effective ways for maintaining long nails?

Pico's nails are crazy long and I don't really have the means to go to the vet right now to get his nails clipped. However, they are really starting to hurt me! If i'm not wearing a long-sleeve shirt that covers my shoulders and forearms, they get super scratched up and it's very uncomfortable/border line painful.
I know there are bird nail clippers at pet stores but frankly i'm scared to do it myself.
Are human nail files ok to use? and are there any other recommendations (like specific toys/perches) to maintain his nail length without me having to physically trim/file them myself?

thanks

- Kim and Pico

Does Pico groom his toe nails on his own at all? I have a flat flagstone perch for my green cheek which he loves. He uses it to grind his beak and I think it helps dull down his nail points too. He grooms his nails himself too though.

You can use a nail file. I like the metal diamond files better than emery boards because there's less chance of them getting eaten!

If his nails are super long, he may need help getting them down to size before he can maintain them himself. When I used to have Beau's nails clipped, they were too blunt for him to maintain well on his own, but if I let them get a little pointy, he is able to keep them reasonably short and nonpainful. I haven't had to get his nails done now for probably about 8 years.

Piasa,
I don't think he does groom his own nails, no. I'm definitely going to get a flagstone perch and metal diamond nail file! I just looked them up.
thanks so much for your recommendations it's really getting out of control. everyone who holds him tells me his nails are like daggers!
I used to have a perch cover that was basically sandpaper that I THINK helped with his nails, but he kept chewing them up. Plus I got rid of them once I took the standard rounded perches out of his cage and replaced them with the tree branch style perches.

Hi the sanded or pumice perches work quite well and are readily available on Amazon. I change them around using different sizes and shapes to give his feet a change. I can file Plum's nails a little and use a glass beauty nail file, he wouldn't entertain a metal one - too shiny - would snatch and fling it straight away. I have purchased dedicated bird nail trimmers which seem safer to use than normal scissors. Make it fun if you do it yourself and reward and praise Pico for letting you do them. I have a hell of a job with him after a botch job at a Vets. Didn't go back there!

Definitely recommend a pumice perch!!! They are the best! I have one in my conures cage which keeps his nails very manageable. I took the pumice perch out for a week and his nails got very sharp. So since the bottom of his feet are in good condition I now keep the perch in there at all times.

Try calling your vet and ask what a nail trim cost, you may be surprised! For ours, $5! Does not have to be an established patient, but visit is for nails only! Same for a beak trim if needed.

I haven't trimmed my birds' nails since a freak accident awhile back. I had Eva calmly in a towel and trimmed the tiniest bit off one nail. No quick, no blood, you could barely even see the speck I clipped off, but apparently it irritated her to have them done!! Seeing how upset she got, I examined the nail and it looked perfectly fine. I let her go and she immediately put her foot up to her beak. She set the foot down and I started seeing blood all over my hand! Toweled her again to find she had bitten her nail off and half was now missing! There was a lot of blood and frantic running for the corn starch and I vowed not to clip her nails again. Again pretty freak accident and I doubt your bird would act the same.

For all of my birds I now use the safety pumice perches. The tops are flat so their feet don't get worn but the sides are textured to help with nails. I just found bamboo perches that have texture added to the sides for the same reason and may order some soon to try. I would recommend flagstone perches but be sure your cage bars can handle them! I have pretty thin cage bars so I passed on these.

Thank you everyone I will definitely look into all of these things. everyone was so helpful!!! loved the responses

Skittles used to have chaffes and chips on his beak that I'd have to have polished at his annual. Since getting him that sanded perch, he polishes his beak (and saves me $20) and he grooms his own nails, but I still find that with the sand perch he doesn't have to as much.

Those sanded perches really do help. Just don't make them all sanded. Give your bird a variety of perches. Different sizes, materials etc.

The nail files we use for our fingernails should also work fine on your bird as well.

I use a dremmel for our bird nails. It's a two person routine where my husband wraps our birds in a small cloth and I carefully and slowly sand the nails. It's QUICK and very safe. You can do it in by a window with sunlight and see really well. Works way better than clipping. Also, sometimes sand perches can cause abrasions to the bottom of their feet (which can lead to infection). Some birds don't experience this at all, but I don't use those perches because I don't want to take a chance. When I was new to being a parrot guardian, I brought our baby GCC to our avian vet for a nail trim and I was horrified what they did. Cut the quick on several nails. Our poor baby held a foot up for a couple days. Our vet said 'you can't really trim their nails without having to cut the quick.' WHAAAT??!! I was so angry! And this vet is known to be the very best in our area, and to her credit she really really is, just not for nail trimming! She's one of those vets that will always find something to criticize about your guardianship or something you do "wrong" because she really does know "everything." Anyway, for medical purposes I have full confidence in our vet, but for nail trims I think it's much better for the bird if you can do it at home with a regular nail file or a dremmel. Dremmels are awesome, quick, safe, and I have never - not even one time ever! - had a nail bleed (and I sand them pretty short). You can use regular nail files too, they just take longer and a lot more physical motion on your bird's nail versus an electric dremmel.

Also, if your bird has really long nails, you'll want to sand them down in increments. Like a little each week or two until you get them filed down appropriately. This is because a bird with long nails has birdie super grip, and if they all of a sudden go from that to having stubby tiny nails, they won't adjust that well and can slip or fall off perches and injure themselves because they are used to having more grip