dayton Ohio grooming?

I am looking for a groomer that is in the dayton springfield Ohio area. I have dealt with Sugarcreek bird farm in Bellbrook but they are now charging $43 to trim my bird and that is just crazy expensive. I also used Debra at wings over the rainbow years ago but she was shut down for false charges of poor pet care and conditions. Looking for other options.
thanks

I just get my bird's nails and beak done at the vet. Have you considered that?

I'm not from Ohio, but I was going to say the exact same thing as Noodles did, that it's much better all the way around if you take your parrot/bird to either a Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet for any "grooming" that you need/want done, such as getting their toenails trimmed. I don't know what species of parrot/bird you have, but you can also save yourself the money and save your bird the stress, or at least make it necessary much less-often, by providing a couple of cement-perches inside of his cage, as they keep their toenails trimmed very, very well (I'm talking about an actual cement perch, not the "sand paper" covers that you slip over a dowel-perch, but rather the larger perches that are actually made out of cement or other rough material and that clamp/screw on to the cage bars)...I clip all of my bird's toenails myself, it's not difficult to do depending on what type of bird you have...However, if you don't feel comfortable doing it, then you shouldn't do it...Same goes for wing-clipping (if you clip your bird's wings), it's not at all difficult to do once you properly learn how to do it.

As far as "beak trimming/grinding", I am not a proponent of it, and am actually highly against it. It's a personal decision that only a bird's owner can make, and I totally respect that, but I always feel it irresponsible if I don't mention that if your bird's beak is over-grown enough that it needs trimming, first of all, this too can be helped a lot by the cement-perches, as well as adding a really nice, big Mineral Block, such as the large, pink Strawberry-flavored ones, or the big, yellow, pineapple-flavored ones. They keep their beaks really smooth and keep them from over-growing...and if your bird's beak is chronically over-grown, then you should probably have a blood-test done to check their liver function, as this is the #1 sign of Fatty-Liver-Disease..Now some species are more prone to over-grown beaks, or rather beaks that tend to grow in a "uneven" way, and sometimes these can't be helped by anything else besides trimming...And that's fine, but I don't ever advise having a bird's beak trimmed by any "motorized" tools, such as the typical rotary-tools they use, like a Dremel. I personally know of 2 people who's perfectly healthy, happy, non-stressed parrots went to Avian Specialists who only treat birds (not an "exotics vet") and had their beaks trimmed/ground by the Avian Vet with a Dremel or similar rotary power tool. One bird was sedated with short-term gas (very safe), and the other was simply toweled and held by a Tech while the Avian Vet quickly did the trim. The one that was toweled died in the vet's office during the procedure, they say from stress, which makes sense. The bird that was sedated with short-term gas woke-up fine, left and went home, and the owner found that he had tons and tons of dust from the beak trimming up in his nostrils, in his eyes, and inside of his beak, both in his mouth and also caked inside the hole under the bottom of the beak. The bird seemed tired, came home and took a nap immediately inside of his cage, and then came out of the cage that night, which is when he found all of the dust from his beak...He started wheezing while breathing almost immediately after he went to sleep for the nap, and was so loud that my friend could hear him wheezing while he slept from another room (this was a Shamrock Macaw, so a large bird)...He started to cough later that night as well, and the next day he called his Avian Specialist and they told him to bring the bird right back in, so he left work and took a half-day off, went home to pick him up to take him to the vet, and found him dead in his cage when he got home around 10:00 a.m. He took him to the PSU Animal Diagnostic Lab/Incinerator for an independent necropsy...They started the necropsy by taking blood, then taking several swabs/cultures from different places, and then they did a plain x-ray, and on the x-ray they immediately saw that both lungs were filled with a densely-packed substance...They opened up his chest, opened both lungs, and found that both of his lungs were completely full of dust from the beak-trim with the Dremel, so much so that they said they didn't know he survived as long as he did, as they didn't think he would have been able to inflate/deflate either of his lungs at all...Then they looked at his air-sacs, and sure enough the most superior air sacs were also full of beak dust...

