Beginner conure owner with an old question

[ebesq]

In about two weeks, I'm going to be getting my first parrot, a hand-fed black capped conure. My bird experience thus far has been limited to a pair of budgies who are not hand-tame. (One was a rescue with a wing that broke and didn't heal properly and who is very, very human aggressive; the other I acquired as a cage mate for the first. Attempts to tame them have been unsuccessful.)

So I'm trying to prepare myself for the arrival of my new little friend and I've been reading as much as I can about taming and training. And I have a question that I'm slightly afraid is going to incite an argument...

The aviary that I'm getting the bird from offers wing clipping, but leaves birds unclipped by default. I've been debating whether to ask for my bird to be clipped or not.

I've read a lot of the various arguments for and against wing clipping, including the ethical/moral side of things. My main concern is that this will be my first (hopefully) tame bird, and I'm a little worried that if I leave him unclipped, I may have a lot of trouble getting him to come to me and getting him back into his cage before I can establish trust with him. I have other animals as well as my budgies, including fish, reptiles, and a small dog, and I'm afraid that my conure might startle at something and fly off. Regardless of whether he's clipped or unclipped, this bird will never, ever be left unsupervised while outside the cage.

I actually quite like the idea of having a fully flighted bird once I'm confident that it trusts me and will come to me when I need it to, but I feel like it may be better for both of us if he's clipped for the first while. Can anyone weigh in on this? Is it harder to tame and train an unclipped bird, or is it simply a matter of different tactics?

 

[weco]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your forthcoming conure, but hand-fed does not insure that it is hand-tame and since most newly arrived birds have at least some tendency to be apprehensive and flighty in new homes, you'd probably best served to assume that the bird will be flighty and will need protection from itself and any predatory animals you might have.....never assume any docility of any other animal around a small bird that might otherwise be prey.....

Wing clipping is a controversial topic in most bird groups/forums and you, the bird owner are the only one who can make the determination to clip or not to clip for a particular bird's safety and your ease in training a particular bird, but it is pretty much mandatory that if you restrict/remove a bird's ability to fly and escape, you have to remove any other predatory animals from the area when the bird(s) is/are out of their cage.....

Before ever getting a second conure as a mate/companion/friend for your forthcoming black capped, be sure you have an established relationship with the first conure before introducing the second conure, then establish an individual relationship with the second conure before allowing the two conures to become friends or you will continue in the same situation as with your budgies.....

Good luck with your new flock addition.....

 

[hacatta]

wing clipping if done right is not permanent,while i have never done it,you could do it and then let it grow out.
my mother had to do it with a new bird that attacked in flight,now he is able to fly and is so sweet.
But you could try without and if that doesn't work out you could take him to the vet to let him clipped.
But you are getting a handfed and not a wild one so i would not do it.

 

[Diashi]

Wing clipping is temporary! birds are meant to fly! When we got our baby, he had his wings clipped and we just let them grow out. It's so much fun to see them try to fly every day, and then one day...boom...flight! Captive birds who are allowed to exercise their natural urge to fly (even for just a few minutes per day) are less aggressive, happier, and are able to expel nervous energy that may otherwise go toward plucking or screaming.
Try flying for a few months and see how it goes!
Be careful to secure your home's windows, doors, and other pets. :10:

 

[songlake]

The problem with wing clipping is that often it is done at too young of an age, before the bird fledges and learns to fly. When it happens to a bird too young what you will find (from my experience with this) is a bird who drops like a rock when they attempt to fly. I have had one cockatiel baby die from head trauma this way. It's sibling who I bought as a replacement also was clipped too young and was forever breaking blood feathers when the flight feathers were molted. It is beyond frightening to find your bird covered in blood from broken blood feathers.

On the other hand, if the bird has learned to fly and then is clipped, you will have a bird who can only fly 10 to 20 feet and not crash land. That is far safer than one who crashes.

So I would ask the breeder if the bird has learned to fly yet. Or you can bring the bird home, work with it and see then if you would like to clip it's wing, I would recommend this. Wing clipping is very easy to do after you determine if it's what is needed. You cant put those feathers back on though if you decide you would rather it be able to fly. My sun conure was clipped by the breeder after fledging. She can make it about 20 feet and has to land. But she's approaching 9 months old now and her flight feathers have not molted yet. So if you make a mistake in deciding to clip, be aware it can take a very long time for the little guy to molt back into full flight mode.

All birds will startle, so ask yourself if you want it to crash when it startles or be able to fly to where it deems safe