Clipping wings

I got a 9 week old lovebird yesterday. it wasn't clipped. Should I get his/her wings clipped?
And if so, should I wait till he/she is of a certain age?

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ParrotLover2001 said:

I got a 9 week old lovebird yesterday. it wasn't clipped. Should I get his/her wings clipped?
And if so, should I wait till he/she is of a certain age?

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I would recommend that you use the Search Button in the upper Banner.

Wing Clipping is a widely and hotly debated subject. Near everyone has their position on this subject and as a result it is best to state it this way.

Each owner /caretaker should research the subject and come to their own position. That individual should remain open over their life as health changes and aging can effect whether to or not to clip the wings of their Parrot.

The most important point is: Never have a "Non-Avian Trained individual Wing Clip your Parrot. Get it wrong and you move from a Flier or Glider to a Dropped Rock status, which is very dangerous!

Do your research!

Yes agree with my friend Sailboat but please do realise this isn't a cosmetic add-on. It is something that is done for a reason, sometimes good, sometimes not so. If you need to discuss why you think it should be done I am sure you will get honest but sensible replies.

My now 18 y.o bird has been clipped his whole life. Had we gotten him as a younger bird, I assure you it would not have been my choice, but at this stage of life, it is what he is used to, he never learned to fly and trying to teach him has proven dangerous and traumatizing, so clipped he shall remain! He is perfectly happy, healthy and active being clipped, he simply knows no different. It's like a disability though, and he has to have "bridges" all around his area so he can move around from his cage to his play stand to his boing etc... unassisted since he can't fly where he'd like to go. Also kind of a nuisance to have to give him rides all the time since he can't get to where he wants to be by himself. He is potty trained and alerts us us when he needs to go, but unlike the flighted potty trained birds I grew up with who'd fly home then fly back, we have to drop what we're doing to rush him home, then wait for him to go and bring him back. Flying is the natural, preferred and often best mode of transportation for a bird. You also have to be sure you are keeping your bird active enough as a non-flighted bird, as their biggest form of exercise (flight) will be off the table and you'll need to be creative in keeping them active.

All of that said, what are your reasons for wanting to clip? There are valid reasons. I do strongly recommend you at least allow him to learn to become a competent flyer before clipping. Much like riding a bike, they will never forget how, but the older they get, the much harder it becomes to learn and a point could come in the future you are able or would like to flight your bird again. My dad's cockatoo was clipped for a few years when I was a toddler for safety reasons, and re-flighted once I was old enough to avoid him and picked flight right back up as he was a competent flyer before being clipped. Trust me on this one, you don't want to try to teach an older bird who's never flown to fly. Teach them while young, then clip if you feel clipping is really the best option for your bird.

My bird knows how to fly, and I want to clip for training. You can't train a bird who is always flying around, landing out of reach.

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Give him the free flying time first, with some of that energy expended he may be more receptive. Have you first got him used to accepting and liking treats as with no incentive you are ***** in the wind my friend clipped or not. Sounds like you need to build trust and go from there. If not confident of you he wont do as you would like. Most successful training happens because of incentives ie treats and they do like to please and be praised.

So long as he's a competent flyer, there is no reason clipping couldn't be done with careful consideration, however clipping will not necessarily make him more motivated to train. My bird is only interested in trick training when he darn well feels like it, and no treat or reward on earth will motivate him to pay attention and engage in the training activity otherwise. He may not be able to go anywhere, but he'll just turn his back and ignore me if he's not into it that day (other days he's so into it, he gets offended when it's time to quit). Birds can be funny like that. Some individuals are much more interested in training activities than others and sometimes interest levels in training can vary by whether or not they happen to have other things on their mind that day.

What kind of training are you working on/plan to work on? Basic step up type stuff or more advanced trick training? Are you following a training program of any kind or kind of doing it on your own? If you are following a program, is there a recommendation about clipping and how having your bird flighted vs clipped will work with the concepts you plan to teach following that program? If training kind of on your own plan, have you considered the options of integrating stationing and recall into your training plan? Even smaller parrots can learn both concepts! Training may need to start inside the cage rather than out. No judgement, just some things to consider in making the decision to clip or not

The only time I clipped mine I gave a baby clip. They could still fly. Just not as far or as fast. With my tiels it only took 4 flight feathers.

If you clip I do have a suggestiob since yours is so young.

Clip in stages to give him/her time to adjust. I did one feather every day or every other day. Mine are out all day so they adjusted faster.

With lovebirds, ours can fly. When they get to the stage where their wings make a whirring noise (in short bursts like a little machine gun) they can usually dart around like crazy and they are harder to manage. That is when I clip them, but I only take a small amount from the last 4 or 5 feathers, essentially so that they can still gain height, but not dart around.

One of ours was overclipped when I got her and it took her over a year before she could fly, from memory it might have been 2 years, and it is quite stressful when they are like that because they crash into everything.

For the record, Salty was just clipped 12 days ago, and I think the vet may have over done it, allowing him to drop like a stone when he fell yesterday. See thread 'Salty in hospital'. You need to make a bond with your love bird before any training can be done, clipped or not, as kiwi says above. Go slow, bro. You'll have a long time with your bird.

ParrotLover2001 said:

...You can't train a bird who is always flying around, landing out of reach.

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Actually, you can. It might be a little more challenging, but believe me when I tell you that it's very much worth the extra effort. As April mentioned, you can do target training from inside the cage.

You would also want to work on strengthening the bond between you. Trust will be a huge factor. And if you work on target and recall training in between meal times, using your bird's favorite treats as an incentive, you may be surprised what you'll manage to achieve.

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