Changed my mind & decided not to clip!

[Guest candismalli]

I was going to have Charley's wings clipped after he learned how to fly & mastered landing so that he would be less clumsy. I have 3 kids with various special needs & 2 of them have mild retardation. I was very afraid that he would get out with the door constantly opening & closing. We also have dogs that the kids are in charge of taking out so that is also opening the door a lot.

 

Charley is now flying. At first he only flew 2x for a while, he was lazy & wanted to run on the floor or catch a ride from a family member instead. He has now learned that he can get anywhere he wants if he flies especially if I am doing something & don't come right away when he calls to me. As soon as I open the cage now he flies out.

 

He is such a sweetie & the family enjoys his antics & flying so much that we are all being so very careful in what we do when he is out! Even my middle daughter who has the most severe problems is extremely careful with him! He loves to come to the table & eat with us, he gets his own little plate of what we are eating & eats with us. I have taken him to my middle daughters classroom & he stayed in his carrier but the kids all loved seeing him. Today he went to my sons classroom, the teacher wanted me to bring him in the last week of school (next week) but the electric was failing in some of the classrooms today (my son's was one) due to construction & there were only 9 kids so I brought him when I picked my son up early for the kids to see him & get him a little more comfortable before he is overwhelmed next week with more kids. He was out of the carrier this time & he is such a sweetie & loved scritches from every one of them!!!

 

He is so social & loves being in the middle of everything & visiting with everyone especially if I am around for him to fly back to after he visits. One of his favorite places to land besides my arm is my head & massage my scalp- I will have to find out how to trim his nails a little, lol! Whenever I hear him flying now I automatically raise my arm no matter what I am doing for him to land on.

 

He also has a foot fetish, lol. if I am barefoot or in flip flops he will bite my toes, or if I am wearing sneakers he will land on them and either catch a ride if I am walking or hang out on one & play with the laces.

 

I love my little chickadee and even though it has only been a short while with him I can not imagine life now without him!

[Luvparrots]

Glad to hear that you have decided to leave Charlie flighted. I love the sound of my three flying through the house or after me from room to room. Flighted parrots are so much more confident and happy!

[cheebamaster]

Not trying to hijack your thread candismalli but I too have been giving considerations for clipping. I'm taking my baby home in about 2 days and she has already been clipped by the store owned (I didn't know any better) I REALLY want to stay away from having her clipped but I am a bit worried. First and foremost I am renting property. I do not want to run into major issues if the bird starts destroying the wall or other parts of the house since this the property is not owned by me. 2nd, we have some pretty big clear windows, 3rd, I have LOTS of electrical wires (build computers as hobby) and it would be really difficult to cover each and every one of them.

 

But, after reading posts from multiple people and learning consequences of clipping a grey I am really inclined to just let her wings grow and never have them clipped again. Is this advisable considering my living issues?

 

Thanks for the post candi it's inspiring

[danmcq]

Thanks for sharing this Candi. It is wonderful that you have found flight not only to be a positive for your grey, but also your entire household and even class rooms. What a great beginning and adventure you have all set off on.

[judygram]

Thats wonderful news and the bird is probably good therapy for your kids too having something to help take care of and be concerned about, so glad to hear there will be no more clipping of wings, I am proud of you.

[Guest candismalli]

Not trying to hijack your thread candismalli but I too have been giving considerations for clipping. I'm taking my baby home in about 2 days and she has already been clipped by the store owned (I didn't know any better) I REALLY want to stay away from having her clipped but I am a bit worried. First and foremost I am renting property. I do not want to run into major issues if the bird starts destroying the wall or other parts of the house since this the property is not owned by me. 2nd, we have some pretty big clear windows, 3rd, I have LOTS of electrical wires (build computers as hobby) and it would be really difficult to cover each and every one of them.

 

But, after reading posts from multiple people and learning consequences of clipping a grey I am really inclined to just let her wings grow and never have them clipped again. Is this advisable considering my living issues?

 

Thanks for the post candi it's inspiring

 

I don't know about the wires & destruction since Charley is only a few months old, but as far as windows- I put window decorations on the windows- the kind in the store I have spring ones on right now, they have different ones for different seasons, or just stickers, etc. Hopefully others will be able to better answer

[Guest candismalli]

Thats wonderful news and the bird is probably good therapy for your kids too having something to help take care of and be concerned about, so glad to hear there will be no more clipping of wings, I am proud of you.

 

it is definitely great for the kids they love it! oh and not only no more clipping, but he has never been clipped- he is only 3mos!

[Guest candismalli]

Thanks for sharing this Candi. It is wonderful that you have found flight not only to be a positive for your grey, but also your entire household and even class rooms. What a great beginning and adventure you have all set off on.

 

thank you, and it is definitely exciting!

[Elvenking]

It is a wonderful thing to let your baby become flighted. When Isaac began to fly, I made the decision right there...he would fly. That said, please understand full well the challenge you face when you chose to let your baby fly. It's beautiful, but you will be surprised at how easy it is to get complacent with this and how difficult it is to control the doors of your house. This is a choice that is going to require dedication that you will discover along the way to be a bit more than you had in mind. I love to see people excited about allowing their baby to fly, but I always see the lost bird posts follow all too quickly when the gravity of this decision is not fully realized. So love your baby, but be careful.

[Guest candismalli]

It is a wonderful thing to let your baby become flighted. When Isaac began to fly, I made the decision right there...he would fly. That said, please understand full well the challenge you face when you chose to let your baby fly. It's beautiful, but you will be surprised at how easy it is to get complacent with this and how difficult it is to control the doors of your house. This is a choice that is going to require dedication that you will discover along the way to be a bit more than you had in mind. I love to see people excited about allowing their baby to fly, but I always see the lost bird posts follow all too quickly when the gravity of this decision is not fully realized. So love your baby, but be careful.

 

 

Oh definitely I am very dedicated. I have wanted a Grey for 20 years and everyone in the family are animal lovers and have been concerned about all our animals over the years. We have now instituted a "go thru the kitchen door" policy for the kids, and they always check for Charley before they open the door to leave, and crack open the door to check for Charley before they come into the house instead of just running in. Once the kids get into a habit it is much easier for them to follow thru, and amazingly they are getting into this habit very quickly! Charley never comes out when my old dog is out because she makes me nervous the way she acts around the cage, she wants to "play" with him a little too much. When the other dogs are out at the same time we are extremely careful, but so far they aren't interested in each other. We don't have Charley out when certain people are over that I know can't be trusted to pay attention & open the door carefully. We also don't have him out when cooking. Other than that he is out a lot!