Should budgies have there wings clipped or not? I have heard a lot about yes and no also can it be done at home or should a vet do it?

 

thanks

 

appy arry

I personaly say you should get your budgie's wings clipped as it can give you a good chance of getting a really tame budgie, I'm going to get Sparky's wings clipped to because hes not so tame.

and I would let a vet clip the wings or better, an avian vet because if your not careful you could cut their vital feathers which could cause your budgie to bleed to death.

Good luck

huh hmm...this topic is quite widely argued on this forum. use the search option to find the threads.

 

i am all for wing clipping too. both mine have been clipped and their behaviour and safety around the house is all the more better for it.

thanks for that. I know a bird place that will hopefully do it although I did not get the bird from there.

 

How old is your sparky and does he talk and is he very tame?

:blow:

Sparky I would say about 8 months old now and he was 2-3 months old when I got him.

I haven't heard Sparky talk yet but my dad says he heard him say "pretty boy"

and sadly Sparky is not very tame and that is why I am going to get his wings clipped.

does he fly around the room all the time.

 

Another question. how do you get your piccys on the screen and another question do I need to cover the bird up at night.

 

Also

 

We have a caravan (touring) and are going away next weekend with the bird and smaller cage. Do you reckon he will be okay as he will be with us. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

thansk

 

sorry about all the questions... :blow:

No worries about the questions

 

Sparky does fly outside the cage but he will go back in HIS own time which usualy takes 3 hours

This is a link on how to post your pics Picture posting

 

It is probably best to cover him up at night..

1. It keeps them warm and makes them feel safe.

2. You can then set their bed times by covering them when you want.

 

but sorry I'm not to sure about the caravan but I'm sure someone else can help you

If you really feel that you HAVE to have your budgies wings clipped (personally i hate the practice as it is so often very badly done) Make sure you get a professional person to do it (vet is best) NEVER have your budgies wings hacked to the point that it cannot fly at all. The bird should retain some flying ability. Badly clipped wings can so often lead to broken keel bones, broken legs, and death. Please DO NOT cripple your budgie of all its flight.

thanks for that. I do understand and I would never do something that i do not know what to do.

 

I have fallen in love with my new budgie he is chattering away and its only day 2. so I do not wish him any harm.

 

I will take him to a avian vet if I feel the need.

 

thanks

 

(Laughing out loud) the dreaded question. personal choice.

helps to tame quickly. but should you take away a natural behaviour just for a quick way to tame?

ATD

There's *LOTS* of debate on this topic, that's for sure. I, for one, and my avian vet, are both for wing-clipping. If you'd like, check out this link, it was very helpful for me:

All About Wing-Clipping

One thing for sure, it helps GREATLY in taming. If you've never done it before, you should have a vet or expert show you how to do it the first time, and every time after that you could probably handle it. If you're not comfortable with it, your vet could always do it for you, though.

Edited April 10, 200520 yr by Jess*

i for one dont think an animal should be disabled all be it temparally to tame it

"Taming" is not the only reason why many people clip their budgie's wings... there are many safety issues as well. Peekaboo isn't disabled at all... he can still fly pretty far, and if he wants to go somewhere and sets his mind to it, he WILL get there, be it by climbing, hopping, gliding, flying, etc.

Everyone has their opinions, though.

Yes when it comes to wing clipping you shouldn't do what people think is best you should do what you think is best, if it's clipping or not clipping.

im sorry but he is disabled he cant do what is natural and that is fly take of go up which ever way you put it you have stopped it doing its natural thing ie break your leg you can still hop to the other side of the room but you cant walk there (a bit extreme comparasen i know) the problem i think i have is that i dont tame my birds have no need to tame

i think wing clipping is cruel and leaves a bird looking mutilated. Bird are meant to fly same as cats are meant to meow and dogs are meant to bark.

personally i dont think that wing clipping is a good idea

 

