Zookcan
New member
Hey there, have a dire question for you all. Just got my bird's nails done here at home and we had to use a little styptic powder for one of them. My bird, a GCC, doesn't really struggle that much or squawk, but she may bite something as much as she can and unfortunately while I was trying to put some styptic powder on her nail, she lunged for the q-tip.
Pikachu immediately let go but she got a little bit of powder in her mouth (I think it was the bitter taste that convinced her to let go of it,) And it only took a tiny amount to seal up the blood on her nail. She doesn't really fiddle with her nails so she didn't actively try to lick it off, and once the clot was made I simply had her dip her toes in the water to get off any excess (not that I applied very much to begin with.)
I have been looking all over online for opinions on Styptic Powder and what to do if it is ingested, and all of them have ranged to being safe if only a little amount is ingested to being toxic and the bird needing to be taken to the vet immediately. I've seen alternatives like corn starch and cayenne pepper as well.
I'm not sure if the vet and the local groomers that I've taken her to use styptic powder as well, just that I have seen stuff of that color be used on her nails in the past (she's a little long in the quick.) and we've had no problems.
However, I don't want to base my thoughts on just past experiences, so I thought I'd reach out and ask for your experiences/thoughts as well? Should I be using styptic powder at all? Should I be concerned since she ingested a little earlier? It's been about an hour and she's eating, drinking, and acting just fine, but I also don't know how long it takes for anything poisonous to start actively doing damage.
Thanks and stay safe <3
Pikachu immediately let go but she got a little bit of powder in her mouth (I think it was the bitter taste that convinced her to let go of it,) And it only took a tiny amount to seal up the blood on her nail. She doesn't really fiddle with her nails so she didn't actively try to lick it off, and once the clot was made I simply had her dip her toes in the water to get off any excess (not that I applied very much to begin with.)
I have been looking all over online for opinions on Styptic Powder and what to do if it is ingested, and all of them have ranged to being safe if only a little amount is ingested to being toxic and the bird needing to be taken to the vet immediately. I've seen alternatives like corn starch and cayenne pepper as well.
I'm not sure if the vet and the local groomers that I've taken her to use styptic powder as well, just that I have seen stuff of that color be used on her nails in the past (she's a little long in the quick.) and we've had no problems.
However, I don't want to base my thoughts on just past experiences, so I thought I'd reach out and ask for your experiences/thoughts as well? Should I be using styptic powder at all? Should I be concerned since she ingested a little earlier? It's been about an hour and she's eating, drinking, and acting just fine, but I also don't know how long it takes for anything poisonous to start actively doing damage.
Thanks and stay safe <3