Why did this bird store give Turtle half of a clip? I don't understand

[ImaParrot]

For my sister's birthday, she wanted a bird. Obviously, we knew I'd be the one caring for him, considering she's 4.
We went to Adventures in Birds in Houston to get him. (The store was fun, but why did they do this?)
1) She's really good at picking out beautiful birds. She knew EXACTLY which bird she wanted.
2) I thought that since Turtle is her bird, he should be clipped, so he'd be more attached to her, which she'd absolutely adore.
3) I asked for his wings to be clipped, but I didn't notice until we got home a few days later that they only clipped one of his wings. Previously, I've had two flighted birds from a breeder and one clipped from Petco. He's more clumsy than either of them.

Why would someone clip just one wing? He definitely can't fly, but he's so clumsy I worry every time I let him out with the rest of the birds.


Another grievance, but this one is completely my fault.
I don't know what made me think that three birds in one cage was a good idea. To be fair, it's a big cage, but I didn't really think through the two-boys, one-girl situation.
They were good for the first two weeks, but now Elvis and Turtle are fighting. Would getting another girl alleviate the tension?
We don't have the space for another cage. (I originally thought we did, but there was a miscommunication and my dad won't tolerate another cage)
We'll be building an aviary, but that could be months out.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

View attachment 51557

For my sister's birthday, she wanted a bird. Obviously, we knew I'd be the one caring for him, considering she's 4.
We went to Adventures in Birds in Houston to get him. (The store was fun, but why did they do this?)
1) She's really good at picking out beautiful birds. She knew EXACTLY which bird she wanted.
2) I thought that since Turtle is her bird, he should be clipped, so he'd be more attached to her, which she'd absolutely adore.
3) I asked for his wings to be clipped, but I didn't notice until we got home a few days later that they only clipped one of his wings. Previously, I've had two flighted birds from a breeder and one clipped from Petco. He's more clumsy than either of them.

Why would someone clip just one wing? He definitely can't fly, but he's so clumsy I worry every time I let him out with the rest of the birds.


Another grievance, but this one is completely my fault.
I don't know what made me think that three birds in one cage was a good idea. To be fair, it's a big cage, but I didn't really think through the two-boys, one-girl situation.
They were good for the first two weeks, but now Elvis and Turtle are fighting. Would getting another girl alleviate the tension?
We don't have the space for another cage. (I originally thought we did, but there was a miscommunication and my dad won't tolerate another cage)
We'll be building an aviary, but that could be months out.

Clipping one wing is always a terrible idea. Every time he tries to fly hes going crash land. I think you should have Turtle's other wing trimmed too to balance him out and let both wings grow back. It was not necessary to clip his wings at all, especially so severely.
Turtle is a beautiful boy.

 

[GryphonHound]

It was probably an accident to only clip one side but why would you clip the wings of a bird? Why did you get a bird for her if you didn't want it to fly? The moment the bird regains the ability to fly that 'bond' she grew with it is gone. Bonds are built off of trust and mutual respect. Put yourself in your bird's position. Would you trust someone who did that to you? Took away the thing that you were made for and love doing just because they want to create a bond with you that isn't even real and that the bird never wanted you to do to them, to begin with? Imagine how traumatic that is for him, Imagine if every time you tried to walk you fell over.
Please learn from this and help your sister create a real bond with him.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

It was probably an accident to only clip one side but why would you clip the wings of a bird? Why did you get a bird for her if you didn't want it to fly? The moment the bird regains the ability to fly that 'bond' she grew with it is gone. Bonds are built off of trust and mutual respect. Put yourself in your bird's position. Would you trust someone who did that to you? Took away the thing that you were made for and love doing just because they want to create a bond with you that isn't even real and that the bird never wanted you to do to them, to begin with? Imagine how traumatic that is for him, Imagine if every time you tried to walk you fell over.
Please learn from this and help your sister create a real bond with him.

I don't think the Pet store make a mistake- I have seen many pet stores trim only one wing. It's stupid, but it IS done.

At this point you should have the other wing trimmed too to prevent injury and the frustration he must feel every time he tries to fly, veers off, and crashes.

I understand that you wanted your sister to be able to handle her new bird without it flying off, but rendering the bird COMPLETELY unable to fly (and dangerously uncoordinated) was the wrong approach. If anything, the tips of a few of the longest flight feathers on each wing could have been shortened to slow down his flight and reduce his ability to fly too high and too far, but this trim was a mistake and it's too late.

