Clip or not?

[mydoona]

Should I get my lovies wings clipped?
I know they love to fly on top of the bookcases etc and am scared they will hate me that they can no longer get up there after the clip.

[vankarhi]

Is there any reason they need to be clipped?? Are they aggressive or do they not come to you when you ask them too?? I am a clipper but I have allowed Peppa our little budgie to remain unclipped for now and he gets so much pleasure in his little flights around the place when we let him out.....but he does step up to me when I ask him to with no problems. I just keep in his cage when I am cooking or if people are not staying inside ...... he is very very quick with his flying. All other pet birds (not aviary birds) are clipped.......which means only Takoda at the moment (my alex male). But in the past all other pet birds have been clipped with the exception of my female ekkie who I allowed free flight for about 6 months until her "attitude" got too much and then I clipped her and she returned to my lovely baby (until her female hormones kicked in and now she is in an aviary and unclipped again and seems to be "nice" again.......until eggs or babies arrive I guess).

[mydoona]

well I wanted Mardi Clipped as she gets away from me and doesn't like me and so flys up high so I cant reach her,then I got my Keiko clipped so he couldn't bully Mardi while she was flightless.
It was SO heart breaking to hear them squealing I will not do it again,also he only cut one wing and left the two longest flight feathers on..it looks really ugly but he assured me it is best for them as they flutter to the ground not splat to the ground.

[vankarhi]

for many years I did the "one wing clip" with no serious problems I might ad. But I took one of my birds to an avian vet in Bundaberg and he suggested I cut both and explained to me that they have a more even balance then when landing. He also showed me how to clip them along all of their longer feathers......I can't explain it properly but basically when they tuck their wings in they look nice and neat and they just look like their feathers are a little shorter. When Takoda spreads his wings they look clipped but they are much neater than leaving the longer flight feathers and clipping everything else. I don't know exactly how often I clip my pets (only Takoda at the moment) but probably every few months or just whenever I notice they need clipping.

By the way this topic is another one that can cause heated debates too. People have their own opinions on clipping or not. It really is up to the individual.

[avinet]

Just remember that clipping does not hurt the bird, it is just like cutting hair. The squealing is just that they don't like to be held.

I have clipped many thousands of birds in our shop and I agree with Vankarhi that a proper 2 wing clip is much preferable - a one wing clip is potentially dangerous, and I have seen birds hurt with such a clip. The picture here shows how to cut. Just pull the wing out and follow the curve of the coverts. A lovebird probably only needs 5 or 6 feathers cut at most, from the outside inwards (feathers 10 to 6 or 5 in the sketch) on each side to be properly clipped. They are not strong flyers compared to say a cockatiel which will often need 8 cutting.

Always cut just a few - say 4 with a lovebird - and see how the bird flies, if it is still has too much flight then another feather can be taken off on each side until the desired lack of flying ability is reached. And always use a pair of sharp scissors with rounded ends, never sharp pointed ends.

I allow most of my home birds to fly and they do enjoy it, but I have no problems with those who decide to clip, and I hear far too many stories of flighted birds that have escaped to become hawk food to ever criticise anyone who decides to clip. With some strong willed birds such as ringnecks it can be the only way to keep them civilized

cheers,

Mike

[courtzrocks]

My cockatiel is clipped and so is my green cheek conure for the moment (until she tames up more) but I also clip both wings so it looks like they're unclipped unless they spread their wings.

[cyra]

Venice, my lovie, is clipped. I would prfer him flighted but I live in a house with six other people and none of them are used to having birds especially birds that have out of cage time and they all tend to leave the doors open, so for safety sake I clip Venice and will be clipping the galah when he gets here (if he isn't already clipped.) My other two lovies are not tame at all and don't come out of their cage so they haven't been clipped.

[vankarhi]

Thanks for the pic Mike. You could even get someone who knows how to do it ...... get them to show you how to do it, then you can do it whenever they need doing.