake, just in case.

[Christine9]

I know what you are going through, Jennifer. I also have absolutely no problems clipping my birds wings (I towel them, and it only takes me a minute to do them), but the nails are a different story. I really don't like towelling them, either, but since the wings don't take long, I feel ok with that. But the nails...they would take me a lot longer, and I am soooo afraid to make them bleed. Plus it's hard when you're trying to hold them and cut the nails at the same time. And unfortunately I have the same problem as you- I don't have anyone who isn't afraid to hold them while I do it (or vise versa).

As far as what to do, I think if you aren't comfortable with doing it yourself, I would pay someone to do it. That's what I do, although I don't go to a vet, because they are expensive. I have a few trusted bird stores in my area that offer wing/nail trimming, so I take them there to have their nails trimmed. Luckily, not all of my birds need their nails trimmed, just my tiels and one of my lovies. For some reason, the others are always ok. They must use their Polly perches more than the rest, I don't know.

Oh, and OUCH! on the cuticle; that must of killed. :(

[butterfly1061]

Jen,

OUCH! Been there done that with Daisy & Olivia. My problem with these two is that I have to put one in the cage while I torment the other. If I don't, then one who's lose will come to "rescue" the one being tortured and I get bit by 2 hens at the sametime :eek: I've trimmed nails before, but I don't like doing it. It's not nearly as easy as wings. I'd opt for the vet :whistle:

[Cooper]

I vote, let the vet do it!
I need to make that trip soon, which won't be fun cause the vet is an hour away (we just moved), but it's worth the trip to go to the very cool bird supply store underneath. I can drool some more over the "lovebird penthouse" that would Cooper lots of room to play and maybe even fit another lovie! :D

[Janie]

Jennifer, thanks for a great laugh! :rofl:

I'm sorry to laugh but you WRITE with such humor that I can't help myself! :D My only suggestion would be let the vet do it. I am a chicken like no other and your hubby's help with the dog clip would be exactly what I could expect from mine! He won't help me trim a single wing feather! Not even one! Oh no.....it might hurt the bird! :rolleyes:

[Kathryn]

Jennifer,
Been there, done that.:whistle:
My solution was to take the leather glove and cut off the part of the glove that covered the middle, ring and pinky fingers. What remains covers my thumb and forefinger and wrist...that's what keeps the glove on my hand. This gives me the protection and the ability to know how tightly or loosely I'm holding my birds. With 14 to do monthly wing clips and occassional toe nail clips, my adapted glove is a necessary part of my birdy tool box.

Of course, there is always the acobatic bird who is up for that rare challenge and can grip a different finger and still draw blood.:lol :cry: :rofl: ;)

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Of course, there is always the acobatic bird who is up for that rare challenge and can grip a different finger and still draw blood.:lol :cry: :rofl: ;)
I would be willing to bet money that my Melody would be that acrobatic bird.

Added: OK, I guess the majority wins: Let the vet tech do it! I am too paranoid about Other Birds' Cooties to take my bird to the pet store for a wing clip. It's a shame because they only charge like $3

[Cooper]

Other Birds' Cooties
This made me laugh! :rofl:

[Hera's Gift]

I use really soft/thin leather gloves, like deerhide. I have to use them whenever I handle my little hen, since she's insistant on destorying my skin. She's got no fear of the gloves and will throw herself off her cage onto my gloved hands. And they can be beat for grooming. (I use them with my pointy-beaked little GC conure too) and they are thin enough to feel everything (including pinchy beaks) but won't let the monster's break your skin.

[graushill]

Bubblan and Pidget are the biters in my house, which is a bit ironic since they are by far the two tamest of all my lovies. Pidget, my tiny 28 gram lovie, has made his considerably heavier mamma (ahem) cry with a lunge and latch type of bite directed to a)underlip, b)nose or c) and his specialty, back of the neck, while Bubblan, well, Bubblan is kinda the annoying nibbles that can turn painful type of bite. What has worked for me is cuddling night sessions, in which I turn off the lights in the room, and since they can't see in the dark, but I can (mwahaha), I can easily catch them using a fluffy pillow case. I sort of wrap them tortilla style in the pillow case and then I place them against my chest, with the pillow case just lightly covering them and then I scratch the sleepy spot just above their nares while rocking on my armchair and singing softly to them. I tell myself it's to make them less bitey, but really, it's the best relaxer ever :).

[Z28Taxman]

then I scratch the sleepy spot just above their nares while rocking on my armchair and singing softly to them. I tell myself it's to make them less bitey, but really, it's the best relaxer ever :).


Ditto's whole beak is his sleepy spot. He'll lie down in my hand and put his beak between my fingers for his nightly beak rub. The beak grinding starts immediatly and he's asleep soon after. :cool: If I don't rub the beak I get a nip. :eek:

[Cathy]

Jennifer, thanks for the laugh! You really put a funny twist on a common problem. I would try a couple more times before taking my bird to the vet or pet store. The trip really stresses my birds!
Try stuffing your bird with lots of her favorite foods and then get her really wet with a birdy bath and while she is trying to dry off, clip-clip. That's how I trimmed my new lovie's wings. By the time she got her full self over her indignation that I dunked her under the faucet, I had trimmed her wings. Sounds crazy but it worked for me!