Vet wants $150 PER BIRD for clippings

[BreannPearlLang]

I called the only bird specialist around here and tried negotiating a price for the clipping, filing, beak trim for three conures and two tiels.
my vet refused and said because its so many birds and a few are biters, $150 a bird and that she will only take all 5 if she can use anesthesia.
and the only bird she will work on without anesthesia is Button, my one year pineapple gcc.. but thats going to be $35..
so either way its $150x4+$35
what the hell!!!

So today we are going to try trimming, filing, etc.. Wish me good luck!!

I know the jist of everything.. but is there a special kind of scissors I need? will my $200 dress making sewing gingher shears work?

they are extremely sharp, very smooth cutting,
or do I need specific scissors?

Also, I want to do a half cut. With a half cut, can they still fly well ??

Last night we filed my 8 year olds nails and he did great. he bit of course, but it was relatively easy.

 

[chickymonkey]

Holy crap! That's outrageous.

 

[FineFeatheredFriend]

I do all my grooming for my birds. Far as the nails go just buy a good concrete perch and the rest takes care of it self. The flight feathers are very easy to do just trim the first ten flight feathers. The only part I really struggle in is trimming the toe nails but if you have a good concrete perch then that should not be a problem. I never had to do a beak trim since I provide my birds with lots of wooden toys to chew on. I breeder charges for these services and I feel her $20 is too much, lol. There is a real famous bird farm in California called Magnolia Bird Farm that was started by a doctor who does not charge his customers for bird grooming. I wish all breeders were so kind as he is!

 

[Riio]

Those sharp scissors should be great. My vets office uses sharp wire cutters. For toenails I use a pair of baby nail clippers. They are small enough to work perfect. But I just have the little green cheek. Ive put in two cement perchs and both my birds refused to ever go on them. I dont worry about the beak. Good luck!

 

[DebsFlock]

Why do they need beak trimming? That's usually only necessary if there is a problem with alignment.

Requiring anaesthesia to do trims seems quite outrageous. That's IMO an unnecessary risk. OTOH, $35 seems to be a sweet spot, that's what the AAV listed vet out hear charges as well. I made an appointment to get Blanco checked out and trimmed up.

The safety style pumice perches work pretty well. I'm not keen on the ones that are rough all over, they can abrade the feet, but the ones that are rough only on the sides do the trick pretty well.

 

[kc_y0]

Personally I wouldn't touch the beak, if done incorrectly it can cause it to grow wrong, and very fast.
As for wings and nails though, there are lots of videos on youtube and diagrams to do it !Good luck!

 

[Molcan2]

Find a different vet, make sure they are board certified. My vet only uses anesthesia in extrame cases. Rome gets her beak done every six months or so and he has never used a sedative. Any animal, esp birds, have risks with anesthia, it should only be used as a last option and never for anything routine. Birds are very unstable under sedation and even if everything is done right the risk of losing them is still really high.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I like the safe pumace perches, my galahs nails where starting to get long since she had no pedi perch because she was eating her cement perch. In two days I was amazed to find her nails in perfect shape.

The best thing is the top is smooth which helps to prevent sores from getting on the feet. And make sure to only use one unless the cage is massive.

 

[Pookamama]

Wow-around here many different pet stores do it for $5. And the local bird rescue does it for free-but now she's shown me how to do it I'll do it with hubby next time.

 

[DebsFlock]

Find a different vet, make sure they are board certified.

I live in one of the largest urban areas in the US and the nearest avian diplomate is about two hours away. Finding one of those isn't always practical.

 

[BreannPearlLang]

Thank you for the information. I learned a few things from it.
I had my cement perch in wrong, its flat on two sides with rough cement and smooth top and bottom, but i had the flat rough side up, which explains why the nails didnt get less sharp.
the reason I thought I needed beak trimming was because they are kinda long.
I found this video from an avian vet and I think this is exactly what I will do. He makes some very valid points and was very helpful.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvXMZ0kgeq0]Wing Clipping - YouTube[/ame]

Also, I will be removing my solid concrete perch, its kind of like lava rock, and only putting it in when they realllllly need filed.

