I feel so bad :'(

[Gill]

I noticed the other day that Sticky's nails were getting very long on the most prominent toe, he kept landing with the tip of the toe bent under.

So, i knew i had to trim them which i know is hard because i have tried it before and he is not happy which i dont like. So, Andy held the wriggley little thing and i went for the first toe, snip! (difficult as he moves loads, hates being held!) then eventually the second one on his other foot, he screeched both times, i hope it is because he didnt like the feeling but when he flew to me i noticed the second one i had done had made him bleed a little, i didnt realise i had got close to the vein so he must have moved slightly :(

It was only tiny spots of blood and i went and got some flour to dab onto his nail which stopped it but i feel so bad :'( I didnt want to get it done at the vets as i was scared he would be so frightened. Do you think it would have hurt him? Ive been keeping an eye on him and he is absolutely fine.

Poor little guy, he has had lots of millet to make up for it! I dont think i can do that again :(

[Angelic vampyre]

I have done this with my king parrot and he carried on as if he was dying! My Budgies normally forget about it as soon as the bleeding has stopped. You did the right thing with flour. A vet once said that it most likely feels like when we but a toe nail to short... but I hope not as my toe will hurt for days after I do that. Most of the time my Birds recover within a hour from this happening. Hope your little one is ok.

[michael]

Although clipping a nail too short can be painful, I would think Sticky made it through his ordeal just fine. Generally, whenever a parrot bleeds, once you get into the "drop of blood" range then there's cause for some concern. Whether you decide to clip next time or not, perhaps grab a container of styptic medicated powder for those human or non-human related wing or nail injuries that always occur when least expected.

Clipping dark nails does get some getting used to. Whether thats the case with sticky or not, the positive part here is it sounds like you may have saved him from even more stress had you otherwise carted him to the vet. Keep in mind here...even vets make mistakes, so I wouldn't be afraid to continue clipping him yourself, especially with a helping hand. While he may remember his ordeal the next time around, most often than not, parrots will get used to such minor offenses as long as you spoil them into tomorrow............:)

[Pips mom]

When I take Pip to get his nails done at the pet store where he came from, they often will tell me that a nail they clipped had a tiny bit of bleeding, which I never noticed at all once I got him back and brought him home....all was fine and I'm thinking they may feel a little pain if there's bleeding, maybe like a pin prick for a second, I don't it's bad and never even gave it a second thought when they clipped Pip's nails and said one bled a tiny bit....those darn lovies just don't sit still for nothing! It's gotta be hard to clip them nails....this is why I have always taken him to someone else to do it! Thing is....he has one nail right now that is getting long and I want to try to clip it so bad! so we'll see how I do with it! if I can get that one nail ok, then maybe in the future I might try doing it myself from now on.

[LauraO]

Yep! Styptic powder or cornstarch are absolutey necessary whenever doing anything like this with your birdies or just as a first aid precautions. Lovies bleed to death really easily and everybirdy owner should be prepared.

[Gill]

Thanks for your comments, i bought him (and Bobble too really!) a new rope perch today :) He is fine,munching on his millet. I will look into getting some Styptic powder, thanks :)

[Albino]

I'm sad for what happend, but im happy that he's fine :)

[Gill]

Yes, me too, i still feel bad now! Poor little chap but he was brave :)

[StormyMom]

I made the mistake of clipping one of my tiels nails too short once. I felt AWFUL. Poor girl. And she was soooo good about it, a real sport. Pretending like i didnt do anything, came over for kissies. I dont even have to towel her to do her nails!

Now when i clip nails i do it often, but VERY slight. So theyre always a "little" long, but i dont like to take the chance of making them bleed!

[lemonypickett]

I thought I read that the styptic powder stings.

Today Ellen used a little flour wth my guys, but they barely bled.

[Chickobee]

:2cents: We use the sand perches, etc. that have a rough scratchy surface near the food dishes. That way they get their nails filed down sometimes but they aren't perching on them at night. It keeps the pointy tips filed off of the nails so we never need to clip them.