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Being able to take sally out on my shoulder has been great fun. So today against my better judgment I had Joey's wings clipped. At first I wondered if I had done the right thing as it's something I have always been against but once it was done. Joey was staying on may shoulder why walking outside and at the zoo, his attitude has been improved to. Tommorow is Gizmo's turn.

Where you take them outside so much, Theo, that is probably the best thing. I know they stay with you, but you never know. They could just get spooked from something and fly off.

And if you don't like the situation, let them grow back!!

Hello to Gizmo, Joey, and Sally!

The Zoo Keeper cut them very short. don't take this the way it sounds but she tested joey by gentley throwing him up to make sure he could not fly. they will need to be cut about every 2 months.

We do that with Casper too. I usually just leave her on my arm and drop my arm slowly. Sometimes she stays on, sometimes she flies. But she only goes down to the ground. Just to give her wings some exercise.

I wanted to ask you...any plans for a family????? Cockatiel family, that is. Now that you know Sally is a "she".

not planed but if it happens I would not be upset. Gizzy and Sally have become so close I can see it happening in the future. If I had the money I would love to open a tiel sancturay

Theo,

Did the zoo keeper clip the wings really close to the follicle, or just cut the ends off the feathers? How many did s(he) cut for each one, and did the clipper leave the outter 2 or 3 flight feathers?

thats to tech for me Sam. all I can tell you is she did it once and he manged to fly away. she did it again and he cant fly. Poor kid.
she cut a lot of feathers.

Awww, theo, my birds wings are already starting to grow back and we got them clipped right after christmas----the same two feathers on each wing are growing, so the feathers come back quicker than you think! Also I have been noticing woody preening alot more lately and also a little sleepier-----then I noticed feathers on the bottom of his cage---I swear he spent most of the night tonight preening and shaking his feathers out, and when we took him out tonight he was grumpy, and he never gets grumpy-----I think he is molting.

Clipped or not. taking them out on your sholder is not a good idea. they can still get spooked and take off, or if they are cut that short, get hurt falling. Its like crippling the bird.

well It's gizmo's turn tomorrow. weather I do it agin to any of them will depend on how this works out.

Carters Dad wrote:Clipped or not. taking them out on your sholder is not a good idea. they can still get spooked and take off, or if they are cut that short, get hurt falling. Its like crippling the bird.

My thoughts too. The fun of walking around with them loose would be so fleeting compared with the grief of losing one through my own carelessness.

Paca

Even clipped short a gust of wind could take them far off.

Unless you have a harness or some type of 'leash' on them, I would not take them outside. Over the years, I've lost quite a few birds to flying away...a couple of them where clipped they just caught a wind drift and got on a low branch and then went up the trees from there. It's very easy to lose a bird this way and most of the time they do not come back.

Let it be known though that my parents would often take the bird's in their cage and let them stay outside on a nice day on the back porch, and this is usually how they somehow managed to get away. Unless I have an enclosed avairy built someday, I will not be taking my birds outside.

And I certainly don't think clipping your bird is 'crippling' them. Frankly, I'm not that tall and pregnant to boot and I certainly can't be jumping on the counter tops to get to the top of the cabinets to get them down like I used to when I was younger. It's safer for me and should the bird somehow get outside, it's safer for them too. Wild birds will chase them and try to kill them if they spot them, I've seen them do it.