Sunshine has had problems getting his (her? rethinking that but that is another story) flight feathers to grow in without damaging them. In the past there has been at least two times I've found feathers with a bit of blood stil in them in his cage because they have gotten bent and annoyed him till he plucked them out himself.

 

Today, he bent another blooded flight feather and there was enough bleeding that it caught my attention, so I tried to pull it, but couldn't get a good grip on base so only part of the feather came out. There hasn't been any new bleeding and after letting him rest for a bit and then trying to find the end of the broken feather, I can't find it.

 

I think this is because his flight feathers were clipped too short by the pet shop before I bought him, and the newly growing in flight feathers are more vunerable without some longer feathers protecting them.

 

I feel so bad for him right now. Poor guy has been through a lot today and doesn't want anything to do with me. I hope he forgives me.

 

Risha

If they're breaking really easily it could have a medical reason. Poor nutrition sometimes leads to feathers that are deformed or break easily but certain illnesses can also have that effect. I'd have him seen by the avian vet for two reasons. One, to discuss the fragile feathers and maybe his diet. Two, to see about getting the rest of that feather pulled out so it doesn't get knocked and start bleeding all over again.

 

I doubt a bad wing clip has caused this. I've had a budgie with overly clipped wings and her flights came in fine. It's her tailfeathers that are being stubborn but she's rough on them (she almost always lands on her bum after flying).

I wish we had an avian vet around here. *sigh*

 

I think the problem is probably diet related too. I keep trying to get him to eat something besides seeds, but he wants nothing to do with veggies, eggs or pellets. I will keep trying though.

 

He also likes to try to fly from table to table when I let him out, especially since getting some of his flight feathers in (he has a couple on each side that have managed to mature without incident). But, he is a bad judge of distance and often comes up short of the edge of the table. I think he is injuring his feathers when he is doing this. I don't want to deprive him of out of cage time, but I wonder if for a while it would be best if he stayed in his cage.

 

Risha

Sometimes it seems to help to keep them caged a while. I gave Piper just a couple of days (mostly) caged and it made a huge difference in her tailfeathers. When I did let her out, I stayed close to make sure her landings weren't rough. Finally she's getting in some healthy looking tailfeathers.

 

Maybe that will work for you too? And keep up the work on getting your budgie to eat healthy food, it's so important. They can be stubborn but you'll see a huge difference in her feather quality afterwards. I was amazed at how bright my budgies became when they molted out the shabby feathers.

How old is Sunshine? If his flights were trimmed early, he probably didn't have a chance to learn to fly properly and that is why s/he is having trouble navigating. Even though they can fly at 5-6 weeks, it takes several weeks after that to really get good at it and build up the muscles. Most pet stores around here will clip the budgies when they get them in, so at 6 weeks they lose flight capability (they clip them too severely anyway) and the potential owner has no say in the matter. I think sometimes these birds haven't even fledged properly and are behind in the flying game from the get-go... As long as Sunshine has the outer three flights grown in on both sides it is probably safe to allow flight - if s/he's trying to navigate with few or no outer flights that is probably why they keep breaking when the crash landings occur. The outer flights provide lift on takeoff and drag upon landings, the inner one's stability throughout flight. Sunshine probably is judging distance correctly, but without enough feathers in a row on both sides cannot navigate the landing properly. (You really only need to trim the outer 3-4 to limit flight but most places trim all ten. ) If there are big gaps between feathers Sunshine will be off balance. Not that I am an expert by any means, but depending on which feathers have grown in, you might want to keep him/her caged until a few more come through.

currently she has 2 outer flight feathers on one side and 1 on the other side. All the flight feathers had been clipped and I bet she was still pretty young.

 

okay, I'm going to confine her to her cage and low areas until she has more flight feathers grown in. Besides, I have to build up some more trust after today.

 

Thanks for all the info.

 

Risha

You are pretty close to me, do you think pet shops everywhere (in US) usually trim budgies when they get them in?

 

Good luck with Sunshine - I'll bet in the two weeks or so she's caged you will be able to repair any damage from catching her today.

Well, There hasn't been any more noticible bleeding, but I'm not about to go poking around to get a closer look. Sunshine has been active today, even playing with a toy (which she almost never does)... and she even took a peek into the mirror I put in her cage yesterday.

 

She also sat on her perch and flapped both her wings today, which I've never seen her do.

 

Right now she is making little clucking noises at me.

 

I think she will be fine.

 

Risha