How to Keep Your Beaks and Nails in Check: Grooming Tips for Your Birds

Keeping your bird as comfortable and well-kept as possible is one of a bird owner’s most important responsibilities. Throughout a wild bird’s day, they perform different tasks and actions to keep their bills and nails in check and prevent them from growing too much. Since bird’s bills are made of keratin, they will continue to grow throughout their life. It’s why wild birds have been documented rubbing their bills and talons against rough surfaces to wear and shape them in such a way that keeps them properly balanced. However, when they are in captivity, birds may not have the ability to keep up with their grooming routines. That’s where you can help. 

Why Grooming Matters

With your exotic birds, the length of their bill and talons matter a great deal for their day-to-day quality of life. Birds will utilize their bills for a variety of tasks throughout the day. Based on their activity level, the chance for their bills to become overgrown increases and can cause problems for your bird if left unchecked. Bringing your feathered friend into a trusted bird store can be an easy solution to get their bill trimmed down to a manageable size. 

Keep Those Talons Trimmed

When it comes to your bird’s feet, the length of their nails matters more than just for appearances and preventing scratches. The birds use their feet to grasp stands, interact with their environment, and move around when they aren’t flying. If the nails are not regularly trimmed, your bird will have difficulty moving around their cage and your home than they would have otherwise. Every species of bird will vary in how often they will need their nails trimmed, but the general rule thumb is every one to three months. 

What Can I Do to Help in Between Trimmings?

While birds in the wild have multiple ways to help maintain their grooming habits, their options become a bit more limited in captivity. At the same time, they can no longer forage for their food and use these actions to keep their bills nice and shapely; the dynamic shifts when they live in a cage in your living room. There are various toys on the market that you can get for your birds that will help them maintain a semblance of the grooming routine they would have had in the wild. The variety of chew toys and bird shredding toys available in our online marketplace can help your feathered friends keep their grooming routines, even in captivity. 

You Don’t Have to Handling Grooming Alone

You can handle the bill and talon trimming on your own; however, your bird may not appreciate the procedure and hold it against you. To avoid becoming the “bad guy” in the eyes of your feathered companion, you can swing by Todd Marcus Birds Exotic and take advantage of our grooming and bird nail trimming services! We’ll help your birds look and feel their best!