I feel it is very important to keep your bird's wings clipped to prevent it from accidentally injuring itself or escaping. Even though most pet caiques are poor fliers, you should not take chances. I trim the flight feathers on both wings of my birds so that if they do fall or jump off their perch, they can control their fall. This, however, is not necessary to limit its flight. I have one bird on which I only trim one wing. This bird never flies if she can help it, and she positively detests the sight of the scissors. She only has to see them to inflame her to the point that she will try to bite me, so I try to limit her trauma.

If you have never clipped a parrot's wings before, I recommend that you have it done by an avian veterinarian or other trained person the first few times. Watch, and have him explain what he is doing. Until you get the knack, it is easiest if two people do the clipping, one to hold and one to clip. Some people can clip wings one handed, but this requires skill. Even for the mildest mannered bird, you will need a clean towel to wrap the bird to prevent it from nipping you. If you have more than one bird, be sure to use a fresh clean towel for each bird to prevent spread of disease. The person that holds the bird should drape the towel over the bird’s back and then wrap it around the rest of the body. This is not always a tidy affair, and your bird will not like it. Then, gently place your thumb and forefinger around the bird's neck just below its head. If you are holding it correctly, the bird will not be able to reach you to give a nip and it usually relaxes a bit. I recommend that you occasionally hold the bird in this way when playing with it sans the towel. If you do this, the bird feels less threatened when it has to be held for clipping as well as for medical emergencies. The other hand is used to hold the bird's feet. The second person then pulls a wing out from the towel and clips the flight feathers.

There are two ways to clip the flight feathers. The most common but crude method is to clip off about two thirds of the flight feather's length all at once with a sharp pair of scissors. Great care should be taken not to clip too close to the wing, and to avoid clipping new feathers that have blood in them, i.e., "blood feathers." The two outer most flight feathers can be left intact to give the bird a more esthetic appearance and a bit of control when it does try to fly. A more professional way to clip a bird's wing is to clip each flight feather individually just behind where it is covered by the secondary covert feathers on the top surface of the wing. This is done using a pair of the notched scissors intended for clipping cat or dog nails. If a blood feather is encountered while doing this, leave the feather next to it toward the outer edge of the wing. This will protect the blood feather while it grows. After you have finished clipping, give your bird a test flight by dropping it two or three feet over your bed or some other soft landing spot. The bird should not be able to fly more than a yard or two from where you dropped it. If you should happen to clip or break a blood feather, and it bleeds profusely, use a pair of pliers and pull it out. This will take considerable force, but it is the best thing to do for the bird. Otherwise it will bleed uncontrollably. Do not apply styptic compound to the feather follicle or cuts in the skin. Styptic compounds can cause a cyst to form where the feather was pulled, and a "scar-like" wound on the skin. A styptic compound should only be used on the nails and the beak. To stop bleeding, the best approach is to apply direct pressure until the blood stops. If that fails, take a regular needle and thread and suture the wound. If it is bleeding where a feather was pulled, a single suture should do. You can sterilize the needle with alcohol. Then, after about a week, snip off the suture.

If your bird is healthy, you will probably never have to trim its beak. If there is an obvious need, you should take it to a veterinarian. This is often a sign of a more serious problem. Most caiques chew and climb so much the beak wears itself down. Sometimes the very tip of the bird's beak will break off. This happened to me once when one of my breeders bit me. After he bit me I was surprised to find a large piece of his maxilla in my wound. The bird's beak, however, looked better than before. Some parrot owners cope, i.e. blunt, the tip of the beak with a file as a way to stop the bird from being too nippy. I have never tried this and cannot make recommendations regarding this procedure.

Trimming nails is one task you should learn. Caiques tend to need this more often than other parrots. There are two reasons to clip your bird's nails. First, some birds seem to hone their nails so sharp that when they perch on your finger they dig uncomfortably into your flesh. The second reason is that some individual bird's nails grow so long they curl under and threaten to harm the flesh of the bird's own toes. This often happens if you are using the incorrect size perch for your bird as discussed previously. You should make it a habit to check your bird's nails when you clip its wings.

There are several ways to trim your bird's nails. First you may use the same kind of clippers that are used to clip dog and cat nails. This gives a blunt end to the nail which some find objectionable. The best tool for this is to use the short stubby scissors with the notch. If you use any of the clippers, however, you must always have on hand some kind of styptic compound. At some time in the nail clipping process you are going to clip the nail too close to the toe and it will bleed. To stop this bleeding use one of the styptic powders that you can purchase at your local pet shop. In an emergency you can use a styptic pencil that is sold to stop bleeding from shaving nicks. Do not clip your bird's nails unless you have some styptic compound immediately available. Once you have the clippers and styptic compound, have another person wrap and hold the bird in a towel just as for wing clipping. Then pull out the bird's claw and clip the nails. After you are finished clipping, watch the bird carefully to see if there is bleeding, and if there is, apply some of the styptic compound and lightly press directly on the end of the bleeding nail with your finger. Sometimes, especially if the bird is frightened, bleeding does not occur immediately. For this reason, you need to watch the bird for at least half an hour. The first few times will present a challenge because your bird detests this operation. With experience though, you will be able to gauge just where to clip without bringing blood.

An alternative way to trim your bird's nails is to use a wire cauterizer. The advantage of this method is that the nail is cauterized at the same time it is trimmed. The result is that there is never any bleeding. Cauterizers are sold in a few pet shops specializing in birds and consist of a wire filament loop heated by the passage of an electric current. To trim the bird's nails, you place the nail taut against the wire loop, press the button to turn on the electricity, and draw the hot loop through the nail. The device I originally used, however, was of such poor quality I returned to the clippers. Recently, I saw what appeared to be a better quality device for sale, but I have not tried it.

The professional way to trim nails is with a coarse emery board, the same kind you use on your own nails. For this you must have someone firmly hold the bird so that you can do the filing. When doing this, watch the board as you file. The filing can go quickly, and, if you see a red color on the board, stop. The red is blood. When done properly, this method of trimming gives the nail a more natural appearance, and allows the bird to grip a perch better.

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