Grooming my bird!

should i get my Greys wings clipped?

  • no

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • doesnt matter

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • NEVER!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    5
  • Poll closed .

Bird

New member
Sep 27, 2010
4
0
Hi everyone! i am not new to parrots but i am new to this/and some other forums. Reading all the information i found online is very interesting, since the store that i bought my african grey from pretty much told me to do the opposite of everything that i can find online in these forums.
so the question is ...should i or should i not clip my birds wings? the store clipped them, they said its for safety, so they dont run into windows and such but now i think my birds have lost their confidence that they had. another parrots forum type of a site | Meet The Parrots tells me to clip them ..but a different one named theparrotforum.com says not to.
so i am very confused ...should i get them done or not??? (wings)
nails, it makes sense to groom them every few months because they will affect the birds directly but wings...i dont know..
another question is ...how often should i give my grey a bath...they sold me some parrot shampoo and said do it every month ...
cuz of dust and what not.

any suggestions?
 

JawzX

New member
Aug 22, 2010
184
Media
1
1
Vermont
Parrots
8 year-old second-hand Alexandrine Parakeet Buddy (aka Baby, aka Ms. Prissy Beak)
Welcome! Clipping is a very contentious subject. My personal opinion is that if you can provide an environment that is safe for a flighted bird, then clipping is not required. A flighted bird tends to get more excesize, but they can also get into trouble easier and may be more difficult to control. Perhppas a good cous of action is to initially clip the bird and the build the trust and rules you and the bird need in order to be safe in the house while the feathers grow back in. This is the course of action I am personally taking.

as for bathing, a shampoo is probably not a great idea. Even a "pet safe" one can strip oils from the feathers and dry out a bird's sensetive skin.

if your bird will accept it and enjoys it a good soaking mist bath should be given every day or two, or at LEAST once a week. Providing a glass pieplate or other shallow bird-safe vessel with a couple inches of water in it can stimulate the bird's natural instinct to bathe and make it easier and less stressful to get the little guys wet. Greys are quite dusty and regular baths are impotant to keep their skin healthy and avoid excessive dander, which can actually cause allergic reactions or breathing problems in some people. As well as being a dusty mess ;)

also, if your bird likes running water a warm (not hot) shower evey few days can be a great way to get your bird soaked and reduce mess.

good luck with your new Fid!
 

wildheart

Banned
Banned
Mar 16, 2010
1,374
2
South Africa
Welcome to the forum. ;)

My girl has a bird bath on top of her cage and she bathes herself at least every second day. I am a bit skeptical about shampoo - wild birds do not have or need shampoo. Maybe somebody else knows the shampoo you are talking about.

To clip or not to clip. Birds are made to fly but, they are also created to be free.

I can understand that this is really putting your head in a spin and I dont think a poll will solve YOUR problem.

You need to sit down and look at YOUR living conditions. Do you travel a lot? Do you spend most of your time outdoors? What is your house like - can you make it bird safe? How big is the cage? etc, etc,
 

antoinette

Supporting Member
Jul 6, 2009
13,114
Media
9
18
Sunny South Africa !!!
Parrots
African "Grey"
"Mishka"
Male
7 Years old
Very debatable topic to clip or not
I personally feel a poll will not assist you with your decision, at the end of the day, you must decide what is best for the bird. Taking into account your living arrangements, any other pets etc
Please read the posts below, where members have discussed it in depth.

Clipping pros and cons

Good luck
 

Spiritbird

Banned
Banned
Aug 20, 2009
5,749
Media
10
6
I too feel a poll is not what you should be doing. You know your bird and we do not. I have a TAG and she was clipped from the first day I got her until she has just recently grown in all feathers after a molt. She is flying around all the time when she is out scaring my cat and knocking over things because her landings are not so good. Personality wise she is much more like a naughter teen ager than a 3 year old child. I have an appt. with my vet for my birds annual physical and get wings clipped. I am concerned she will hurt herself on a land or scare my cat so much as the cat will hurt her. I did pose the question here and just wanted feedback from others experiences before I made the decision. So the decision is yours and yours alone.
 

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