Nail Trimming

How often should I trim my fids nails?
My Alexandrines have very long nails. Yuki not so much. And they have black nails. So they are my main focus for nail trimming. You get scratches all over your arms.
I already know how to. Read a lot of forums + looked online for videos. I did it last night and all my fids let me pick up their feet and trim their nails without fuss. Although I only learned recently. I had to learn as the vets I went to had no idea what they were doing.


I did try to get it done at two different vets but they both made my Alex's bleed. And there was a lot of blood. This was a couple of weeks ago. They let the vet nurses do it but they had no idea what they were doing. A non-avian vet tried but they also made him bleed. They were holding Alex wrong as he doesn't trust anyone but me and my sister. He was so p****d at them. They almost made every nail bleed. Alex was so stressed after that visit.

I took Yuki away and said she be ok(just didn't want her to get the same treatment). So I took her to another vet. Guess what? The same thing happens. Yuki likes anyone and she let them pick up her feet. But after they trimmed the first nail they toweled her even though she showed no signs of aggression/biting. She just stood there and squawked because she was in pain cause they cut her quick. They made her bleed so much as well. Ive never seen her in so much stress as well. A few vet nurses tried but they all made her bleed. I was told by them they never had done a bird nail trimming before. We have only done cats and dogs, sometimes rabbits.
Also one had the nerve to ask. "Why would you get it's nails trimmed? It's just a bird".

We don't have a avian vet in my town. I did try to go to an "exotic" vet but that was my second choice.
Sorry for the long post.

I keep a pedi-perch in Kazi's cage. It's at the same height as his thermo-perch. He prefers those two perches over any in his cage and he manages to hang out on the pedi-perch enough to keep the points of his nails dulled so he doesn't scratch me.

I figure when they're feeling pointy it's time for a trim. You can also acclimate your birds to a nail file and file a nail every few days.

Ive never see a pedi perch before. Not even for sale here. Maybe they call it something different. I have been looking for things like that but no luck.