Keep your parrots nails and beak worn down, of course, is a constant struggle. Nobody wants to take your parrot to the vet to get their beaks and nails trimmed and I'm sure your parrot does not want to make this journey. It is uncomfortable for you, uncomfortable for your parrot, and very expensive!
This is not a problem in the wild because their surroundings gives them ample opportunities to break down their beaks and claws. You can also prevent this problem (or at least minimize it) naturally by duplicating their natural environment.
Here are ten ways to naturally help your parrot keep their claws and beak worn down.
Tips for Nails
1. Give a lot of raw and / or concrete perches for your parrot to climb on. This gives their feet, exercise and more importantly, it helps your parrot keep their nails trimmed naturally.
2. Give your parrot a lot of incentive to scramble around and get exercise (toys, foraging items, etc). Now that you have given them roughly perches (see # 1 above) to climb on, now you have to get them to climb. Make it fun and they will thank you for it.
3. Provide toys that encourage your parrot to use their feet. This can hang toys that they are forced to intervene and keep the mouth or toys that they have to comply.
4. Give foraging toys and get them to use their feet to forage for food. This may be foraging issues they have in their hands "or hanging foraging toys that hang from while foraging. Regardless, they must use their feet, which is another opportunity to break their nails.
5. Give your parrot with the ability to walk and play on a flat surface. A lot of parrots (especially the African Gray) spend a lot of time on the ground foraging and feeding. This course helps them to keep their claws worn down, try to replicate this natural behavior whenever possible.
Tips for Beak
1. The same raw perches to help your parrot keep their nails worn down also helps them to keep their beak worn down. Parrots use their sticks as napkins while you eat and wipe their beaks on the perch to keep them clean. This course helps to keep their beak worn down.
2. To give your parrot a lot of soft foods (veggies and fruits) are doing their beaks mess and urges them to wipe their beaks on raw perches. So give them a mass of soft messy food. The Messier the better! Lucky for you and your parrot has a lot of sound messy food. This includes most veggies and fruits.
3. Give your parrot a lot of toys of different feed materials to encourage them to use their beaks. Be creative. There are a lot of resources online to show you how to make your own toys to save money.
4. Give a lot of chew toys (wood, paper, cardboard, etc). You should give them something to destroy at least once a day. This will be expensive if you do not learn how to make your own toys. Not only is it good for their beaks and claws, it also keeps them occupied and gives some environmental enrichment.
5. Occasionally give them nuts to open up (helping them to start the crack, if you need). Too many nuts are not healthy, but to give them a nut occasionally is okay and beneficial. Of course, most birds are nuts about nuts (sorry I could not resist) so do not go overboard, because they will probably eat them all that you give them.
These tips will go a long way in helping to keep your parrot's beak and claws trimmed naturally.
If you do not follow these tips and the need to get their nails and beak trimmed, should be your first choice would be to take your parrot to a vet. You can do serious damage while cutting a tooth or nail, if you do not know what you are doing.
If these do not work and you can not / will not take it to a veterinarian. You can always learn to do it yourself. The easiest way to do it is to train your bird to allow you to use a Dremel tool. WARNING! Trimming of beaks incorrectly can cause serious injury and death! If you damage the beak, the beak will be sore, and if the bill becomes sore, the bird will not be able to eat, and if the bird can not eat ... I think you see where this is going. So I can not recommend this method of beak, unless you know what you are doing. You can also do serious damage to your nails if you do not know what you are doing. It is recommended that you at least take it to the vet once for trimming of beaks and claws, so the veterinarian can show you the correct procedure.
Once you have shown the correct procedure for your veterinarian or other qualified person, you can use Clicker Training to easily train your bird to allow you to use a Dremel tool on the nail and / or beak.
You've probably picked up on a theme here. Overlap your parrots natural environment is key to helping them, of course, keep their nails and beaks trimmed.
No comments:
Post a Comment