OtheG Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Please be very careful if you have birds that are clipped! Willow was clipped from the breeder when i got her. I bought her a large playstand with a toy bar on top and she loved to climb up to the very top and perch up there. I kept yoga mats and towels at the bottom but it didn't help, she jumped off and split her chest open. I've been dealing with this injury for almost a year now, the slighest bump breaks it open. I bought her a floor stand (about a foot and a half off the ground) to sit on and a few weeks ago she fell off that, hit one of the dowel steps and tore one of her toenails off. This morning in the shower she jumped off her Polly's Perch and broke her chest open again. So off we go to the vet this afternoon. Just a reminder to be careful with our clipped birds! I wish I wouldn't have been so foolish, I feel terrible. When will she be able to fly? It's almost been 2 years since she was clipped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Oh jesus, sorry to hear this. It is important for anyone with a clipped bird to understand this can happen easily and to ensure they keep the bird where it cannot happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWIX Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Oh God, this is terrible! I hope she gets better quickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Poor Willow but I know the danger of them jumping off and not being able to fly, thankfully Josey never split her keel but at least she does not drop like a rock anymore and sort of flutters to the floor. Most breeders who do clip probably do so long before the bird learns proper flight and landings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life is Greyt Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 I'm so sorry poor willow has to go through this. . It sounds like she must have been clipped before she was properly fledged or just had a horrible clip. It's just not fair to her. Poor thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikachu Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Poor Willow but I know the danger of them jumping off and not being able to fly, thankfully Josey never split her keel but at least she does not drop like a rock anymore and sort of flutters to the floor. Most breeders who do clip probably do so long before the bird learns proper flight and landings. Judy, will they ever learn to fly? Maui hasn't been clipped since I brought her home; her last clip was in August, I think. She will be a year old at the end of this month. I think she flew better when she first came home than now. I encourage her to fly to me and back to her stand, but I don't see any improvement. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 She might as she is still very young but she probably needs to build her muscle mass up for being heavy bodied birds it takes a lot to keep them airborne, maybe when she has a full set of flight feathers she might indeed fly. You could help by holding her on your arm and by raising and lowering your arm she will flap, we all know you have to use those muscles to be fit. She may never fly as well as one allowed full flight all their life but she can get by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikachu Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 She might as she is still very young but she probably needs to build her muscle mass up for being heavy bodied birds it takes a lot to keep them airborne, maybe when she has a full set of flight feathers she might indeed fly. You could help by holding her on your arm and by raising and lowering your arm she will flap, we all know you have to use those muscles to be fit. She may never fly as well as one allowed full flight all their life but she can get by. Thanks Judy. She does "practice" flapping in her cage every day. I hope she'll be able to fly some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtheG Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Oh my gosh, it never occured to me that she might never fly! I thought that when all of her flight feathers came in she would learn. She goes back to the vet tomorrow morning and they are going to sedate her and clean it really good and make sure her keel isn't damaged further. I will keep you updated and post pictures when I figure out how. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Haldan, I see you have made several posts so why not introduce yourself in the welcome room so we can get to know you better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 We adopted a 21 year old Grey who came to us having been always clipped. It took about a year of exercising those wings and not clipping any more before she learned to fly better than a falling rock. I used to stand about 2 feet from the bed and launch her gently towards the bed so she had a little momentum while she flapped. Now she can take off fly and land like a fighter jet. It took longer to learn her landing skills (another year more or less to perfect) than her basic flight ability. It was so exciting when she was first able to fly about 5 feet by herself, down hill trajectory but she did it. Been with us about 4 years now and you would never know she was lacking flight skills for so long. She can do it just keep her surrounding padded for now, they can be such klutzes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Ellie is just "trimmed" - she can fly about thirty feet, without gaining altitude, but without losing much. I gently "toss" her towards her cage so she can practice landing. She's pretty good, but she's not able to fly around a corner and up the stairs. Other than that, not too bad. I am still torn about whether to trim some of her flight feathers when she replaces the trimmed feathers. I've seen the passionate pleas against it, but I also know that if she happens to escape our house, we'll never find her. We have miles and miles of national forest across the road. My parents had a fully flighted cockatiel (one of the babies hatched in my house) escape in rural Missouri and were not able to get her back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Doug, you may never find her even if she clipped. The stories of lost "clipped" birds are endless......I was doing a lot of volunteering several months ago in trying to locate the owner of a found grey. The countless stories I heard as I contacted owners of lost greys were heart breaking, most of them were clipped birds.......food for thought, it is not always the safest way to keep a parrot......my 3 were clipped in the beginning, (not my choice), and as I let their wings grow out, they became entirely different birds..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Well, I still have plenty of time to read all of these conflicting opinions as Ellie hasn't started molting her wing feathers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 My three parrots are flighted and are also micro-chipped. To me micro-chipping is the best way to get your birds back as unfortunately, an escaped parrot/bird is usually found and keep by the finder. If a parrot/bird is micro-chipped its owner can be easily found if the finder will just take the bird/animal to a veterinarian for checking. If the authorities find the parrot/animal they can easily locate the owner if records of residence are maintained. If a micro-chipped animal/bird is keep by a wrongful person, that person can be prosecuted for theft. Let's face it most of our Cags and Tags look alike. I am relieved that I/anyone can identify my parrots from yours. Peace of mind is so worth the money of micro-chipping as I would spend much more to find/get back my flighted friends if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life is Greyt Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I plan to get Chickie microchipped at her yearly exam for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 There is lots of controversy on the safety of micro chipping. Many pets develop tumors around the area of the micro chip over years and years. There is such a small risk of them being found so you can check them for a chip. I have one dog micro chipped, but after researching and talking to many few, I decided against mice chipping any of my other animals. I have also been told its extremely painful for the pet during and after while they are healing. But I am one of those who don't believe in putting foreign objects in ones body, although my ears are pierced and I have tattoos. but that was a lifetime ago. Micro chipping is like wing clipping, it will always be debated and owners are on 2 different sides of the fence. It has to be Decision that YOU are content with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I decided against mice chipping any of my other animals. <giggle> I think even a baby mouse would be too big to put under Ellie's skin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life is Greyt Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Ha ha ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I decided against mice chipping any of my other animals. Don't you just love auto correcting in tablets, Ipads, smartphones and such, can make for some comical material. I haven't microchipped any of my birds nor do I plan to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 <giggle> I think even a baby mouse would be too big to put under Ellie's skin... DAMN iPad!!! Hate that spell changer.... Glad you had a good laugh! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Even more off topic - if you are not easily offended, check out http://damnyouautocorrect.com ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Like all things micro-chipping is a personal choice. I can get my parrots' micro-chips monitors by my avian vet free of charge whenever I want and tumors can be looked for then. As for tumors in people or animals some species are more susceptible than others. One thing of interest is that I found out that my pug had a tumor when I took her in to be micro-chipped. So I find I was fortunate that I chose to micro-chip her when I did. Life is full of should I, could I's and if one of my parrots gets lost or stolen, I want to know I did everything I could to get my companion home. This post is not to start a debate but to share information. Micro-chipping like clipping to me is a personal choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Even more off topic - if you are not easily offended, check out http://damnyouautocorrect.com ... Doug, that is a riot! It happens a lot to me, especially here. Members must think I'm an airhead cause I can't seem to get the words right. I have nerve damage in the ends of 8 of my fingers, thus touch screens are difficult for me to use as i have cant feel the touch. but sometimes my iPad has a mind of its own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now