Pickle PBFD updates

i'm probably going to come back to this many times, and i probably should have named my original post- http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/19977-pbfd-terrible-horrible-news.html -something more appropriate, so that it could have a subject line relevant to everything I'm likely to type in the future. i just don't want to end up making a bazillion threads for every question ill have. so ill ad them here from now on.

I need help towel training Pickle. He will obviously have a future filled with visits to the vet, and i cant have my vet wanting to anesthetize him for every beak trim or blood sample he ever needs.
(which she actually said she would do, because he was so stressed when she took blood, and she didnt get much)

My problem is i cant figure out what his problem is.

He is not scared of towels, i have dabbed the drips off of him with a towel after his showers since for ever, and he is okay with me touching him anywhere and will tolerate me lifting his wings, as long as hes not already angry or sore at the time. (he IS sore a lot of the time though...)
This remains the case even after his bad experience with the vet trying to take his blood last time he was there.

So i don't even have a problem trying to overcome this bad experience with training... because he seems okay with it. Was it simply the needle he hates so much? how am i supposed to make him think thats okay? and how do i prepare him for a beak trim? he hates the nail file, and i think its because of the vibrations it must put through his toes (he lets me lift each toe and clip them easily, until i tried the nail file) - and i imagine the beak drill thing would be worse than that...

I am still reinforcing the toweling, and try and get a firmer grip each time i do it, and reward him. but I think all this training will just go out the window once we enter the vet and he realizes whats up, or once she turns the drill on...

also - Does anyone know when the black is supposed to grow out of a male ekkies beak, (hes 2) ?

Umm Puffin never had black in his beak? His was always orange from the three months of age when we picked him up, it just got a lighter shade. Puffin HATES having his wing clips and nail clips so much so that after I took him to the avian vet yesterday after our near miss when we nearly lost him the day before that after we got home he went for me for the first time ever and bit my nose so hard it bled and is bruised.

I know in future to let him settle for a few hours before handling him in future. But on the other hand our vet takes him out of his carrier and holds him in a way that is meant to relax them so they allow the work to be done. He doesn't like it but he never even tried to bite her.

If pick is two years old, the black should be fading soon . Maybe you could give him more chew toys and grooming perches so e needs less trimming? You could try trimming his nails when he's on the Sudetenland of the cage. Good luck and stay strong

Here goes the way I got mine used to the nail/beak trimmers; first Bogart has always rolled over on his back whenever I put a hand over his head and will lay in my hand, as he laid there I started massaging his feet and rubbing his beak and inspecting his wings all this was finally taken in stride once we had that established I picked up the dremel tool (not running) and touched it to each nail on each foot then brought it up to his beak and let him touch it and took it away this went on for almost a week the one day I turned on the tool lowest setting (not enough to grind the nail but to feel the viberation I did this for a few days then as he became more comfortable I turned up the speed and tipped three of the nails on each foot, suprise no reaction. and since then I can trim his nails and wings (I used the same tech with the sissors ) I have found that doing three toes on each foot leaves one sharp so they don't feel like they can't hang on, I trim the last one a week later. Hope this helps

How old is Pickles? Can you post a pic of him so we can see his beak?

thanks for all the ideas

heres a pic... its not really good, sorry... :/ He is just around 2, (i dont know his exact hatch date except to the approximate month)

its not toooo bad at the moment, it used to be about 8mm longer at the top, but he actually snapped the end off in a fall. :/ there was no blood and he acted completely fine so we and the vet guess it was so overgrown that the bit he snapped off didnt have any nerves in it anyway...
since then he has rounded the tip off again.

My concern is his lower beak, you might not be able to see it in the picture, but at the back of his mouth, even when he is asleep - his beaks are open by about 5mm all the time, when the front of the beaks are touching...
He doesnt particularly play with any toys i give him except foraging ones, so ive given him those woven grapevine balls to chew apart to get almonds out of, and some nuts in the shell, and i intend on drilling little holes in his wood blocks so i can push seeds into them and he HAS to chew them. lol... but all that seems to have done is make a chip in a little V shape, right in the middle of the tip of his bottom beak.

Your bird only has a tiny bit of black left on the beak & it can take up to 3 years to disappear sometimes longer.

Also the space between top & bottom of his beak is totally normal. Unless their is something wrong with my 13 eclectus because each & every one of them has a space there.

As far as towelling & going to the Vets go, i think if there is a little less stress & emotion on your part the whole process should go well. If there is going to be constant Vet visits I would leave Pickles in the capable hands of your Vet to make every visit as painless as possible. You could always give Pickles a drop or 2 of Rescue Remedy to calm him on Vet visits.