I also know of a few people who have posted here who have had their birds die directly after a beak-trim with a Dremel or other rotary power-tool; one that stands-out to me was an Eclectus who was young, I believe only a year or two old, and completely healthy and happy. His dad took him to his Avian Vet to get his toenails clipped and his beak trimmed, which he had done before a couple of times with the same vet, I guess he just had it done on a regular basis, like every 6 months or so...Anyway, the last time he took his happy, healthy, gorgeous male Eclectus to his Avian Vet, they did his toenails and then used the Dremel on the beak. His dad said that he never went into the room with him when they did the "grooming", but he had always been fine. This time when they brought his bird back out to him, he said he didn't look good, he could tell something was wrong, they said he was fine and was just a little stressed, take him straight home and let him rest a bit, he'll be fine. So he got in his car with his Eclectus, who sat on his shoulder in the car, and on the 10 minute drive home he could hear his breathing getting more and more labored and louder and louder, and then the bird vomited a ton all over the front of his car. He had just pulled into his driveway, and he didn't even turn off his car, he called the Avian-Vet's office and told them that his bird's breathing was getting very labored and loud on the way home, and that he finally vomited all over the car...they told him that the bird was probably "car sick", but he told them that his breathing was getting worse. They then said that probably had aspirated some vomit from the car-sickness into his lungs, but he told them that the labored, heavy, loud breathing had started as soon as they had gotten in the car and long before he had ever vomited. The Vet's office was more concerned with passing-off responsibility than saving the bird...He just hung-up on them, turned around, and flew like a bat out of hell back to the Avian Vet's office 10 minutes away...He ended up having to do CPR in the parking lot of the Vet's office, but his bird had died a few minutes prior to him reaching the Vet's office...He got an independent necropsy done as well, with a new CAV who he had never met before so that it would be unbiased and truthful, and once again, the bird's lungs, air sacs, and crop were full of "beak dust"...

I know you didn't start this thread for a lecture about beak-trimming, but I feel it necessary to give people the information and let them make their own, informed-decisions about whether or not to have their bird's beaks trimmed using a Dremel or other rotary power-tool. In my experience most birds don't need their beaks trimmed if they eat a low-fat, healthy diet, and they have plenty of hard wood toys, cement perches, and a big Mineral Block to chew on/rub their beaks on. If you have a bird that is simply prone to an over-grown beak, it's fine to have a CAV or Avian Specialist trim it, but with a manual, hand-tool file and not any type of rotary power-tool, such as a Dremel. Most Avian Vets will use a hand-file to do your bird's beak if you request this instead of a rotary power-tool, and if they aren't willing to do this, then you need a new Avian Vet, or at least a new Avian Vet to do your bird's grooming...I have actually used a hand-file to "round-off" the tip of my Green Cheek Conure's beak a few times, his beak isn't at all over-grown, but for whatever reason it gets a point on the end of it that is basically like a needle. I am also a musician who repairs and restores guitars and all other musical instruments, and as such I own many different types of hand-file sets, which work great and quickly to file a bird's beak. You can buy a set of small/mini size hand-files at any Lowes or Home Depot; actually Walmart sells a set of I believe 8 small sized hand-files for around $5. That's the one I bought for only doing my bird's beaks/toenails, as well as my Bearded Dragon's toenails. That way I'm not ruining my good files that I use on guitar repairs/restorations. Works great, and is totally safe. In my own personal opinion, it's just not worth having a beak trim done with a Dremel, by a CAV or anyone else. But again, I personally know two people who have had their birds die as a direct result of this, and then also have read several posts on here about the same happening...too much risk for me.

***Either way, if you can't find a bird/parrot "groomer" locally (which I wouldn't use anyway, not for a bird, it's not like "grooming" a dog), or maybe a parrot breeder who does bird grooming, the best thing to do is to find either a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet who is very experienced in doing bird grooming. This is what I would do in the first place, use a CAV, as not only are they better educated, trained, and experienced, your bird is already with a CAV and in the hospital/doctor's office with life-saving equipment/supplies if something does happen to go horribly wrong.

