What's a good talon length?

I have been trying to find the best length for Mango's talons. I thought the best length to be where his WHOLE foot to be able to conform to the perch. Seems then, it's hard to grasp and hold on for him. Then , if I let them grow out, his whole foot doesn't touch the perch. The talon holds the last little bit off the perch. I am just trying to figure out what is the best way for healthy, painfree feet for his long life ahead!

Well, as a rule your perch should be a size where when he sit's on it, his talon tip's will touch the perch. this is best for their comfort, and helps reduce arthritus. If you get those ergonomic perches that are rough to the touch, the birds love them, becuse it massages their feet and gets dead skin off, and it will keep their claw's in check.

So perch wide enough so that his talon tips touch the perch, his talons should be long enough to have a bit of curve, but not get too curvy and thin, or the quick's can get too long, and be deadly if he breaks a toe, or gets groomed and you dont realize he is bleeding. Styptic Powder for the win

Another rule of thumb is the talons shouldnt be so long s when they walk on a flat surface, like your table, the nails wont cause the toes to life up, and the nails wont tilt sideways. If he is flighted, let the nails get just a tad longer for extra grabbing power when they land

Thanks Timothy. I do have some styptic powder, we've already used it on him. He lets us trim and play with his feet. We originally got it for our dog, my mother showed and raised Pomerainians so she showed us how to use it. The dog hates his nail trims, but Mango don't seem to mind, even when we did get his quick once.

Mango121913 said:

Thanks Timothy. I do have some styptic powder, we've already used it on him. He lets us trim and play with his feet. We originally got it for our dog, my mother showed and raised Pomerainians so she showed us how to use it. The dog hates his nail trims, but Mango don't seem to mind, even when we did get his quick once.

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after you clip his nails, you can use an emery board to make them smooth. That's what i do

Styptic powder stings. Get a box of corn starch and use that instead. Might have to apply a little pressure and more of the corn starch but at least they are not hurting from that stuff. I also hear if you stick the nail in a bar of soap that should get it to stop also.

Actually, allowing a bird's talons to meet or almost meet around a perch indicates the perch is too small of a diameter for that particular bird, as opposed to we humans trying to do chin-ups or pull-ups, where a full round grip might be better for you, but a bird that is used to gripping perches, their two longest talons (outside on each foot) should almost meet (5/8 of the way to 3/4 of the way around a perch), with its talons' points/tips being able to grip the perch and as Timothy mentioned, when standing flat-footed, its talons/nails should not be so long as to cause any other part of its foot to raise off of the flat surface.....while our grip is stronger in the 2nd trough 4the joints of our fingers (different for humans who exercise their hands regularly), a bird's grip, because of the way their foot is designed, exerts more gripping pressure with the tips of their talons, because that gripping pressure comes from their finger tips (the base of each talon, rather than the tips).....

Similarly, it might not be advisable to polish off/smooth off/round their nails/talons because smoothed/rounded tips will not have any gripping purchase & a bird that trusts in that extra gripping purchase might start loosing trust in its ability to grip/stop/land...and...if you are perceived as the cause of this loss, it could affect your interaction/trust with your feathered friend.....

When trimming a bird's talons/nails, carefully look at how the bird grips a perch and how you will want to clip/trim the talon/nail so that it is cut at suck an angle that while you have removed the sharp tip, you are going to leave the nail cut at an angle that will provide the bird a reverse angle tip to its nail/talon.....

I had posted pics of how to trim nails so as to save tour hand/arm/shoulder, but still give your feathered friend(s) a way to still hold its grip, but because of the groups image limitations, they got erased when I needed to post other things.....

For those members who have PM rights, feel free to PM me & in the mean time, I'll see about putting together a file about trimming with pics & I'll send you a PDF of it.....if you do PM me, be sure to also send a working E-mail address, because sending back files via PM also affects group limitations.....

It may be as much as a week before I get the file together & out to requestors...I'm not sure I've still got the pics I originally used & may have to go back re-read the original posts & re-build everything, so don't get real impatient...they'll be forthcoming, if you ask for them.....

I have many sizes for perches. I was looking at how he uses them yesterday. The whole foot rests on the perches, while the talon just has just enough grip to hold his weight, without lifting any of the fleshy pads. He is very tolerant of me touching, holding and inspecting his feet. His leg band, however, is a different story. I will be removing that. As i can tell and see it is uncomfortable rubbing his leg, almost to the point of causing a sore.
Thanks weco for the explanation. Sound like I'm doing the right thing, other than the styptic powder.

Mango121913 said:

I have many sizes for perches. I was looking at how he uses them yesterday. The whole foot rests on the perches, while the talon just has just enough grip to hold his weight, without lifting any of the fleshy pads. He is very tolerant of me touching, holding and inspecting his feet. His leg band, however, is a different story. I will be removing that. As i can tell and see it is uncomfortable rubbing his leg, almost to the point of causing a sore.
Thanks weco for the explanation. Sound like I'm doing the right thing, other than the styptic powder.

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Maya lost her leg band when she was a baby. Then was too old to put it back on. I got her RFID Tagged, cost like 70 bucks at the vet. They can use a scanner and find all her and my information on a hand held computer.

To Weco. Awesome explanation man, i definitely learned something there!

You're welcome.....