I was trimming Kermit’s nails and one of them bled a little. I have a product called Kwik Stop that stops the bleeding. Kermit reached for it while I was trying to apply it to his nail, and he got some on his beak. He may have eaten some of the powder. Is it harmful to ingest? It’s advertised specifically for birds. It also works very well when you accidentally cut a nail too short - the bleeding stopped immediately.

I never used kwik stop, but judging from my common sense, I don’t think they would make a product used on a bird’s body part with the risk of death if consumed. It’s well known birds are curious and like to put everything in their mouth. I think it’s harmless.

On the package it says “for external use only”. Does this mean it’s harmful if swallowed? I think he only consumed a small amount. I would assume it’s fine.

There are numerous reports on the internet of dogs licking it off without problems, so a little bit probably isn't harmful. But even if it's not poisonous, there is a potential danger because styptic powder can cause chemical burns to skin and other soft tissues. It's fine to use it on nails, but it's better to use something else (like flour or cornstarch) on bleeding skin wounds.

You can also use flour or cornstarch with bleeding nails - it's cheaper than Kwik Stop and safer too, because it can't cause chemical burns if it gets on the skin and you don't have to worry about what happens if the bird eats it. I keep some flour in a small plastic container handy when I'm trimming nails so I can apply it fast if a nail gets cut too short.

I have used corn starch before and it takes a while to stop the bleeding. Kwik Stop seems to work much faster. This is actually the first time Kermit bled from a nail clipping. Ducky seems to bleed often, even when the nail isn’t cut that short.

In young birds, the vein goes out closer to the tip of the nail than it does in older birds. When nails get really long, the vein gets longer too, and the way to make it get shorter is to gradually cut the nail back to where it should be over a period of time instead of trying to do it all at once. I'm sure there are individual variations in vein length too.

So there are lots of factors that affect the location of the vein. If you have a bird where you're frequently nicking the vein, the solution is to just barely take off the sharp tip and not actually try to make the nail shorter.

you can also get styptic pens