Winston has a long nail on one toe. Just one. It needs to be taken care of but I really don't want to restrain him and break all of the trust that we've gained...I'm not afraid of restraining Jerry or Lulu if need be, and I have in the past, but the difference with them is that I have their complete trust with pretty much anything. Winston and I have come so far lately and I'm all about taking things slow and steady. I'm scared that restraining him could set us way back on our progress and we're still majorly working on human contact.

He has a sandy perch but does not use it - although I will do some rearranging to hopefully make it so that he uses it, maybe as the perch next to his food dish. He's had a swing with a sandy perch but did not use that either (swings have not gone over well with him). I think even his grapevine perch would help a bit but he isn't too keen on using that perch either.

So I'm torn about what to do. I've kept a close eye on his rope perches to make sure there are no loose strings that he could catch that nail on and there are no toys with strings that would be a problem either.

Psst - how come this isn't in the Budgie section?*pout!*

I worried endlessly about that one as you know. But in the end when i had to grab Laker - in the bathroom is best - he really didn't loose trust. I gently uprighted him in the end & he ruffled his feathers & stepped up like always. The 2nd time i let him wander out of the towel on his own steam - he looked so cute. The last time he was all hot & damp - my son was holding him & it was inthe summer - he preened for a long time afterwards.
[baby wash clothes are excellent & just the right size! - they sell them in 4's - they're small & thin so you can feel the bird easily]

I would suggest you get Dave's help tho. I got Matthew & later Jack to help but i tell you it was trial & error! Either they held him too hard or not hard enough so he wiggled something fierce. It is definately a learning curve. I was very nervous as well. Those feet are so tiny & they hold them very tight. You need really good lighting - the bathroom again was the best place - if a tad small for all of us to hang out.

I know Winston has black nails & they are harder to trim with confidence. But i can't imagine you trying to trim off a lot anyways. Just trim the skinny part that curves down - that should be enough. I did all of Laker's 2x's in the past 12 months. Rio so far is OK.

Be brave.

I thought I would add that Evan is always the one to restrain Danny and towel him (for nail clippings, broken blood feathers, medications, etc.) and Danny trusts Evan the most. It has never hampered Danny's trust of Evan. But it always helps Danny to be taken into a seperate room with the door closed with just Evan and Danny. For some reason I just make Danny more nervous.

might wanna consider having somebody else do it (vet, groomer etc)

I forgot that you had this same issue with Laker, Jac. I may just have to suck it up lol. For Jerry I haven't used a towel in the past, I've just used my hand. He's ok with me grabbing him lol.

Tiffany, you're right, I could get Dave to do the actual restraining - although I've always been better at restraining Jerry in the past (we can both towel Lulu easily). I'll think about that.

Bee, I have thought about the vet doing it - but it's one stinking nail and I don't think I want to go through all the stress of taking him to the vet for one nail lol.

Sarah, I had to do a lot with my guys from day one, even before we were bonded and they have never held a grudge or lost faith in me.

In my experience, I can do anything to my 4, and they're completely over it within 5 minutes or so. They don't tend to hold grudges.

I've heard that birds tend to get mad at the towel (like it is some separate being) instead of you. Not sure but thought I would throw that out for consideration....

I am lucky that my birds use their grooming perches so I don't have to trim their nails anymore. I once clipped Stella's nails on my own (before I got the grooming perches) and even though I did not think I went far at all, she bled a little and held her foot up for a day. I felt so rotten and went out a week later and got her a grooming perch.