Grooming From Home

I took my cockatiel for his first "official" grooming appointment a couple of weeks ago. They do beak, nails, and wings. I've been clipping my boy's wings myself since I got him as he is very cooperative. I like them just long enough for him to glide and fly between his cage and my bed. His beak has never been an issue as he seems to keep it filed down well enough himself, though his nails were the reason I made the appointment. They were so long and sharp that he got them caught in EVERYTHING, and I knew it was more of a hazard than anything.

Well.. they clipped his wings way too short. Now he just plummets to the floor like a rock. And his nails? He can't grip onto anything! He loves climbing my shirt and sitting on my shoulder, but he can't hold on and falls down which absolutely breaks my heart. Plus his beak looks a little weird? Like it was maybe filed too hard?

I'd really like to learn to groom him myself to avoid this from happening again. I understand and have mastered the wing clip, the main focus would be clipping his nails and techniques to keep him calm while doing so. I NEVER towel my fid. He does not bite. I wouldn't mind learning beak filing as well in case I ever have to do it, but as I said he seems to keep that well maintained himself.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like your cockatiel is a really sweet bird. Some folks prefer to outsource the clipping as it often requires toweling, but it seems you don't have that issue. I find nails to be fairly easy to incorporate into a "cuddle session" with some of my birds. A few minutes later I'll casually take the clipper from my pocket and rely on the reaction for guidance. If in the mood, the clipping takes no more than 3 minutes, and I am very conservative on the depth of cut. If the bird tenses, cuddling continues and the clipping waits for another time!

Beak trimming is something IMHO better left to an avian vet. The area is very sensitive and vascular, and a twitch or mistake can cause a serious issue. Most birds never need trimming, though my female Ekkie is a regular on a 2 to 3 month basis.

Your boy sounds like such a good bird. I'm sorry they did everything way too short . Seems pretty common when getting wings done "professionally" they do typically err on the side of going shorter rather than longer. Nails should just be clipped or dremmeled enough to take the sharp points off.

As far as beaks go, many vets don't believe in trimming them unless the bird really has an overt overgrowth 'problem'. I personally wish my birds' beaks didn't have the super sharp pointy tip. Over the years I've had Robin's done before, so I have an idea how much I can safely do on him. I tried using a hard nail file on it, but surprisingly, his beak was so hard it wouldn't file down so I gave up. That being said, with a small bird like a Cockatiel, I wouldn't risk it. Unless the beak is white (translucent) and in good lighting you can clearly see where the flesh inside the beak goes up to. Really they shouldn't need a beak trim unless it gets really overgrown. Or like in my case you hate the sharp point .

Scott said:

Sounds like your cockatiel is a really sweet bird. Some folks prefer to outsource the clipping as it often requires toweling, but it seems you don't have that issue. I find nails to be fairly easy to incorporate into a "cuddle session" with some of my birds. A few minutes later I'll casually take the clipper from my pocket and rely on the reaction for guidance. If in the mood, the clipping takes no more than 3 minutes, and I am very conservative on the depth of cut. If the bird tenses, cuddling continues and the clipping waits for another time!

Beak trimming is something IMHO better left to an avian vet. The area is very sensitive and vascular, and a twitch or mistake can cause a serious issue. Most birds never need trimming, though my female Ekkie is a regular on a 2 to 3 month basis.

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Besides being the biggest scaredy-bird of all time, my little boy is the sweetest and most forgiving bird I've ever encountered. I can do a lot with him that many say should never be done because it can break trust, but he really never gives me more than a bit of attitude. I'm extremely spoiled in that regard!

I'll definitely give that a try! He kinda hates having his feet touched though... we're beginning some clicker conditioning however, so maybe by the time he needs another trim I'll have him trained to let me touch his toes. We'll see!

Thanks for the advice. I will leave the beak to a vet as you said, since I have read horror stories about improper beak trims.

RavensGryf said:

Your boy sounds like such a good bird. I'm sorry they did everything way too short . Seems pretty common when getting wings done "professionally" they do typically err on the side of going shorter rather than longer. Nails should just be clipped or dremmeled enough to take the sharp points off.

As far as beaks go, many vets don't believe in trimming them unless the bird really has an overt overgrowth 'problem'. I personally wish my birds' beaks didn't have the super sharp pointy tip. Over the years I've had Robin's done before, so I have an idea how much I can safely do on him. I tried using a hard nail file on it, but surprisingly, his beak was so hard it wouldn't file down so I gave up. That being said, with a small bird like a Cockatiel, I wouldn't risk it. Unless the beak is white (translucent) and in good lighting you can clearly see where the flesh inside the beak goes up to. Really they shouldn't need a beak trim unless it gets really overgrown. Or like in my case you hate the sharp point .

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He's the best! I get personally offended when anyone says something mean about him. (i.e. non-bird people who don't understand why they don't get to pet him the same way I do)

The place I take him to believes very heavily in keeping the wings clipped. I know they have a few negative reviews on Yelp for reprimanding their customers for leaving a bird flighted, so, it doesn't surprise me they cut him short. I just wish it wasn't THAT short. You think I could just use a regular emery board to file his nails down?

Hmm, I didn't know that! I love his beak as-is, he always looks like he's smiling to me.

It might be awkward to use an emery board. A tiels little toes and nails are so small, it would be hard to hold the nail still while the board goes back and forth. It is so much quicker and easier to clip with a little bird.

Have some corn starch or pet styptic powder around in case you go a little too far. Sometimes the quick can grow pretty far down into the tip.

Clippers it is then! Thanks.