Parrot keeps getting nails caught on bars

[Crayfish066]

I bought him a concrete perch at the recommendation of a user on these forums but he is still getting his nails caught on the bars of his cage. He then starts flapping his wings like crazy and
when he eventually breaks free I can see he is breathing heavily. I think he believes I am responsible because he gets angry at me whenever this happens.

 

[SilverSage]

No matter the length of the nails, feet should never be getting stuck. Can you show us a picture of your setup so we can help you identify the problem?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[plumsmum2005]

Yes please do show. This is in the serious category as injury is very possible long nails or no. There shouldnt be anywhere to get nails trapped. Can you wrap the areas to stop this risk of injury for now but it could be you need to search a new cage. If this carries on you can expect to be visiting the AV sooner rather than later.

 

[Flboy]

Sounds like you have a wire cage that is looped together as opposed to being welded! Every point where they intersect, is a risk for entrapment! If this is the case, it may be time to invest in a new cage ASAP!

Wanted to add, to point out the seriousness of this, if this should happen when you're not home and your baby cannot get loose, he will chew his foot off to get free!

 

[wrench13]

Ditto on the above messages. If the bird can get nails stuck somewhere, it can possibly cause the parrot to thrash around, maybe breaking a leg, maybe chewing it off and worst case even to die. Please! get a new, safe cage for your baby.

 

[Crayfish066]

Yes please do show. This is in the serious category as injury is very possible long nails or no. There shouldnt be anywhere to get nails trapped. Can you wrap the areas to stop this risk of injury for now but it could be you need to search a new cage. If this carries on you can expect to be visiting the AV sooner rather than later.

His nails aren't getting trapped as in stuck in a gap, when he climbs the sides of his cage he'll occasionally get them stuck on the outside of the bars because they're slightly curved and he'll try to pull them back into the cage when in reality he needs to unhook them first.

I will post a picture soon.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Yes please do show. This is in the serious category as injury is very possible long nails or no. There shouldnt be anywhere to get nails trapped. Can you wrap the areas to stop this risk of injury for now but it could be you need to search a new cage. If this carries on you can expect to be visiting the AV sooner rather than later.

His nails aren't getting trapped as in stuck in a gap, when he climbs the sides of his cage he'll occasionally get them stuck on the outside of the bars because they're slightly curved and he'll try to pull them back into the cage when in reality he needs to unhook them first.
I will post a picture soon.

If that bad then please arrange that CAV appointment to have his nails seen to before he injures himself, please?

Just a point are the cage bars the right size/spacing for this type of bird?

 

[Crayfish066]

Here is a picture, you finally get to see my parrot too.

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Yes please do show. This is in the serious category as injury is very possible long nails or no. There shouldnt be anywhere to get nails trapped. Can you wrap the areas to stop this risk of injury for now but it could be you need to search a new cage. If this carries on you can expect to be visiting the AV sooner rather than later.

His nails aren't getting trapped as in stuck in a gap, when he climbs the sides of his cage he'll occasionally get them stuck on the outside of the bars because they're slightly curved and he'll try to pull them back into the cage when in reality he needs to unhook them first.
I will post a picture soon.

If that bad then please arrange that CAV appointment to have his nails seen to before he injures himself, please?

Just a point are the cage bars the right size/spacing for this type of bird?

Well I got the cage from the breeder, I would like to assume it is the correct size/spacing because of this perhaps you or someone else could tell me?

I'm assuming he is getting stuck on the bars anyway because I see no other reason why he would grip onto them and fap frantically.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Lovely parrot and as a suggestion have you seen these?

Hagen Pedi-Perch: Great Deals on Bird Perches at zooplus

Maybe worth getting one or two, wdyt?

 

[Crayfish066]

Lovely parrot and as a suggestion have you seen these?

Hagen Pedi-Perch: Great Deals on Bird Perches at zooplus

Maybe worth getting one or two, wdyt?

I got him one about a week ago, it's at the bottom of his cage near his food bowl.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Sorry couldnt see it

Is it possible that he is doing his exercises in this manner? Does he come out to fly?

 

[Jottlebot]

that cage looks absolutely fine. I couldn't see his nails sorry, but I know they can curl all the way round. I rescued a neglected Amazon where this had happened to a few of hers. She got one wrapped round a cage bar and pulled the whole thing off. She recovered, but lost the nail. As it was an emergency we clipped her other claws, but if yours are this overgrown I wouldn't suggest you do it, take him to an avian certified vet.

He could just be exercising. From your description it sounds like what my Alexandrine does. He'll hold onto the top of the cage and flap and flap and pull away from the bars, but not go anywhere because he's still holding on. He does it until he's breathless too. He gets very excited so he could appear angry/worked up. He does it when he's just been let out before he has a good fly. He's done it a few times in his cage, but there's less room for him to get a flap on. Could this be what he's doing? Does yours get much out of cage time?

 

[Crayfish066]

that cage looks absolutely fine. I couldn't see his nails sorry, but I know they can curl all the way round. I rescued a neglected Amazon where this had happened to a few of hers. She got one wrapped round a cage bar and pulled the whole thing off. She recovered, but lost the nail. As it was an emergency we clipped her other claws, but if yours are this overgrown I wouldn't suggest you do it, take him to an avian certified vet.

He could just be exercising. From your description it sounds like what my Alexandrine does. He'll hold onto the top of the cage and flap and flap and pull away from the bars, but not go anywhere because he's still holding on. He does it until he's breathless too. He gets very excited so he could appear angry/worked up. He does it when he's just been let out before he has a good fly. He's done it a few times in his cage, but there's less room for him to get a flap on. Could this be what he's doing? Does yours get much out of cage time?

Well he hasn't been out his cage yet, I'm still in the process of clicker training him to reduce the risk of it being chaotic for the both of us when he's finally let out. I'll try and
take a picture of his nails but as you can probably already tell my phones camera isn't too great.

 

[Crayfish066]

He was a bit shocked after I took this picture lol, I'm surprise he didn't try and peck
my phone, he's not a fan of things getting this close to his cage unless it's food.

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

 

[SilverSage]

Honestly the more you say the more it just sounds like he is flapping for the fun of it. Which ALL of my birds do. Are you sure he is stuck? Gripping the cage and flapping is a normal exercise for them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

My birds never flap without flying I've seen some clipped birds do it when trying to fly though. Do you know the bar spacing for your cage and what the correct bar spacing for your species?

 

[Jottlebot]

Hi, if all his nails look like those in the picture you have nothing to worry about, he isn't getting his nails caught.

I would guess he is just getting rid of some energy if he isn't getting any time out of his cage.

Like I said, my Alexandrine does the same, but he holds onto the top of the cage because he's out when he does it. He's completely flighted and has never been clipped. Sounds like some birds just like to do it for fun!

Clicker training is a great idea. Are you target training too? When this is good it will help you get him back in his cage, but even before this I would let him out. You need to make sure you have time when you do in case he doesn't want to go back in. Don't feed him while he's out and he should return for food. I'm assuming you can't handle him?

 

[LordTriggs]

looking at the nails and cage it strikes me as flapping for fun/exercise. Mine would do it in the morning as a little morning exercise and would often start making lots of happy squeaky noises

 

[Crayfish066]

Sounds like it's just natural parrot behaviour then, I had no clue considering he is my first bird.

Thanks for the help people!

 

[SilverSage]

That's ok; that's why we are all here! Better to be worried over something normal than to ignore something you should be worried about!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk