Every pet bird needs to be properly groomed. Most of the time, this simply involves clipping their toenails, their wings and giving it an occasional misting.
To clip your pet bird, you will need a pair of animal clippers, a towel, styptic powder and a helper. If there is no styptic powder available, you will have to use household flour because this is a good blood clotting agent.
Before you begin, put the towel over your birds head because if they get scared by what you are doing, there is a very good chance that they bird will bite you. When you put the towel over the head, make sure that the bird is still able to breathe. It will also be a good idea to speak to the bird in a soothing tone and hold them securely.
The part of the toenail that will be clipped is the little hook that is found at the end of each toenail. Never cut any further because this will make your bird begin to bleed.
If the bird begins to bleed, apply the styptic powder immediately over the affected area and make sure the bleeding stops. Once you are done, return the bird back into the cage so it can calm done rather than being beaten by the bird.
As you can see, clipping a birds wing is very easy. But if you dont have anyone around to assist or you are not that confident yet to do it yourself, bring this over instead to the vet for proper care and handling.
The next thing you have to do when grooming your pet bird is clipping their wings. The reason why you have to clip your birds wings is to prevent it from flying into mirrors or windows which could them a concussion. To do this, you will need again a towel, styptic powder and a pair of scissors.
To clip the wings, you will have to restrain the bird using the towel while leaving one wing exposed. Once the bird is secure, expose the wing gently until it is extended.
You will soon notice that there are two rows of feathers. The long row of feathers on the bottom half is what is used by bird to fly. From here, you will now have to decide whether to do a severe wing clip or a moderate clip.
The severe wing clip is done by removing all the ten long feathers at the end of each wing. The moderate clip leaves the first 2 weathers intact while removing the last 8 feathers.
There is another method of clipping the wings known as pinioning that happens to be a permanent method of wing clipping and this should only be done by a veterinarian.
Clip carefully so the bird does not bleed. If it does, pull it out so you remove the feather and the shaft then apply styptic powder. Once you are done with the first wing, do the same for the other because failure to do so makes the bird feel off balanced.
Lastly, mist your bird with water as this helps them stay sleek and smooth. This is a faster way of cleaning them if they dont like taking a bath regularly.
Clipping the toenails and wings as well as misting are the proper ways of grooming your bird. These are chores you have to learn how do so you dont always have to drive over the clinic.