However, your mistake isn't the end of a good relationship between you and your sister and Turtle, so there's no need to be too negative. Turtle's wings will slowly grow back over the next six months and he won't hold a grudge against anyone. For the most part, Turtle lives in the moment. He doesn't know what scissors are, what wing trimming is, who trimmed his wings or why. If you and your sister treat Turtle well, are friendly and kind to him, give him treats, and spend a lot of time with him, he will become a great little friend for you and your sister long after his wings grow back. PLEASE don't trim them again after they grow back!

At only four, your sister is very young and birds are fragile little creatures. Most children are not mature enough to understand how to safely handle a pet budgie until they are at least seven years old. Please supervise any playtime between Turtle and your sister until she demonstrates that she is able to handle him properly.

Many people on this forum disagree with ANY wingtrimming and don't hesitate to express how much they disapprove of some of what I'm saying. However, I don't believe that wing trimming is a black and white issue.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

View attachment 51557

For my sister's birthday, she wanted a bird. Obviously, we knew I'd be the one caring for him, considering she's 4.
We went to Adventures in Birds in Houston to get him. (The store was fun, but why did they do this?)
1) She's really good at picking out beautiful birds. She knew EXACTLY which bird she wanted.
2) I thought that since Turtle is her bird, he should be clipped, so he'd be more attached to her, which she'd absolutely adore.
3) I asked for his wings to be clipped, but I didn't notice until we got home a few days later that they only clipped one of his wings. Previously, I've had two flighted birds from a breeder and one clipped from Petco. He's more clumsy than either of them.

Why would someone clip just one wing? He definitely can't fly, but he's so clumsy I worry every time I let him out with the rest of the birds.


Another grievance, but this one is completely my fault.
I don't know what made me think that three birds in one cage was a good idea. To be fair, it's a big cage, but I didn't really think through the two-boys, one-girl situation.
They were good for the first two weeks, but now Elvis and Turtle are fighting. Would getting another girl alleviate the tension?
We don't have the space for another cage. (I originally thought we did, but there was a miscommunication and my dad won't tolerate another cage)
We'll be building an aviary, but that could be months out.

Regarding your budgies' cage situation- you say there is no room for another cage. Why not set another cage on top of the cage housing the two budgies? It wouldn’t take up any more room that way. How big is the cage you have?
If you want Turtle to bond with your sister instead of your other budgies it would be easier if Turtle had his own cage.

 

[ImaParrot]

I don't think the Pet store make a mistake- I have seen many pet stores trim only one wing. It's stupid, but it IS done.

At this point you should have the other wing trimmed too to prevent injury and the frustration he must feel every time he tries to fly, veers off, and crashes.

I understand that you wanted your sister to be able to handle her new bird without it flying off, but rendering the bird COMPLETELY unable to fly (and dangerously uncoordinated) was the wrong approach. If anything, the tips of a few of the longest flight feathers on each wing could have been shortened to slow down his flight and reduce his ability to fly too high and too far, but this trim was a mistake and it's too late.

However, your mistake isn't the end of a good relationship between you and your sister and Turtle, so there's no need to be too negative. Turtle's wings will slowly grow back over the next six months and he won't hold a grudge against anyone. For the most part, Turtle lives in the moment. He doesn't know what scissors are, what wing trimming is, who trimmed his wings or why. If you and your sister treat Turtle well, are friendly and kind to him, give him treats, and spend a lot of time with him, he will become a great little friend for you and your sister long after his wings grow back. PLEASE don't trim them again after they grow back!

At only four, your sister is very young and birds are fragile little creatures. Most children are not mature enough to understand how to safely handle a pet budgie until they are at least seven years old. Please supervise any playtime between Turtle and your sister until she demonstrates that she is able to handle him properly.

Many people on this forum disagree with ANY wingtrimming and don't hesitate to express how much they disapprove of some of what I'm saying. However, I don't believe that wing trimming is a black and white issue.