My (rehomed) bird's beak was overgrown due to liver issues whn I got her. Although her levels are all normal now, she still tends to have one mandible (bottom of beak) that is much longer than the other. I worry that she will have trouble eating if I don't trim it, and although she chews etc, she tends to favor her left side, which leaves the right one to grow out. If I could avoid it, I would, as it does cause stress...I hate having to do it to her...then again, she is super-weird and seems to actually enjoy being toweled lol.../oy...
She also has "sweet feet" perches, but she only wants to stand on them to eat, so her nails grow out because she prefers wooden dowels. Again, she came to me with these quirks, and I have tried to fix them to no avail. I agree with Ellen, and I wish I could avoid beak/nail trimming. I totally would if I could. I know my vet uses hand-files, as they showed me them the last time I was in.

noodles123 said:

My (rehomed) bird's beak was overgrown due to liver issues whn I got her. Although her levels are all normal now, she still tends to have one mandible (bottom of beak) that is much longer than the other. I worry that she will have trouble eating if I don't trim it, and although she chews etc, she tends to favor her left side, which leaves the right one to grow out. If I could avoid it, I would, as it does cause stress...I hate having to do it to her...then again, she is super-weird and seems to actually enjoy being toweled lol.../oy...
She also has "sweet feet" perches, but she only wants to stand on them to eat, so her nails grow out because she prefers wooden dowels. Again, she came to me with these quirks, and I have tried to fix them to no avail. I agree with Ellen, and I wish I could avoid beak/nail trimming. I totally would if I could. I know my vet uses hand-files, as they showed me them the last time I was in.

Click to expand...

Sometimes it just has to be done for one reason or the other, that's for sure...And even though all of my birds have the cement perches, I still have to trim their toenails every so-often (I do it myself though), that really can't totally be avoided, but rather is usually just lessened quite a bit...no issues with taking your bird to the Avian Vet to have their toenails trimmed at all, it's very stressful, but better you let an Avian Vet do it if you don't feel comfortable doing it...

***As far as the beak goes, again, yes, there are conditions/situations where it can't be avoided by any other means, helped, but not avoided...I'm not against having your bird's beak trimmed by a CAV/Avian Specialist Vet, not at all if you've tried the other means and they aren't getting the job done...I'm only against letting ANYONE, CAV or not, using any type of Rotary Power-Tool to do a bird's beak, that's it...It's way too risky, many birds have died as a direct result of a very qualified and experienced CAV using a power Rotary-Tool to trim their beaks...anything from the dust going into their lungs/air sacs/crops to the rotary-tool accidentally getting into the blood/nerve supply of the beak, to simply the stress of it.

So if your bird needs it's beak trimmed then it needs it's beak trimmed, because as Noodles mentioned, it can greatly effect their ability to eat, and can also become extremely painful due to the massive nerve supply to the beak. So it has to be done, but the very great risk can be almost totally eliminated by simply requesting/demanding that the CAV not use ANY power rotary tool and rather use hand-files and do the trim manually.

I just now discovered that I had replies to my post. My umbrella is ready for a trim now, his claws are like little needles. I do have a twisted concrete perch in his cage. I purchased him back in 1991 from a breeder in Bellbrook Ohio as just a 2 month old little guy. His upper beak is crooked so he wears his lower beak really uneven. I have had him trimmed all these years buy several different vets and breeders and each have used a dremmel to do his nails and beak with. I guess I have been lucky for all these years. The closest avian vets that I know of are in Columbus and Cincinnati which are both around an hour drive. Not sure if they use files or dremmel. There is a vet about 20 min away that I have used quite a bit in the past but he has me hold my bird toweled while he does his nails and wings. I have always hated to do this, always afraid my bird will hold it against me. looks as if that might be my best option at the moment.
thanks
Jeff

Just towel you bird for fun a lot when playing, same goes for having a nailfile (or three) lying around - even if you cannot do a full pedicure yourself .. at least you can familiarise them with parts of the procedure.


Towls are great hide and seek-game pieces, or things to hang from and swing from etc.
(I used to hide favorite smacks underneath to make them go near towels by themselves -> once a bird learns to approach something (with positive anticipation of just plain 'i do not care') the battle is almost won.)

This is a long-term solution, after all major health/overgrowth issues are solved, but...

I really recommend getting those nail-trimming perches... they can eliminate 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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These are smooth on top and abrasive underneath. Very easy to install/clean, oo.
Sweet Feet and Beaks Pedicure Perch xsmall for parrots, Feather Fantasy
May take a while to get the right combinations/locations, but was worth it for me and the Rb.