african grey toenail picking

Question
hello Maggie! i own a 2 year old congo african grey, joey. He just had a recent vet check and came out 100% the vet did trim his nails when he went there. But at home when roaming/playing/standing he'll pick at his nails. He'll wave his feet in the air and grab onto a nail and flick it in a way, like hes trying to trim them down himself. He does it a lot, doesnt affect anything else, its just a little weird. Do you know why he does this "nail flicking"?  

Answer
Hi,

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your question.  I would not worry about this behavior if he appears to be healthy in every other aspect (good appetite, same energy level, not being fluffed up, etc.)  

My friend's rescued grey was very scared when his first owners had his nails trimmed for the first time. Now this grey bites his toenails and keeps them filed down all by himself (and they don't need to get trimmed). You can also get a cement perch (only one perch should be cement, since it can be hard on the skin of their feet), which will help keep the nails filed down so that your birds nails will not need to be trimmed as often.

I hope this helps.

-Maggie