A while ago I saw some people on this forum saying they had clipped parakeets that were really sweet, and when I got Olive she was clipped and I had no influence whatsoever, Olive still ended up being a really sweet bird. Another reason is that my flighted bird Elvis flies close to my siblings' heads sometimes and I wouldn't want Turtle to do the same thing and get hurt.
Yes, I'll be supervising everything. At the moment, she just likes to talk to him and feed him millet, which is one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
I also had forgotten that aspect of buying a bird until the moment where the lady asked me, "Do you want me to clip his wings?" 🤦‍♀️

 

[ImaParrot]

Regarding your budgies' cage situation- you say there is no room for another cage. Why not set another cage on top of the cage housing the two budgies? It wouldn’t take up any more room that way. How big is the cage you have?
If you want Turtle to bond with your sister instead of your other budgies it would be easier if Turtle had his own cage.

That may work. I'll ask them tonight.
Thanks!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Clipping one wing is always a terrible idea. Every time he tries to fly hes going crash land. I think you should have Turtle's other wing trimmed too to balance him out and let both wings grow back. It was not necessary to clip his wings at all, especially so severely.
Turtle is a beautiful boy.

You ought to read the new thread Introducing . . . Princess Peach.
There is a lo of discussion about one-sided ing clipping and an amazing video of a Veterinarian performing a procedure on a cockatiel that had a bad one sided wing clip that caused her to fall repeadedly and injure her breastbone. He temporarily implanted feathers in her clipped wing (kinda like hair extensions) to allow her to fly again. Amazing!

 

[clark_conure]

I do not agree with one sided clipping. I used to clip my birds cause I'd take them to stores and stuff but now since covid I just let em all fly around the entire downstairs man cave.

What I used to do was a block cut. It's not a precise cut you just take off a bunch of the tips so they can "Fly" but "mostly" downwards and evenly. It takes off most the tips, doesn't ever get to close to the blood vessles and the bird can jump scare a few feet but mostly floats down nice and gentle.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

A while ago I saw some people on this forum saying they had clipped parakeets that were really sweet, and when I got Olive she was clipped and I had no influence whatsoever, Olive still ended up being a really sweet bird. Another reason is that my flighted bird Elvis flies close to my siblings' heads sometimes and I wouldn't want Turtle to do the same thing and get hurt.
Yes, I'll be supervising everything. At the moment, she just likes to talk to him and feed him millet, which is one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
I also had forgotten that aspect of buying a bird until the moment where the lady asked me, "Do you want me to clip his wings?" 🤦‍♀️

I have had clipped budgies in the past that turned out to be very sweet happy pets. I don't want my budgies being unable to fly. They must at least be able to fly off the ground to their cages and around the room. A bird that can't fly can get stepped on, trapped in a tight place, or attacked by other pets. I love watching them gracefully navigate around the room and land on me to pay a visit!

I do not agree with one sided clipping. I used to clip my birds cause I'd take them to stores and stuff but now since covid I just let em all fly around the entire downstairs man cave.

What I used to do was a block cut. It's not a precise cut you just take off a bunch of the tips so they can "Fly" but "mostly" downwards and evenly. It takes off most the tips, doesn't ever get to close to the blood vessles and the bird can jump scare a few feet but mostly floats down nice and gentle.

That's exactly what I do if I need to keep a budgie from flying into the cupola 16 feet up in my living room. There are wide windowsills up there and a terrific view of the lake and the woods so what bird wouldn't want to hang out up there? I've had budgies refuse to come down for over a day and its too dangerous for me to climb a ladder to retrieve them. I put my hand over my budgie with the tail and wingtips sticking out the end and just trim the tips off the longest flight feathers without holding them and pulling their wing out which is too stressful for them. Things need to be safe for both me and my budgies.

 

[ravvlet]

Would it be cruel at this point to even out the clip so they have more control? It looks pretty short from the photo though so I am uncertain that would be better.

When we got Cricket he had a very light clip that quickly grew out, and my youngest was only 3. They got along well anyway; and he felt much more secure because when he was nervous of her he could fly off. He would land on her willingly though, and we had taught her (and always supervised her) to not try to grab him and just let him hang out.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Would it be cruel at this point to even out the clip so they have more control? It looks pretty short from the photo though so I am uncertain that would be better.

When we got Cricket he had a very light clip that quickly grew out, and my youngest was only 3. They got along well anyway; and he felt much more secure because when he was nervous of her he could fly off. He would land on her willingly though, and we had taught her (and always supervised her) to not try to grab him and just let him hang out.

If the clip isn't evened out I think trying to fly would be frustrating and dangerous. With the one wing clip I even wonder if he would be so frightened of flying because he can't control his direction that it may affect his future willingness to fly after the feathers grow back. At least if it's symmetrical, lack of coordination won't be the issue.