thinking of clipping Skittles.....

[Marnie]

my Moustache Skittles has been here almost 2 weeks now and she is fully flighted. so i let her be and tried to enjoy her as herself. my 1st flying bird!
but i am tired of her crashing into windows (hoping she is ok)
and very worried she will land on Marnies cage. (not good)
she flies very erratic and fast with no plan to her flight. most of the time she crashes into the windows.
she is not hand tame but will step up onto a stick very nicely to be put back on to her cage.

i can't let this keep up or she will hurt herself. i really don't want to clip her though but i don't see a way to make sure she is safe. plus we do run our ceiling fan most of the summer so there is another danger to face.
its like having an unpredictable kamikazee in the house.

ideas? suggestions?

 

[SharonC]

It sounds as if clipping may be a good idea, in order to maximize Skittles safety.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Clipping may be a good option, but be very careful when you do as she will still expect to be able to fly. You don't want her jumping off the top of the cage, expecting her wings to work 100%, just ease her in

It sounds like Skittles is 'panicking' during flight. My tiel, who is a VERY good flyer, will do this sort of unpredictable flying if she is spooked or enters a space she has never seen before (it even happens to the pro flyers lol). Skittles probably has no idea how to negotiate the house, EVERYTHING is an obstacle. She has to negotiate the cupboards, chairs, tables, walls, cages, people, scary looking objects, lights, mirrors and windows (they are the hardest). If you do want to keep Skittles flighted, perhaps help her to learn how to fly to her cage and also fly to you. This provides the birds with 'safety zones' to aim for, which gives direction to their flight. If my birds get spooked, they generally look for two things... me, or the cage. I am no expert here, but it may be a possible method if you want to keep her unclipped. I would also suggest only letting her fly in the room where the cage is, at least for now.

Also try and keep blinds drawn until she learns how to control her flight. A good way to teach them that windows are solid, is to let them touch it with their beak.

 

[Spiritbird]

Rosie has been flying for a few months now and I just had her clipped by my vet. We did some test flights right in the vets office so she will know she cant fly as well. She got the idea right away. So just have her fly with supervision in a closed space and all should go well.

 

[wildheart]

Here are some good articles about clipping and safety that I think will help you a lot. I would personally choose to clip because Skittles can really get hurt and worse.


Wing Clipping
Flight Training for the Clumsy Parrot

 

[Marnie]

thanks everyone, it seems the consensus is to clip, which i think is best in this case. she has been here almost 2 weeks now and her flights are still so very erratic. like me on skates! lol i can skate but usually run into a wall to stop myself ha ha!
plus, the other thing is the very open floor plan of my house. once she is out of here (the computer room) its all one big open space from the family room through the dining room to the kitchen and TV room. there are no doors to close. if i had doors to close to give her limited space, i would. that would get rid of the fear of her clashing with Marnie.
i hate to keep the computer room door closed all the time to contain her as it puts her in solitary confinement till i come in here (which is a lot!). she does like company and its not fair to keep her closed off from the rest of the goings on around here.
so i know in my heart its best for her, but i also know she is born to fly, which is making me sad to do it.
Marnie is clipped and she is very good about it as she never learned to fly.
whenever she lands on the floor she just goes to the rug in front of the sink and waits for me to find her there. then she does her little happy spinning dance and waits for me to pick her up. she is such a cutie.
just now i came in the computer room to find skittle clinging to a picture frame on the wall, it could have crashed down on her. i guess i have to get busy and do it before she does hurt herself. then i will really be sad because i could have prevented it.

 

[Marnie]

well today was the day....
Skittles had one last free flight this morning, landing on my windowsill and knocking over a vase, then on to a picture frame on the wall where i retrieved her.
its only a matter of time before she gets good at it and finds Marnies cage an inviting landing spot. a no no
so i gave her a light clipping. what a difference! she came sailing out into the kitchen but only a few feet off the floor. much much better! can't crash into windows at that level

 

[Marnie]

well THAT didn't work! it took all of a day for her to use her newly clipped wings to learn to fly again! she flew right out i nto the kitchen and landed on the cupboards above the kitchen sink!
so yesterday she got another clipping, i took the same amount off i did the 1st time and she can't fly at all now
in this pic you can see her long fight feathers.....
the 1st cut was about 3/4 off

you could still see the flight feathers sticking out.
on the 2nd cut i took off the same amount again so they don't stick out at all now.
she looks good but i don't like it that she doesn't have any lift and falls to the soft carpet. good thing they will grow back and we will then find a happy medium.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Oh dear, that is no good, sorry this happened. When they grow back, its probably best to get the vet to clip them next time. Which feathers and how many did you clip?

 

[wildheart]

Ag no I am sorry you did not get it right. My girl has been dropping to the ground for months already (a vet clipped wrong) and it is just as dangerous as being flighted. You will have to keep an eye on Skittles because it takes weeks before they realize that they FALL. They can break their bones.

 

[Marnie]

i found these 2 instructions on clipping and this is how i did it.
i think she will be fine.
i took my amazon to the avian vet for a clip once and she was clipped so short she dropped like a rock! never again.
i'll do my own birds and we will learn together. as she becomes more tame and used to her surroundings i will let her be flighted again and see how she does.
of course i will keep a watchful eye on her, she does have a soft landing in here and she knows how to climb up her stick to get back in her cage.
she is pretty smart.
Marnie will sit on the rug all day and wait for me to find her instead of climbing her tree back up to her cage. i think she likes how i fuss over when i find her there.



What and How Much to Clip
After clipping a bird should still be able to fly a few feet. This enables him to protect himself from a fall, by giving him enough lift to land safely. If clipped too drastically, he won't be able to maneuver to avoid hitting something dangerous or to break his fall. As a result he may injure his beak, breastbone or wings or even break a leg as he plummets to the ground.

The only feathers which should be clipped are the primary flight feathers. These are the ten long feathers on the outermost part of the wing. Start at the 10th primary (the one furthest from the body) and progress inward. How many primaries you need to clip varies by species and bird. Feathers should be trimmed back so that the cut end is just under the major coverts. The coverts will thus surround the rough edges and help prevent them from irritating the skin. This is very important, as birds may begin feather plucking if the trimmed feathers are irritating.

When you cut your bird's primary flight feathers, use the dorsal major primary coverts as a type of "dotted line" guide. These are the smaller feathers just above (towards the bird's head and wrist) the primary flights. If you cut just below (towards the tail) these feathers, you should never accidentally cut an immature or "blood" feather, which could result in pain and bleeding. Normally, the part of the feather sticking beyond the coverts is mature and without blood supply.

 

[Von1983]

I can't help but feel I need to read this thread by peeping through my fingers!

I think if I was you, I would restrain out of cage time to on the floor or low furniture just to be sure of no accidents because breaking keel bones/feet and beaks is all too common after a severe wing clip. As we know, our birdies bones are so fragile.

I'm glad you want to learn from your mistakes and I'm all for learning with your bird, but not if it's dangerous to them in any which way.