FINCHforum

dunker817 So sorry you lost one of your grasskeets, it is never easy.

As far as the nail clipping, it is easier than it looks, and as others have said, when you are holding the head between your index and middle fingers, you really aren't holding it tight, and the other fingers are loosely curled around the body. It is just that holding it by the neck, or rather with the neck between the two fingers, it is very hard for the bird to wriggle loose and escape.

Well I got my canary hen's claws clipped. All my finches and canaries are in a bedroom converted into a bird space. I had to chase them around the room with a butterfly net. Finally the hen tireded first so I was able to pick her up and clip her. It was very nerve-racking. I am giving them all a chance to calm down before I go in after another one. Wish me luck.

dunker817

Hi Layne,

See, I knew you could do it!!!

If you catch a few and put them in a small cage, it makes it a lot easier for you.

I want to see a video of the great butterfly net chase, lol

Elana that video would be priceless I am sure, LOL.

Well I managed to round up my male canary and clip his claws. He was a bit more difficult to catch. His little heart was about to beat out of his chest so I clipped what I could and left it at that. Both hen and cock look much better but I didn't get as much as I wanted. Using the trimming scissors I bought was a bit clumsy. On my next day off I am going to trim the finches and will use a toe nail clipper and see if it works better for me. Maybe next month I can trim a bit more from all of them.

Thank you all for your support and guidance. It really helped a lot. Today I ordered same rough perches for each of my flight cages and some lava rocks too. Since the finches and canaries are in a bird room they will have to endure the clipping ordeal. I hope the new perches and chews will help with my tiels and grasskeet.

Layne

If you put rough rocks close to food and water in the free flight room, that can work there too.

Is claw clipping always necessary? I've been using calcified perches which are quite coarse in texture, I was hoping these would keep the claws in good enough shape to not require trimming....

Hyansith

You only have to do it when the claws get too long; same goes with beak-trimming. For my birds, it's usually the middle claw and back claw that get the most overgrown, but they only need clipping every few months. So long as your birds have some perches that aren't as rough as well, the calcified perches may work well.