Vinny gets a manicure

Time for a parrot manicure!

Here is something that most parrot owners will recognize .. sharp nails! And by sharp nails I mean razor sharp! It had been gradually getting worse of the last few months and it got to the point where he left too much damage.

I'm sure parrot owners are not strangers to scratches and the occasional bite, but with Vinny it reached a typical 'that's it!' point. We got a pet-nail clipper before and used it on Vinny by grabbing him, holding him (gently) in a towel and doing his nails. But it was troublesome to keep him still long enough and we were definitely not looking forward to it. However, evidently it was time to face the fact.

Our clipper, bought at a local pet store

He was on to us as soon as he saw the towel. He's not traumatized, he's just smart. Towel in hand: beware, could be shower (YAY!) or attempt to catch (NOOO!). Clippers by themselves: Curious, could be a new toy? Clippers combined with towel: Time for a game of 'Catch the bird!', also known as 'FLY AWAY!'.

In the end we did manage to lure him in and hold him. Needless to say he wasn't happy and while we were ignoring his angry growling, we realized that Vinny was way too restless to even attempt anything with our 'instrument of terror'.

Nail clipping in action

So we gave up on that attempt. This gave Vinny a chance to calm down and sent us into a brainstorm session on how to make this process go any smoother.Meanwhile Vinny was sitting on my hand and as usual he was cute as a button, talking up a storm, making laughing sounds (seriously, I think he was laughing at us!) and fluffing up his feathers.

And then it dawned on us, he may not have to be caught. I got the clippers, approached his feet and he was fine letting it all happen. We clipped his nails (not too short of course, only got the needle-sharp ends off. Of course that was our goal to begin with.

This is how our endeavor got a happy end after all. It's 2 days later now and it's much better now. His nails are still sharp enough for him to hold on and climb up and down chairs, ropes, and us, but not sharp enough to break skin on the lightest of touches anymore.

So here's our tip on bird manicures: train your parrot well while he or she is young. Make sure it's not afraid of new things. Let your bird be comfortable with being touched and prodded. Play tickle games as part of the training. And the result is that you'll get a bird that you don't need to hold or force down as much.

Sea-shell covered perch (found on E-bay)

Now, there are possibilities to prevent their nails and beaks from getting too long or too sharp. There are special perches that are made of coarse concrete or are covered with sea-shells or other materials to give it a rough surface similar to sanding paper. And there are brand-grade products out there that sell very colorful perches that are supposed to have the same effect.

Our personal experience is that they don't work for Vinny. He simply doesn't like them. Maybe the surface is too rough for the padding on his feet. Or maybe he thought he was too manly for the pink perch we got for him. Color can definitely be a factor for a bird's opinion about anything, so make sure you know your bird's favorite color, or pick a neutral one.

Example of brand-grade perches

We're not against these types of perches by definition, but we do stay away from them. They're relatively expensive and they may just become an ornament in the cage, just for show. Plus it's not always clear what types of materials are used in production. Besides that, our vet didn't seem to find Vinny's nails too long, so we don't consider it a concern and we deal with it by just clipping once in a while.

Using special perches is a personal choice (such as many things related to bird-care). What do you do to prevent long or sharp nails? Do you use those special perches and have you tried different ones? In your opinion, what are the best perches made of and/or what are the best brands/types? Or if you clip your bird's nails regularly, what is your trick to do this with the least amount of hassle? Feel free to leave a comment.

Vinny shakes a tail feather

Normally a Vosmaeri Eclectus has 12 tail feathers. Vinny is down to 3. That is three. That's right. Luckily, they'll grow back, and that should happen over the next half year or so, while he's going through his first major molt. He's just about 1 year old now, so if you know your Eclectus, you know what I'm talking about.

Clear view of 2 snapped tail feathers after yet another typical
Vinny-stunt. Vinny is quite wet here, just having had a shower.
Moments later, we freed him of his broken off feathers.

It's actually pitiful (read: funny) to watch, he truly looks like a handicapped bird, but in a funny way, like a pirate with a peg leg. Even though he can still fly quite nicely with just 3 tail feathers, you can tell that his maneuvering is a bit wonky. He sways a bit left and right now, and if there was something like a parrot police, he would be pulled over for drunk flying for sure.

I may have said it before: Vinny is a true stuntman from time to time, mean that he often climbs in and on his cage in ways we never thought was possible, uses his swing like a real trapeze artist, and so forth. He sometimes gets himself in trouble and has to make emergency landings. During the first 8 months or so we've had him, he's lost a few tail feathers doing just that.

left: broken off baby tail feather
middle: shedded stump of broken off tail feather
right: naturally shed flight feather

Recently, we've been on vacation and we put Vinny in a Pet Hotel at a bird-expert vet about half an hour drive away. 17 Days later he came back with yet 2 tail feathers lost. This was probably due to pacing around a very small cage. This is normally his sleeping cage. We have it in the darkest room in the house, to make sure Vinny get's at least 12 hours of rest every day. Of course the cage is still big enough for him to spread his wings at least, but other than that, it's not intended for him to stay in it for a longer period of time.

At the vet, we had no other option, because this is the only cage that will fit in our car. So he lost a few more. No big deal. But after we came back from vacation, Vinny seemed to be more fond of that cage, I guess he saw that as his comfort zone. So we let him stay in there more than normal. He even went in there by himself when we were around. And that caused him to lose 2 more, the day after we came home from vacation.

So three it is. No biggie. Not a problem. They'll grow back. Of course, because of this, we've been looking for signs of his first big molt, and last week our patience was rewarded. Two days in a row, we found two flight feathers (for those who don't know: the big long feathers on his wing) in his cage, perfectly intact as they're supposed to be.

And yesterday we found one of his stumps of a broken off tail feather as well, with a nice and intact base, a clear sign of a naturally shed feather. Perfect, perfect, perfect! He's  right on schedule and within half a year, he should have most or all of his tail feathers back.

The thing with tail feathers, and we've read this on various parrot and Eclectus expert websites, is that the first feathers a bird has, are more flexible, but at that also weaker than his adult feathers. The reason for this is that nature has figured out that baby birds are more reckless and are more prone to feather-breaking than adult birds. Makes sense, right? Imagine chicks ruffling around in a small nest, or kids doing all kinds of stunts that are actually very helpful in getting in touch with their agility and dexterity. If everything we've read is correct, he should grow back stronger feathers.

New pin feather on his left wing

And then this morning, to top it all off, we noticed two very nice pin feathers on his wings, one on each side, in the same spot. Those must be the replacements for the flight feathers he shed last week.

Remember, this is all new to us. If you're a weathered parrot-owner, you must probably be laughing at this! And if you have no interest in parrots whatsoever, you must probably be asking yourself what the big deal is.

Vinny is nowhere close to a human kid of course, but just imagine your own kid missing almost all of his front baby teeth, and then noticing the signs of his adult teeth breaking through. That's why we deem this a Kodak moment and write about it, for your pleasure!

Do you have an Eclectus or any other kind of parrot, and you have funny stories about their first molt? Please do share, that's what comments are for.

More coming up about Vinny's adventures as a young Eclectus finding his way on this great chunk of dirt we call Earth. He's about to see the big Oh-One, so time to sum up a year of new experiences, for both Vinny and his 'parronts'.