Trimming Your African Grey’s Nails

When it comes to trimming your African Grey’s nails, just like many parrots, African Greys have a very sharp, needle-like nails because they do a lot of climbing in the wild, and they also use these nails to dig into wood to keep them secure.

Unclipped nails can dig into the skin, leaving scratches or painful wounds to a person, only clipped to a point that the bird can perch securely and does not bother you when the bird is perched on your hand. Many people have their grey’s nails clipped to the point that it becomes dull and the bird can no longer grip a perch firmly. This can result to becoming more clumsy and nervous because it cannot move without slipping. This nervousness can develop into fear biting and panic attacks. Another tip is only use a styptic powder on your bird’s nails, not the skin!

Clipping an African Grey’s Wings

We all know that birds are supposed to fly especially for a young African grey. Greys can be fairly clumsy and flying gives them confidence as well as agility, stamina, and muscle tone.

Consult a qualified veterinarian to show you the proper way in clipping a bird’s wings.  A certain amount of flight feathers will be removed while leaving the smaller balancing feathers inside the wing closer to the body uncut.        

It is also recommended that if your grey is a baby (only few months old), you should hold off on its first clipping until it is fully capable of flight and has developed confidence.

We hope that you learn a lot about trimming your African Grey’s nails. Stay tune for more tips!