A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall The Critter Corner to clip or not to clip?

We've had our parakeet for 3-4 months now. We got her from my cousin that rescued her from the school's gym. (he's a couch at an elementary school) they had her for a year and never spent any time with her. anyway, they wanted rid of her and I gladly took her. we've been working with her and she's calmer than she was. she'll hop on you finger only as a hoping spot to get over your finger and away from you. we open her cage door every day for 3-4 hours at a time. we even move her food outside her cage with the door open, but she just doesn't want to come out and is very 'un-athletic'. She seems so stressed when she is out of the cage! she kinda stubbles over her own feet. I was talking to the bird lady in the next town over about her. she sugguested clipping her wings. I told her we had two labs that were indoor/outdoor dogs, and I didn't think I should put her at that disadvantage. she sugguested clipping anyway and making sure the dogs were outside when she was out of the cage or if the cage door was open.
any thoughts???

if she doesn't like to fly, and isn't out of the cage that much, why put her through the trauma of clipping her wings? my thought is that she is afraid of the big wide world, and will be content in the cage for life. some of us are like that. wew don't want to leave our comfort zone. so, again why go to the hassle?

I REALLY don't want to clip her wings. she's a bird, right! birds fly. just want to make her happy. I had parakeets as a kid and we had to lock the cage door when we didn't want them coming out. they would work and work to try to get that door open. we let them out a lot, but at times it is safer that they are in. (alot of in/out activity in the house, or whatever) Maybe she is happy sitting in that cage, but she makes me crazy - clostrophobic.

I'd be concerned that somehow she'd end up as a doggie snack. Was she a baby when you got her?

how big are your dogs?

she was a baby when my cousins got her -they said she had grown since they first got her. They did nothing with her. Once a week, their son would feed and water. once a month he would change the paper in the bottom of the cage. (that's not taking care of a bird) but, anyway...I"m trying to have patience with all she's been through, but this bird does not seem to want to come out of her shell. Maybe she could use a cage mate?

Maybe she's used to being left alone. My fried got her bird a cage mate and here bird got beat up all the time. she ended up having to buy another cage.

cricket, if she is that used to being alone, i'd just keep doing what you are doing, working with her slowly. and i would not do anything that she would see as trauma (clip wings, file beak, etc...). and when you are in the room and monitoring, open the cage and let her learn to venture out herself.

that's just my 2 cents worth. because you can't undo what she learned as a chick, you can only add to it.

oh, I didn't even think about the fact that another bird could easily bully her! very good point. another bird just might freak her out even more. yea, poor thing has been through so much. I need to just have patience and work slowly with her. you know I've been reading about parakeets and how long it takes to train them and how to do it. but that is with a young bird that hasn't been through all that she has been through.
where's the grey parrot lady? thought she might also have two cents to add to this.

i will throw in my two pennies worth too. I had a parakeet for 6 years. her favorite toys were her little plastic parakeet dummy and her mirror. one of these at each end of her perch bar, which was covered with a sandpaper like material, and through her running back and forth on that, her nails kept decent length so she could actually walk when on flat surface. it kinda sounds to me like if she stumbling, her claws may be overgrown. parakeets are smart and curious, and most of them like a new toy from time to time. they also like a bit of greens, clipped to their cage so they can have something to tear up and eat. if she freaks over the new stuff, just set it outside the cage where she can see it for a few days before you put it in. i don't think wing clipping is a good thing. oh and my parakeet liked taking a little bath in a saucer of water in the bottom of her cage
or under a tiny stream at the sink faucet.

well, I didn't mean stumbling in a literal sense. just that she seems to get so uptight when she's out of the cage she's not very coordinated. even climbing on the outside of the cage is hard for her, but she can climb on the inside like a pro.
she does get freaked out to new things. good idea on keeping new things outside the cage a couple of days before we put in. thanks, patunia!

I feel so much better hearing all of your advice. I guess from her point of view it IS still a new place for her and with being neglected we are basically the first people, I know of, that has tried to interact with her. I wish she did like treats. I've been trying the whole time we've had her to get her to take a little fruit or veggie by hand. Now I have a seperate holder for her veggies. it did take about two days for her to even look at the new feeder. now she is pecking at it. I put a new fruit or veg in each day. one day she'll come around. and yes, she does have a mirror with bell and beads. she comes out of her cage most often when her 'buddy' comes out. thanks all! I just need to keep working slow with her.