# first flight :s



## parrotparadise (May 5, 2013)

babies are 4 weeks old now and pearly took her first flight yesterday, normy hasnt yet but keeps flapping in practice, cinny is still a bit smaller than the other 2 its almost like shes a week younger rather than 2 days, i think i should have been supplementing her feeds almost from the beginning. anyway it was so exciting to see pearly fly but so scary as well, she smacks fairly softly but still with a small bump straight into the wall every time now im wondering whether i should clip them? ive never had a clipped bird before ibut at the sme time ive never had a yound bird that didnt know what a wall or window was before either. what are peoples experiences? do they learn quicklt to stop before the wall or is this going to get dangerous if i dont clip?


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

Do *not* clip their wings!
Try letting her fly in a small room like a bathroom and she will learn. If you clip them now then she will never learn and that's a big problem


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's important to the baby's physical and mental health to let it learn how to fly skillfully. Flapping is instinctive but steering and landing have to be learned, so there will be some crashes. It's less dangerous in a smaller room because the baby can't build up too much speed before it has to turn (or crash). I wouldn't go for a bathroom though, that's a little too small in most cases and has a lot of hazards. My babies learn to fly in a 12 x 14 foot bedroom without any major disasters. I quickly learned not to let them fly in the main part of the house, where they can fly through several rooms in a straight line. 

If you feel that you MUST clip them, do it very lightly - two feathers on each wing. This will slow them down slightly but still let them fly.


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## parrotparadise (May 5, 2013)

thank you so so much that is exactly what i was worried about. i think all birds should be able to fly i was really hoping the recommendation was to leave them flighted. normy flew about 20 mins after i posted this morning and already pearly is slowing down at the wall and aiming for the curtain rod or me  thanks again i really needed to hear that it was ok to keep them flighted.


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## ollieandme (Mar 25, 2013)

yes flighted is best for babies  it's terrible when you buy a bird and find out it never learnt to fly. all birds should have the skill of flying: whether or not their owners let them use it is another matter.


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