I think I made a mistake...

[Abzeez]

As some of you know I clipped Ida's wings. Long story short she was turning into a terrier and was getting into lots of trouble. Well now with her wings clipped she is like a totally different parrot. She sits on the play gym and doesn't move. Won't play, nothing. If I put her on the couch with me to cuddle, she tries to fly off, lands on the ground, walks over to the play gym or cage and just hangs out. I have brought her into other rooms with me. Let her help me make the meals... Its like she's just depressed. I have to shut the cage door or she crawls back in. Not the same spunky Ida I knew. I hope she gets better, because now I feel awful, although I know it was for her own good.

 

[Atwee921]

It was for her own good..Maybe next time just clip them a tiny bit? My gcc's wings are clipped so that she cant get much lift but can easily fly across the room (going down).

 

[Abzeez]

I am hoping by the time they grow out I won't have to do it again, but we'll see. I am not a fan of clipped wings, but she did need a "lesson" as we might call it. She needed to learn she couldn't just do whatever it is that she wanted.

 

[merlinsmom13]

Poor Ida. She may be afraid that she can't get away if she needs to. Its only been a week? It might just take time for her to be more confident clipped. You really had no choice, she was headed for a bad situation. I hope it helps once they grow out. This is what I've always been afraid of w/clipping Merlin. Dont beat yourself up, you may have saved somebirdies life.

 

[lene1949]

As some of you know I clipped Ida's wings. Long story short she was turning into a terrier and was getting into lots of trouble. Well now with her wings clipped she is like a totally different parrot. She sits on the play gym and doesn't move. Won't play, nothing. If I put her on the couch with me to cuddle, she tries to fly off, lands on the ground, walks over to the play gym or cage and just hangs out. I have brought her into other rooms with me. Let her help me make the meals... Its like she's just depressed. I have to shut the cage door or she crawls back in. Not the same spunky Ida I knew. I hope she gets better, because now I feel awful, although I know it was for her own good.

I think you're feeling very guilty for clipping Ida's wings, and you might be transferring your emotions onto her. The happier you are about the situation, the happier your bird will be.

 

[mtdoramike]

I hate to say this and PLEASE don't take this the wrong way, But..................I have never liked the idea of clipping the wings of a flighted bird that knows they can fly and has been doing it for awhile. To me, it breaks their spirit. I'm a firm believer in wing clipping. I've lost too many birds to open doors or hitting something in the house when they get startled and fly off.

Both of my birds weren't flyers when I got them. Tiki has always been clipped and Mac although wasn't clipped, has never flown. But had Mac been flying or used to flying, I wouldn't have clipped his wings.

 

[Abzeez]

Well I didn't have a choice with Ida, the breeder refused to clip her wings before i bought her. It was her policy. It had to be done, if you read my other post about it you will see why. I do not like clipping, not one bit and wouldn't have done it if I didn't have too.

 

[Amber]

I also don't clip, but I only have the one bird (easier to keep an eye on just one!) and a very secure environment to prevent escape (As in, I live in a dorm so my bird is restricted to my bedroom 99% of the time. He gets out, gets to fly around the room (which is locked so no one can come in/accidentally let him out!), etc, but out of respect for my house-mates he only gets free reign when everyone is home for holidays... Not everyone likes fids after all!). I think Alex would react rather the same to being clipped, he loves to fly.

I think she will recover, and remember, it's only temporary, they will grow back in. I'm not sure what the situation was that required a clip, but you may want to try target training if she goes back to square one when they grow back in, some people here had some good results with that and their birds.

Like Lene said, stay positive!

 

[Abzeez]

Target training, tried that. She was just a wild one. Constantly attacking the other parrots, getting into situations that would have caused her harm. No matter what I provided for her to do, she wanted to fly around and cause problems. So I had to ground her. Hopefully this will help her learn that she can't just do whatever she wants. My other two parrots are fully flighted, she is the only one thats been a problem. I just have to remind myself it was this, or her possibly getting hurt.

 

[osnyder]

I'm no expert but everything I've learned here so far seems to point to parrots being very sensitive, intelligent birds that have real emotional reactions to changes in their world. I bet she'll adjust with time

 

[TeakwoodBirdHouse]

You did the right thing. She's just pouting. I've clipped wings of birds that were flighted for a long time, with the same result. They get over it. Let her pout, but, show her that you still love her. Remember, she knows she cannot fly now. And, any change is upsetting to our fids. This is a big change. Give her foraging opportunities, maybe new toys, things to take her mind off of it. She'll come around. I have a very tame & loving parakeet that refuses to come to me after she gets clipped. But, she adjusts. Ida will also.

 

[Molcan2]

I'm sorry she's having such a hard time adjusting. Its so hard to see them upset. With time she'll come around. She's just been so used to doing whatever she wanted and now she has restrictions, just like any other child she is going to fight it in the beginning. Just remember that you did what you felt was best for your situation. There isn't anything you can do to reverse it. It just is what it is, try not to feel too bad about it. Eventually she will adjust. Would defiantly suggest a lot of foraging toys (fill them with whatever treats she loves), do anything you can to keep her busy and her mind off of whats just happened, the last thing you want is for her to take it out on herself (shredding/plucking).

 

[Echo]

I believe that she needs some time to adjust. My Grey is fully flighted right now. However, when I used to clip her, I would only do the last 4 primary flight feathers only.

I clip one of my Pionus when her flight feathers grow back in, and after I do it, it takes her a little while to remember that she can't fly on the cooking stove top any longer!! ....She comes short, thank God! But I swear that after she almost makes it and instead ends up on the floor, she looks at me, then turns around and literally STOMPS back to her cage like an angry child LOL.

 

[IcyWolf]

Our Alex is acting kind of the same way. She was flighted in her previous home but I just didn't feel comfortable with that, all of my previous birds had always been clipped so I didn't really think much of it, but wow, it makes a HUGE difference when the bird is used to flying. Ziggy has been clipped for about 3 months now and she has gotten more used to it. She clambers around and plays with her toys all of the time but she will still get on top of her cage and flap like crazy trying to get lift and then obviously gets frustrated when she can only lift one leg up off the ground :/ You had to do what you had to do though. Take some time and let her settle into the idea of being flightless and then start up from the ground up with retraining her. Hopefully she will learn the things that she can and cannot do so that in the future you can leave her untrimmed

 

[MikeyTN]

Like it was mentioned already, Ida is most likely pouting! She will get over it!!! I firmly believe in clipping a youngster's wings after they master their flight. It makes training so much easier. I have said im not a big fan of wing clipping, but will do it if necessary. Especially when they're young, they're like little toddlers that keep going and going.....

 

[Abzeez]

Oh yes... She is FOR SURE pouting! I must say everyone else in the house is much happier now that she is grounded. Bean tested her twice and then it he went back to normal. He would fly at her and hover over her almost to say." How do you like it?" Ida would do that to him every few minutes when she was flighted. She would follow him around just to bother him. So yes, it was needed. She is slowly coming around, and like I said, things are starting to go back to normal. No more flying toddler throwing bigger tantrums then my 4 year old daughter does.

As far as toys, she has plenty to do, always has. She just never used to have to sit in one spot. She has started to play with toys outside of her cage more and also since she has the aviator flight harness, I feel better about bringing her outside again, and she loves that.

 

[Abzeez]

I must also add I feel like she knows I am talking about her being all pouty... Because after I wrote this post is when she started showing signs of happiness. Really small signs, but she is thinking about it.