Hi Everyone,

 

I've had my budgies less than a week now. They came from the petsore with clipped wings. I'm not sure yet how I feel about it. I had initially planned on letting them grow back in, but now I'm wondering if the budgies are actually safer with them clipped. I'm looking for some of your thoughts on this.

 

Thanks so much!

http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=6412

This is a pinned topic from Budgie Talk and it gives a good perspective on both clipping and not clipping.

I clipped my blind boy's wings (with the vet watching me and guiding me) and to tell the truth, he's heaps safer (no more injuries yet.)

It might be overprotective to clip them in case, that's like not letting a child walk because he'll hurt himself when he falls. I think letting them grow back would be best.

None of my birds have clipped wings. With some precautions (covering windows, and slowly uncovering them over a few days) they are perfectly safe.

I'm not speaking from much experience, but I don't think that clipping wings is necessary (either for taming or safety). Our birds have never been and will never be clipped. In terms of safety, I think the birds probably do best when they can as fly well as possible.

 

It's wonderful that our tame budgie Quin flys towards us and lands on us. She likes to fly around in her room for exercise too. She's never done herself any harm by flying into anything. However, we didn't let her fly outside the cage until she was completely unafraid of us and quite happy to step up onto our fingers. I think that's what's most important for safety.

I think we're all forgetting one thing, if you're gonna get the bird/s clipped, make sure you get both wings clipped.

I have a friend who assumes that if you only get one wing clipped it stops them from flying away because they can only go in circles. NOT TRUE. It unbalances the bird and makes them more likely to hit things, a bird with a clipped wing still can fly, it just requires one side to work harder.

Following his train of thought, a budgie with both wings clipped can't fly at all. Also untrue. I clipped my boy's wings to slow him down so he can't hit things so hard until he learns the layout of my home. I've heard from a few people who lost a clipped bird.

Excellent points Caren!!

Very true Caren. Also, if you are going to get your bird clipped, please get an avian vet to do it. A bad clip can permanently damage a wing, or, if they bleed, a budgie can bleed to death in minutes. It's not worth the risk, please get it done proffessionally

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'm still not sure what I'll do. I know that the first time my hen (Tweetie) was out of the cage she flew directly into the bottom of my picture window (with her clipped wings). Luckily she wasn't hurt and now I always close my blinds.

 

I think that if I can tame them so they aren't terrified of me, I'll probably let them grow in. They are still babies so I have lots of time.

For me, it's always worked best to clip for taming and then let the wings grow out. Every situation is different though.

 

No one can tell you what's right for you and I really detest when people try to base something only THEIR situation. YOU are the only one who knows what will be safest for your birds. No one here lives with your family or in your house. No one knows the risks better than you do.

 

Do what's safest for the birds and you'll be doing the right thing. They aren't going to be miserable clipped. Flighted is awesome but it's not always possible for everyone. If you end up having to clip them, don't feel bad. Besides, it's not permanent. They will grow those flights out and maybe it will be easier to let them fly safely when they're tame. That is what worked for me but you'll have to do what works for you.

its all and all a own choice situation i have never clipped wings i think its un fair disabeling a bird becouse you think its safer it feels a lot safer for them when it can fly it is worrying the first time but as you get acustumed to it its wonderful to see them fly!but clipping would probly make them easier to handle its your own choice on what you like best everyone is different so good luck im sure youlle chose the right thing

i think its un fair disabeling a bird becouse you think its safer

Think it's safer? Sometimes it IS safer. And wing clipping is not disabling the bird. In fact, my clipped birds still fly back and forth across the room. They're just less prone to do the dangerous things that led me to recently clip them. A clip shouldn't render them completely flightless, that would be a bad clip.

 

Clipped budgies can be happy. They live life just as flighted birds do, just with lessened flight. And if that keeps them safer it's worth it. I love watching birds fly too. I had mine flighted for a long time until it became a problem that I couldn't control any way other than clipping. My cockatiels are flighted and will remain that way unless I start having safety issues with them.

 

I think it's unfair keeping birds in cages but the fact is, it's safer. It would be nice to let them fly freely but that just isn't possible in most cases. We have to do what is safe. It would be unfair to compromise your bird's well-being when you're responsible for keeping it healthy and happy and well, ALIVE.

sorry that sounded bad i dident mean it that way please dont take it wrongly OF COURSE saftey comes first i said nothing about it being unhappy!

 

if the bird is clipped

Yeah that is true. I just didn't want anyone to feel guilty or bad because they decided to clip their birds. If that is what is safest in their situation, they have nothing to feel guilty for. Not that you were trying to guilt them, I just felt the need to add my two cents.

the pinned article basically sums it up, i think.

 

personally i have had 1 budgie clipped (casper) when he was a baby and his wings were only trimmed for a few weeks before he started moulting. that gave me a little bit of time to work with him 1 to 1 and also was useful to get him accustomed to windows and objects around the house. he now knows where the windows are and i dont have to shut the curtains in case he hurts himself.

