okay well i have always trimmed my budgie's wings, up until a few months ago. i got Chi Sai (chee-$) in hmm... about march? and i trimmed her wings like i have done with all my others (which are sadly not with me anymore ) but then she started losing blodd feathers - only the ones i had trimmed (i.e. - only wing feathers, not tail feathers) so i stopped trimming them (i know its dangerous!) and she has stopped losing feathers!! im afraid if i trim them again she'll start losing them again... what do i do?

simple leave her feathers alone

It sounds as if she started to molt shortly after you trimmed.

if ti started to moult then the tail feathers would have gone as well not only the ones she cut

sry i guess i didnt mention an important part - when the feathers would come out, she would bleed a LOT well i would put styptic powder on it, and it would stop.

 

i really thought about leaving them alone, but i really dont want her fully flighted... she's not really the brightest thing... like she could be a danger to herself (Laughing out loud)! anyway... thanks for all your help...

Do you think she plucks them? If you clip too short or at the wrong angle the feather shafts can bother her and she will continually preen them to get them to "feel right".

well i know i dont do them too short, but i never thought about it being the wrong angle... she doesnt really pluck them though... its more like they break. sometimes one will stick out kind of funny, and then it'll fall out and she'll bleed. most of the time i dont see what happens, i just spread a wing at a time to check her feathers and i'll see a bloody spot. its usually the very outside flight feather, although sometimes the 2nd or 3rd one in will do it too...

 

can someone find me a good website or something explaining the right angle?

Edited August 21, 200420 yr by oscarchik101

The angle should be the same as how the feathers look in a fully flighted bird. I guess that would be angled in toward the body, so that when the wing is folded the longer side of the feather is towards the outside. It's hard to explain in print, isn't it? You are probably doing it right, because as you clip from the outside in, I think it's natural to clip it that way. I've always had the vet trim them, but that's how mine looked when they were done. Maybe she just gets very stressed. I think I would leave her untrimmed.

Edited August 21, 200420 yr by Rainbow

yeah i know.. i really thought about leaving her untrimmed, but my mom says she HAS to be (idk why) and as i said before she is kindof a danger to herself...

Why is she a danger to herself?