Buffalo Parrot

• Molting
• Wing Clipping
• Toe-nail Clipping
• Beak Grooming
• Bird Baths
• Blood Feathers
• toweling
  

Molting can make your parrot very cranky. It can be a stressful time. Molting consists of shedding old feathers to make way for new ones. The new feathers are "pin feathers" that start growing can be painful and itchy. Pin feathers look like little white pins sticking out of the other feathers. A pin feather is a new feather with a casing "sheath" that covers the new feathers until they are ready to emerge. A parrot will remove most of these sheaths except for the neck and head. You can help your parrot by gently rolling your fingers on the sheaths to remove them. Sometimes it will be too painful and your bird will let you know!  Molting usually happens once or twice a year and can last for 2-3 months. I will give a short list of things that have helped our Parrots during this time.

•Mist baths help to soften pin feathers.

•A little MSM mixed in soft food definitely helped.

•Up their Vitamin D3 intake with supplements, egg yolk, and Cod liver Oil.

•Up the protein in their diet: eggs, chicken, soy beans, etc.. 

•Add some fresh sprouted seeds and/or beans to there diet

.Give your Parrot at least 10-12 hours of undisturbed sleep

.Red Palm Oil                                                                            

If you plan on having your Parrot out of his cage much of the time we would recommend your Parrot has its wings clipped. If your Parrots are cage bound or in an Aviary then there is no need to. A non-clipped Parrot can fly away from you in a blink, into a window, mirror or wall at full speed! To prevent injuries and escapes through open doors it is wise to have a clipped Parrot. A clipped Parrot can only fly a short distance. Even if your Parrot is clipped do not bring him outside unless he is harnessed or caged. To get your Parrot's wings clipped you should go to an experienced vet or groomer. Bad wing clippings can lead to many problems. In time after watching the process then maybe one can do this on his own. You only need to have your Parrot's wings clipped once or twice a year.

Providing your Parrot with a variety of perch sizes and textures will limit on how often he will need his toe-nails clipped. It is good to have at least one cement type "pedicure" perch in the cage. Do not use sandpaper types. If you play with your Parrot often and are getting all scratched up you know it may be time for a clipping, unless this does not bother you. To clip your bird's toes, use a regular human nail clipper. Hold your bird and have someone else firmly hold his foot. Just clip the very tip of the nail. Further up is a vein! You can also file your birds nails using an emery board type filer. If you happen to make the nail bleed styptic powder will help clog the nail. A vet or groomer will also be able to do your Parrot's nails if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself.

Your Parrot should not need his beak trimmed if you provide him with hard chewing toys, crunchy edibles, and a healthy diet. A beak conditioning block made of lava will also aid your Parrot into keeping his beak in good shape. If your Parrot develops an overgrown beak it could be a sign of malnutrition or medical condition.  A misaligned beak(scissors beak) is also cause to get frequent beak trims.  A Dremmel is most often used for this procedure.  If this happens an appointment with your Avian Veterinarian is a must.  One should never try to trim your Parrots beak. A Vet or experienced groomer should be the only ones to trim the beak. If your Parrot's beak should ever "break" it will often grow back on its own. If not, an Avian Vet will bond his beak until it grows back. With any damage or abnormality with the beak, we advise a vet
visit ASAP!

Believe it or not, bathing is a very healthy routine for your Parrots!Most of them love it, too. We usually "mist" our parrots with a mist bottle. Some of our Parrots, especially our Senegal, will bathe in his water bowl. When misting, try to do it over their heads and not in their eyes. Use room-temperature water. Whatever bathing method you use, make sure it is not cold in your home as your Parrots will get chilled. There are many bird baths available at pet stores that you could put in their cage. There are also some "suction cup" shower perches available for your Parrot to bathe under the shower. Make sure the water is not too hot or cold. Never use soap or blow dry your Parrots. Your Parrot should have some type of bath at least 3 times a week. Never bathe your birds at night as it will go to bed wet and chilled. 

A blood feather is a pin feather and new feather that just emerged from the protective sheath, still has a blood supply, and will bleed if broken or injured. If your Parrot has a blood feather use Needle Nose Pliers and firmly grasp the feather shaft at the base and pull the feather out straight with a slow tug without twisting or bending. The bleeding will stop right away.  If you can't handle doing this on your own put baking flower over the wound and get to your Vet ASAP! 

This is the safest and most widely used method to restrain your Parrot in case of emegency or for grooming purposes.

To towel your Parrot gently grasp your Parrots neck (from behind) and feet (with the opposite hand) with towel in hand and then wrap the towel securely around the body . Be sure not to apply any pressure to your parrots chest area as they can suffocate very quickly.