Foot Pain After Nail Clipping

Yesterday I posted that my green cheek got his routine nail clip done, with no issues, bleeding, nothing. And directly afterwards he started holding his right foot up. I thought it was from dry skin, because his feet are very scaly looking and there is a little redness where I think he chewed off some dead skin. Well today, 24 hours later, he's just sitting there, no noise at all, just sleeping on one foot. He won't let me touch it. He ate normally this morning (I'd really be scared if he didn't eat, he's a pig), but he is definitely not himself...

Has anyone ever had their bird have a sore foot after clipping their nails? I would understand if it bled, but to be still hurting a day later is worrying me...And we're off to his avian vet. Wish us luck. Any thoughts please let me know, as I don't know what in the world could be wrong...

And Lita Ford, my Quaker, is very, very worried as well...My house is relatively quiet today, and I don't like it at all!





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My birds are generally subdued after a nail trim at the vet office. They use a dremel, so you may not see any bleeding as it cauterizes it quite quickly. Especially if they're trimmed back pretty far. The only other thing I can possibly imagine is that they mishandled the foot after a trim and it may feel exceptionally sore if there was a good amount of struggling, but an avian vet should be able to hold it correctly without there being any traumatic force.

Interesting! It is not uncommon after a Vet visit for Parrots to be overtired and quiet for as much as 48 hours. Parrots commonly sleep on one foot as a means of centering their weight and keep warmer.

I am assuming that the nail clip was preformed by an Avian Vet or Avian Vet Tech, correct?

If your Parrot will allow you to hold him, take a close look at both feet targeting the length of each nail! You are looking for a fairly uniform length, one nail to the next and they they are long enough to allow for enough length to hold them onto their largest natural wood branch perch.

If you find one that is very short, very little length beyond the starting point of the nail at the toe, that is a serous concern.

Please take a look and respond back!

My girl usually has tender footsies right after a trim. One or two days later she is fine. Hope that helps <3

The Dremel seems to do a good job smoothing the nails but generates a lot of heat. It hurts. I used to get artificial nails and they would use a Dremel to rough up the surface, and usually it was fine, but sometimes it would get instantly hot.

Just a suggestion? Maybe start experimenting with nail-trummer perches? It's a hassle, but it was great for us in the long run. They eliminated nail-trimming, which was always so stressful for me and the Rb. It took a few years, but I eventually established a pattern/rotation that keeps him trimmed. I haven't had to do his nails in 20-plus years. I keep a dowel as the main "highway" down the middle of the cage, but the special cement/trimmer/textured perches are all over.
A few brands... but there are many: Polly's Sand Walk... Pumice Perch... Trimmer Perch...
Be sure to introduce them gradually: they're abrasive to their tender feet at first. I LOVE them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the replies...No, I do all my bird's nail clipping, I've been doing them for 20+ years, and very rarely do I hit the vein. It happens, but I typically start clipping them when they are very young and I try to keep them clipped back but not horribly short. I have a monthly "Birdy Maintenance Day", where they all get their nails clipped, the cockatiel that hates baths gets his bath, they get their beaks filed if needed, and I check all of them over for lumps, growths, any problems at all. I try to catch things early...I bred English budgies for 20+ years and my mom bred cockatiels and English budgies for longer than I've been alive now (37 years), so I was well taught. So this really perplexed me because Bowie, my green cheek, is very easy to clip, no struggling or pulling his leg away. He just lays in my hand on his back, I don't even have to towel him (trust me, my cockatiel and my Quaker make me pay for the green cheek being so easy). I couldn't find anything wrong at all except he started holding his right foot up immediately after I clipped him, and now today he was still holding it up all the time and he was lethargic and quiet...So off we went to his avian vet.

He did an x-ray and fecal smears, both of which were negative. I take them all at least once a year for their well-birdy checkups, so Bowie got his early. He's perfectly healthy, nothing wrong at all. He took his yearly blood work too, I'll get that back next week.

While we were there he was back to being himself, but still holding his foot up the entire time. His avian vet didn't see a thing wrong except his skin is dry, but that's both feet. He basically said watch him, make sure he eats normally and his poop is normal, and said that maybe I did cut a nail too close to the nerve ending, even though it didn't bleed...He got a bunch of sunflower seeds from his vet, we came home, and here he sits holding his foot up 😬

I guess he's got sensitive tootsies. He's now milking this for everything it's worth, especially since he had blood drawn too. My vet just draws it right out of his neck every time, he's very, very, very good, but I cringe every time! He just picks the bird up in his left hand, swabs the feathers back from the neck vein, and sticks the needle right in, draws the blood, and pulls it right out. And the birds don't even flinch or make a peep, until he's done and he gives them back to me, then they cling to me for dear life the entire way home. Right now Bowie is sleeping inside the hood on my sweatshirt, grinding away.

Hopefully tomorrow he stops holding his foot up, but I'm 100% sure it really is hurting him badly because he was on my lap and he tried to climb up my shirt to get on my shoulder, and he couldn't do it, he actually tried to reach up with the good leg and pull himself up, but he fell...So we'll see. He gave me a new batch of Metacam, I always get some to keep on hand just in case. Knocked him right out.

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Poor baby...