 

on the other hand i have a budgie i bought from an aviary (lucky) who has never been clipped. he is older, so if i did clip him it would take a long time for his wings to grow back so i decided i didnt want to. he is A LOT harder to handle than casper. i have a hard time getting lucky on my finger voluntarily sometimes.

 

do what you think is right for you. a good tip is ask the vet to clip only a couple of feathers at a time on both sides, and then do a test flight and ask the vet to stop clipping when you are happy with the reasonable distance the budgie can fly. that is the best way i know to avoid a bad clip. dont be afraid to ask, as a paying client the vet isnt going to argue with you.

I personally don't like clipping small birds. Providing it's done correctly then there shouldn't be any issues but I wouldn't clip.

At the moment I have 3 budgies, two of which are fully flighted and the other is clipped. One of the budgies, Saffron, I have not clipped because she cannot fly very well at all any way and I do not want to clip her because she is actually getting better at flying as time goes on, so I don't want her to lose all that hard work. When I first got her the pet shop clipped her wings for me and she has never flown since, (this however is not common, most babies that have their wings clipped when bought can fly when their feathers grow back). She is not a confident flier so clipping her wings would make it worse in her situation as she can't land very well.

My clipped budgie, Izzy, had his flight feathers and has never been clipped until recently. He is a very confident flier and can land very well. However he was starting to get very cheeky so I decided to clip him to make it easier to tame him (it is working very well at the moment).

My last budgie Arkady I only just recently got (he is still in his quarintine cage). I have decided not to clip him as I want him to be able to fly but be tame as well, so that he has that choice of whether he wants to be around me or not. Thus I think if he chooses to stay around me and bestill able to fly, makes it seem all the more special. The bond wil be stronger between me and him.

I prefer to have budgies with full flights as that is their best way to exercise and offers them the most amount of freedom. However sometimes you may need to clip because someone (like Izzy ) gets a little cheeky and doesn't wanna know you.

The reason why I'm telling this is because I have three very seperate and different situations where the solution has been worked out to the benefit all. And that is the best way to do it, apply it to your situation.

 

By the way I intend to let Izzy's feathers grow back, so he and Arkady can go on flying adventures together, while miss grump (Saffron) watches from her perch. :ausb: (Also while he is walking around on the ground and looking to me for support it will encourage Arkady who is flighted to come to me for support and friendness as well)

All very good points.

 

As most of you know, I have 10 budgies indoors. They are flighted, and have spent most of their lives that way. All the babies were clipped at about 4 months of age, within two months had molted and could fly again. Those two months made all the difference in the world. They were tame before, but hit that "age" where they thought it was funny to make me follow them all around the house when I wanted them to go in their cages...just because I could I guess... It was a conspiracy - LOL - they all flew off in different directions knowing I could only go one direction at a time. To coin a phrase - cheeky little budgies. A few months of step ups and I haven't had many problems in the year and a half since. They are almost two now. Mine were trimmed for control. Not to control them in the strictest sense, but between me and the birds I was the only one with a life and a job outside the house and unfortunately must operate sometimes within a specific timetable. I wasn't able to do that consistently, hence the trim. Lucky birds, not to have those constraints, you know? Anyway, I think the choice is not a matter of right or wrong, it is just a choice.

Edited January 10, 200619 yr by Rainbow

This is how I clip my birds' wings. I leave two or three of the primary flight feathers and then clip the rest and also leave 5 or 6 of the secondary flight feathers. In other words, clip the the middle section of the wings. In that way, the bird can be balance when flying or does not injury itself and cannot fly high enough.

This is how I clip my birds' wings. I leave two or three of the primary flight feathers and then clip the rest and also leave 5 or 6 of the secondary flight feathers. In other words, clip the the middle section of the wings. In that way, the bird can be balance when flying or does not injury itself and cannot fly high enough.

 

You can still make mistakes. I had the vet watching me when I clipped my bird's wings, just to make sure I remembered and could still clip them safely. Other then needing 6 hands at times to hold him and stop him panicking, I did pretty well. Now the vet knows I can clip my dingaling boy safely, and I trust myself too, so I'm not so shaky. It was well worth a bit of extra money to have the vet watch me clip him...Now I can save the money I would've spent getting him clipped every 2 months, and keep it in case a huge vet bill appears!

i thought your not supposed to clip any of the secondary flight feathers.

You aren't. The best way to clip is to start at the first primary and clip as many of those as needed. If you go into the secondaries and for some reason the bird breaks its remaining primaries, it's going to crash land like a rock. Not to mention, most budgies can fly perfectly well with only a couple of primaries.

 

Clipping the same number of primaries on each side is balanced, safe, and EASIER. Most people do the clip samlorson described for cosmetic reasons.

Edited January 13, 200619 yr by eterri

i think if you are going to clip your birds again bring them to the vet to see how its done even though people have explanedit it could go wrong and badly injure your birds

Not to mention, most budgies can fly perfectly well with only a couple of primaries.

Car was clipped when I got her.. When they were growing out she was able to fly perfectly when she has 2 primaries on one wing and one on the other.