Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i got my bird to come out but she hasn't flown in years so she crashed into the wall and then she flew into the wall and fell behind the bookcase and walked out uharmed. will clipping the wings alter the quality of life or can i clip them till she has some more mussle in her wings.

You will get a lot of mixed answers on this question. Many people will tell you to never clip their wings because they aren't clipped in the wild. I would say it depends greatly on what your bird is going to be doing. If you are going to have your bird out of the cage a lot, working with taming him and have playgyms etc where he can play and exercise, I see nothing wrong with clipping the wings. If your bird is going to be mainly stuck in its cage or only let out once in a great while then I would leave the wings alone so it can practice flight and entertain itself better. Clipping the wings if done correctly will in no way harm your bird and can actually make it a much better companion although on some bird species that are already clumsier (like african greys) it will change their balance, making them more clumsy and more likely to pluck if given too much of a clip.

what exatly is a clip are the feathers cut or is the actual wing structure cut? if it,s the feathers i would only have them cut for a temporary period to let her build up a little mussle, she has not flown in years because she didn't want to come out.

Only the feathers!! Originally in birdkeeping hobbyists were not sure how to keep their birds from flying away so the actual muscle was cut in the wing to keep them from flying. Finally someone found a more humane way to do this and now only the feathers are cut. The last several flight feathers on each wing are clipped off at certain lengths. The amount of flight feathers cut and the length cut will depend on the severity of the clip wanted or needed and sometimes the type of bird. I would suggest taking your bird the first time to an avian vet (first choice) or even a "GOOD" avian pet store where they can clip the wings and show you how and where to cut at so then you could do it knowledgeably when needed after that.