Questions (Wings, Coconuts)

[katie_fleming]

Hello!

I have some more questions I hope you can help me with. First, are coconuts ok for Eclectus parrots? Can they have the milk or just the white part? I saw some at the grocery store and thought it would be a great treat. I have to look how to actually get into one of them LOL.

And secondly, I've been trying to work with Jasper to let me open his wings. I want to be able to trim his wings on my own eventually and think it will be easier if he lets me open them and I give a quick snip, rather than the towel method.

(The two flight feathers he lost have grown back already! They're full length! I had no idea they were grown back until his shower the other day when I got a good look. I will book an appointment at a pet store as soon as I have transportation to get there and have them professionally done so I can see the proper way)

He lets me glide my finger under his wing no problem, but won't let me actually try to extend them and fan out the feathers. Is there a certain way I should be trying to do this? Any help would be appreciated!

Edit: This is how I'd like to be able to do it

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfOzC7vvims"]Trimming a Bird's Feathers - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Anansi]

Coconuts are okay for ekkies. They have great nutritional benefits. I do know that you're right about them being somewhat fatty, though, so I'm not quite sure about how much is an appropriate amount. I'll try looking into it and if I find a more definitive answer I'll post it here.

As for that clipping video, while I feel everyone is entitled to their own opinion about whether or not to clip their bird, her method angers me. Clipping a bird only on one side is unnecessarily cruel, in my opinion. If a person decides to clip, they should at least make it an even and moderate clip on both sides.

The reason behind clipping on one side only is strategic psychological damage. When your bird tries to fly, he can't help but to veer helplessly away from his intended direction... often resulting in them crashing into a wall or the ground. After this happens a few times, it erodes their confidence in their ability to fly. Eventually, they associate attempting to fly with disorientation and pain, and they are thus conditioned to fear that which should feel natural to them.

How does that help a parrot? An even clip is one thing. I may not prefer it personally, but I understand that there are times when it is necessary. And even when I don't exactly consider it necessary, I can respect one's reasons for deciding to do so. (When done the right way. Not a hard clip.) But clipping on one side just feels wrong. What justification can there be in the intentional psychological scarring of a bird that you deem part of the family?

Katie, I realize you might have been just showing that video as an example of the act of cutting itself, rather than in support of that woman's chosen method. But since the video is there, I felt I needed to speak my piece on it just in case you didn't know the intentions of that method... and also for anyone who might happen on this thread later on.

I feel that strongly about it. (I also very much disagree with her stance on clipping a bird before it has the chance to fledge, as that can have an effect on cognitive development, but I decided to focus on the worst of her troubling statements.)

 

[labell]

I could FEEL my blood pressure rising watching this. Wrong, wrong and this is the issue I have with YouTube. People come on doing instructional video's like they are experts and are actually endangering the lives of birds.

An 8 week old grey having one wing clipped like that should be a crime, I truly almost started crying for that poor baby. Willow is flying and landing with great skill and we are now working on recall. She can aim where she is going, turn in mid air and is a JOY to watch!

 

[katie_fleming]

Yes, strictly for how she's able to open the wings and trim without toweling. Not the fact the bird is too young and it's only on one side.

I want to keep a "baby trim" for Jasper so he can still glide. But his 2 new flight feathers are fully grown and I need them trimmed to match the others. He was too upset at the vet today for them to do them.