"they become easier to tame" but this is because they are forced to be with you and have no means of getting away, its a much better feeling if you know that they choose to be with you

 

"keeps them out of danger" this also means that they cant easily get out of danger coming towards them like a cat coming into the room

 

~Flying is great exercise clipped wing can lead to underdeveloped mucles

 

~there can be psycological effects aswell as the physical ones e.g. stress leading to feather plucking

 

~one bad cut can result in death

 

instead of a crippled budgie why not put this in a cage

gaunteed to be tame:

 

available on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...ssPageName=WD4V

 

 

please dont think what is best for yourself, consider what is in the best interests of the budgie

if your getting them clipped get them cliped by a prefesional the first few times before you even attempt to do it youself

 

Good luck

for all of you that think that birds are disabled when they are clipped. both my birds are clipped and they can STILL fly! a bird as small as a budgie can still get lift even if most of the primaries are trimmed.

 

im guessing that the people who are totally against it have never been in the company of a clipped bird! if anything mine are happier now than they were before. they can still do everything that comes naturally to them including climbing and flying short distances.

 

if you think that there is the slightest possibility that your bird will injure itself in your home environment then it would be a sensible thing to do for the birds sake as well as your own. personally i get my vet to trim my birds wings every time because i dont feel confident in doing it myself.

 

it is a personal decision, but at the end of the day as long as your budgie is as safe and as happy as can be then that is the main thing

i think wing clipping is cruel and leaves a bird looking mutilated. Bird are meant to fly same as cats are meant to meow and dogs are meant to bark.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Birds are also not meant to live indoors or in a cage...there is a whole new set of environmental hazards that are inherent with living indoors with another species (humans) that in their natural habitat they would not be exposed to.

 

Topic moved.

Crikey

Imagine if someone walked up to you and said is okay if I remove your legs with an smile and a grin

No I don?t condone wing clipping if you cut to far up you can damage the bird terminally as it can bleed to death!

If you want to tame your bird introduce your finger to it every day until the bird becomes use to your advances

But wing clipping NO! its as bad as cutting the tail off a dog to make it more fashionable

i can see some benifits, but personaly i would never clip either of my twos wings, they both love chasing the me and my family around the house too much, although they do spend more time running around the floor like little dogs!!!

 

Claire

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for all of you that think that birds are disabled when they are clipped. both my birds are clipped and they can STILL fly! a bird as small as a budgie can still get lift even if most of the primaries are trimmed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

if your budgies are in no way disabled what is the point having their feathers mutilated in the first place?

 

Birds are also not meant to live indoors or in a cage...there is a whole new set of environmental hazards that are inherent with living indoors with another species (humans) that in their natural habitat they would not be exposed to. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

what kinds of hazards are there that a little common sense cant prevent?, this also leaves budgies unable to get away from some hazards

 

if you got a new puppy would you be willing to break its legs before letting it off the leash? i mean there are allsorts of hazards out there!!

please could those who think that wing clipping can be justified read this article, thanks

 

Facts

 

Wing clipping your parrot is unnatural.  Birds were made to fly.  Any bird in the wild unable to fly would not survive.  Sad but true.

 

Clipping a birds wings is to all intents and purposes like de-barking a dog or de-clawing a cat. Most people find these unacceptable. You might say that wing clipping is not the same as the above, as the flight feathers will re-grow as a de-barked dog would not regain its bark or a cat its claws.

 

You would be correct to a certain extent but what about the birds who have their wings clipped (or hacked at) by someone inexperienced or uncaring? - Back to this subject further down the page.

 

In captive bred birds it is usually the young birds which are clipped.  Birds just weaned and off to their first home. This being on the pretence of saving the bird from itself.  The owner not wanting the bird to fly into objects around the house, into saucepans, into windows, eat the furniture or fly out of doors.

 

Let's take a step back. This is not to save the bird from itself, but to save the owner from having to watch the bird, keep check, wipe the poo from the carpets etc and lastly not worry about leaving doors and windows open.  After all keeping all these checks every day is hard work???

