Rudustin
New member
I have a question of the forum flock: How do most of you feel about letting a four month old Golden Conure being allowed to grow out his wing feathers or not? The reason for asking is that Muffin, my Golden Conure, had a slight accident this past Sunday( when every Avian Vet was closed) I gave him a shower with me and then I, stupidly, placed him on top of the frame work of the shower stall while I continued to shower. He loves baths and he gets very excited and flaps his wings a great deal while drying off. He has never flown because he has been wing clipped right from the get go at the breeders facility and he is still clipped. He sometimes attempt to practice flapping his wings and sometimes he gets too excited that he slips and he falls but not from such a distance as this particular time. He ended having bruised his upper mandible and likely his tongue and he stopped eating and preening and vocalizing and remained obviously in pain. He couldn't even climb down to his feeding cups to eat had he chosen to eat. I took him to a vet who confirmed that he had bruised his beak. He was given an anti-inflammatory shot, which I must say made a difference, and he is now eating and vocalizing and drinking normally but I can see that his normal nibbling is altered slightly by the sensitivity of his beak. I was assure by the vet that it would continue to get better with time and it has. It was a bit of a jolt to me because I have always had big birds and they have always been flighted so falling has been so rare that I have never experienced this kind of trauma in a bird before. So now I am just getting information from all of you as to what your personal ideas are about having him clipped when his flight feathers grow out or not? I know the ultimate decision is mine but having only had Toos and Macaws who were always flighted I just wondered what most of you that have smaller birds think. Thanks for any opinions.