Pet Grooming News

Grooming Your Bird

Birds are fun to look at and can be a wide source of conversation but like every other pet, they need to be maintained. Some people choose a bird as their pet because they think they require no maintenance. Their idea is simply feeding, watering, and cleaning their cage occasionally is quite enough. They’re wrong. For your bird to be healthy he/she must be well kept. The fact is, birds love to get wet. Misting your bird daily will help satisfy his/her pleasure. However, putting a dish at the bottom of the cage with approximately one inch of water will fill him/her with joy. Some birds even love being dried with a hair drier but all birds are not the same and developing a relationship with your bird will help you identify his/her own personal pleasures.

You can buy products to keep your birds beak trimmed but occasionally the beak becomes uneven or in some cases grows too long; taking the bird to the vet is recommended. Birds can be very delicate pets and trying to trim the beak on your own could cause significant damage. There are also products you can purchase to compliment the perch to help your birds’ claws stay trimmed. However, their nails still tend to grow long and clipping them is sometimes necessary. You should keep styptic powder on hand if you choose to clip the nails as this will help if you accidentally cause the bird to bleed. Another method may also be used requiring a rotary grinding device. This method takes more than one person as one person will need to restrain the bird while the other does the grinding. Of course you may choose to take the bird to the vet.

Many people choose to keep their birds’ wings clipped. This isn’t necessary to do but does offer a form of protection should you allow the bird to wander out of the cage. You need only to remove the ends of the outer layer, six or seven feathers which are used for flight. Surprisingly it has happened with people who left their bird unclipped that the little guy (or girl) took flight outside. Unable to capture it they put the cage outdoors with the birds’ favorite food and it returned. However, this isn’t guaranteed so if you choose not to clip your birds’ wings, always use caution.