 

[Molcan2]

Ooohh! I hate that clip! Roc came to me with that clip and i camt wait for his feathers to grow back out. I dont know if its because Ekkies are more square but anytime he spooks or tries to fly, he drops like a rock. Im not a fan of that one. When Rome came to us she had the first six feathers clipped on each wing, she was able to glide down but not get any height with this clip. Impo i wouldnt do the other.

 

[Molcan2]

Find a different vet, make sure they are board certified.

I live in one of the largest urban areas in the US and the nearest avian diplomate is about two hours away. Finding one of those isn't always practical.

Its not about practcality, its about seeing someone whos qualified. I drive an hour to get to my Vet and if wasnt there, then i would be driving the two hours to gainsville to UF to have them seen. In reality a healthy bird goes once a year. I used to be a vet tech and have worked for vets that woul 'see' birds but when they would come in the way they would treat them is by literatly looking up the s/s in a book that day and guess the treatment, i think not! If an avian dr isnt board cert then they dont touch my birds, hands down. I would drive four hours if i had to. Birds are so sensitive that they really have to know what they are doinf or you are risking loosing your bird.

 

[Boysmom]

My Avian vet is mobile, so she comes to us and treats the whole flock. Usually she charges me $50.00 for the visit and any necessary grooming, tests are extra, that was for Ruby only. She is visiting today to perform health checks and grooming on the newbies, so I will let you know what that charge turns out to be. That quote from your vet seems mighty high, maybe he/she doesnt want to fool with it and feels if he/she has to he/she is gonna make bank for it.

 

[Riio]

Find a different vet, make sure they are board certified.

I live in one of the largest urban areas in the US and the nearest avian diplomate is about two hours away. Finding one of those isn't always practical.

Bbuuuuttt, Palmdale is quite a way out there yes? Lol I live in San Diego but travel to Northern Nevada all the time and drive through Palmdale. I cut off on Pearblossom so not sure whats on the other side of the hill, assume out skirts of LA.
But you are right sometimes avian vets are hard to come by!

 

[Rana]

Those are ridiculous prices!! and the anesthesia is completely unnecessary in my opinion... its not like a surgical procedure! but then again i'm not a vet, so maybe there is need for it - i really don't know so i can't judge, it just seems very invasive to me...

As for the prices i'm still gobsmacked - my avian vet charges me 50 per visit and if i bring in two birds - it's still one visit so still 50 euro!

 

[DebsFlock]

Its not about practcality, its about seeing someone whos qualified.

I agree up to a point, but I'll take an AAV-listed vet that sees birds as a significant fraction of the practice, and who has an exam room set aside for birds, that is within an hour of home over one that is board certified by could easily be 4 hours away under typical LA traffic conditions.

There are reputable AAV-listed vets in the San Fernando Valley and in Palmdale, but the nearest Diplomate in Avian Medicine is Santa Monica, which is a couple of hours in light traffic.

 

[AFP520]

Those prices are absolutely ridiculous. Do some more homework, there has to be someone else around. Also agree that anesthesia is not needed. It's not a surgical procedure.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Ooohh! I hate that clip! Roc came to me with that clip and i camt wait for his feathers to grow back out. I dont know if its because Ekkies are more square but anytime he spooks or tries to fly, he drops like a rock. Im not a fan of that one. When Rome came to us she had the first six feathers clipped on each wing, she was able to glide down but not get any height with this clip. Impo i wouldnt do the other.

I also dislike that clip, it seems to be a popular clip in australia. I prefer not clipping but I'm not against it. I have a galah and they should never be clipped for health reasons. Without flight it is impossible for them to meet their exercise requirements and they live a significantly shorter life.

I do like keeping one finger feather but it really depends on how powerful of a flier the bird is. My friend has a younger cockatiel who only needs 7 feathers clipped. Her older tiel is a extremely skilled flier but recently had to be clipped after being flighted for 7/8 years. She had almost all her feathers clipped(except like 3 secondary's) and she can still fly straight without loosing altitude.

 

[DebsFlock]

The clip needs to vary with the bird's body type. Scooter is hardly grounded with all the primary flights trimmed back to the coverts, while Scotty is in danger of dropping like a rock with only the first 4 trimmed and not all the way back.

Many vets will clip assuming you intend to walk outside with the bird on your shoulder without a harness, so they clip for "Couldn't fly even in a gale". Most I've dealt with will do exactly what the client wants, they just kind of go in assuming the client is risking a flyoff.