 

Any fully flighted young bird will succumb to a few minor accidents like flying into your expensive vase or onto your pelmet and start to chew it.  This is the same as having a few accidents if they were reared by their parents in an aviary environment or in the wild.  You seriously did not think that they exited the nest box for the first time and immediately turned into concorde did you?

 

They are extremely intelligent and they do learn.  Like children falling off a bike, they DO get the hang of it.

 

Young birds who have their flight feathers clipped do not ever become good fliers even if their flight feathers are left intact in subsequent years.  They need the power of flight to strengthen their chest muscles.  If they are denied this from a young age the chest muscles never develop fully enough for the bird to be able to fly at speed or with grace, some never fly at all after the first wing clip.  The ones that do usually end up like stealth bombers.

 

There is also the safety aspect of wing clipping.  There safety is compromised in times of danger, such as not being able to get away from a dog or cat.

 

Escapism

 

Do not think that because your bird is clipped that it will not be able to fly at all and/or escape - wrong. 

 

Please read the following paragraph from 'Wing Clipping In Pet Birds' by A K Jones BVetMed MRCVS

 

'There is also discussion among veterinarians as to whether one or both wings should be clipped.  I generally cut only one side, on the basis that I have seen birds still fly, given a strong under draught, with a bilateral clip.  However, the majority opinion seems to be that both wings should be cut.'

 

Even then they can still fly depending on where the cuts are on the feathers.

 

Also remember that wing clipping is not permanent and needs to be re-done at least once a year, maybe after the first cut sooner than this, depending at what stage the feathers are in growth when cut.

 

Behaviour Problems

 

There are also psychological problems encountered with wing clipping.  Some birds become feather pluckers and/or develop behavioural problems. There can be many reasons for this but they undoubtedly become frustrated, a birds natural instinct is to fly. What wing clipping does is take away what is their God given right - the power of flight. Plus the cut feathers may cause irritiation to the bird so they pick at them to remove them and so it starts. 

 

Clipped or hacked?

 

Many young birds which are clipped by the inexperienced keeper or vet (or importer) do have problems in re-growing their flight feathers normally.  It has been known to take up to three years for a complete new set of feathers to appear.  Again some never regain them properly at all.  If the feather is cut too short and cut into the blood feathers or wing itself, this can cause deformities within the new feather. 

 

Also when re-growing new feathers these are filled with blood and are far more susceptible to damage from accidents such as the bird trying to fly and crash landing.  In a normal situation of a fully flighted bird the 'blood feathers' do have the protection of the other flight feathers around, in a clipped bird this is not the case and hence they are easily damaged.

 

If a blood feather is knocked and bleeds this must be stopped, a bird can bleed to death from a knocked blood feather.

 

Who benefits?

 

If you really do want to have your birds wings clipped ask yourself why? For whose benefit, yours or the bird?

 

It is relatively easy to keep doors and windows shut, draw curtains or net across glass windows until the bird becomes used to the fact that there is glass there and it is not an open space. Don't let your bird onto your furniture if you do not want it to be there and keep your bird out of the kitchen at all costs!  The kitchen is full of dangers for a bird; wing clipped or not, toxic fumes, sharp objects, open windows .......

 

Caution is needed introducing your bird to any dogs you have in the home, but they again do get used to having them around.  Cats are another matter.  We have cats but they do not under any circumstances come into the house near the birds.  They can at any time pounce on top of cages and cause untold damage, not to mention the stress your bird will be under as a cat is a natural predator.

 

Do not let your bird out of its cage into the room unsupervised. Nothing else to say on that.

 

Do you still need to have the wings clipped?

 

http://www.ckcbirds.co.uk/new_page_2.htm

that has some very good points, i wonder if the fly ability thing is true, both mine are fanastic flyer n can dart and fly through the smallest of gaps n spaces.

 

Claire

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