# Cockatiel Wing Clipping



## mlj722 (Feb 19, 2017)

I know that this is a widely debated topic, but I had a question regarding Cockaitiels and wing clipping.

Before I begin, my 'tiel Enzo has a minor clip, meaning that only his first four flight feathers were cut. The breeder I purchased him from only clipped his wings for the first time that same day I purchased him, so Enzo knows how to fly completely. The breeder told me that they trimmed very few feathers in order to make sure that the bird is unable to take off and fly up, but instead will gently and slowly glide towards the ground in order to prevent injury. 

However, whenever I place him down, such as on the perch on the side of the cage while I quickly try to do something that he cannot be on me for, such as me getting dressed (since his cage is located within my room). Within a few minutes of me taking a few steps back from him and beginning to do the action I planning to, he will make noises at me a few times and then will usually try to fly his way towards me. Being the worry wart that I am, I will normally reach out and catch him, allowing him to land on my hand. 

Also, I have noticed that despite his wings still being clearly clipped, he is now able to flap from one side of the cage to another and I was wondering, should I clip any more of the feathers? Or should the amount cut still be able to keep him from slamming into any walls or windows hard enough to harm himself? Also, is me often catching him when he flies towards me accidentally teaching him to fly towards me whenever he wants me? Cause lately I've noticed that he tries to get me to carry him to various places that he wants to go to, such as his playground, which I think I taught to him when I babied him for the first week that he was home.


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

Lol he sounds so lazy! But he clearly loves you a lot because he wants to be with you so much! Your very lucky. Do not clip him yourself if you don't have experience doing it. I have two cockatiels who can't fly because either a previous owner or breeder clipped them wrong and so they have feathers that don't grow it's very sad to have a bird that can't fly and it should never be taken away from a bird completely. How long have you had him? Have any feathers grown in? Have you witnessed him try to glide to anything other than your arms? Will you be having him lightly clipped for all of his life or is it for taming perposes?


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## mlj722 (Feb 19, 2017)

Fran.bath89 said:


> Lol he sounds so lazy! But he clearly loves you a lot because he wants to be with you so much! Your very lucky. Do not clip him yourself if you don't have experience doing it. I have two cockatiels who can't fly because either a previous owner or breeder clipped them wrong and so they have feathers that don't grow it's very sad to have a bird that can't fly and it should never be taken away from a bird completely. How long have you had him? Have any feathers grown in? Have you witnessed him try to glide to anything other than your arms? Will you be having him lightly clipped for all of his life or is it for taming perposes?


I bet he got his laziness from me. "Monkey see, monkey do" :rofl:

I actually purchased him from a breeder a state away from me (in Ohio) and when she clipped him, she showed me how to do it, but she told me that if I brought him in again, she'd gladly clip him once more for me. 
I've actually had him for a quite short time (shortly over a month now), and he's still young for he's only 3 months old (but we got a DNA test and the test results have finally come back with him being a boy (yay~)). So, no he hasn't grown the feathers back yet. 

And yes! He's glided from his playground to the ground when he wants to get off the very top (cause he hasn't learned how to climb down the ladder yet :lol, flapped from my arm to tables, and he'll hop from your arm to any other surface he wishes to be on (but if your arm is angled, he'll try climbing down your arm first so that he doesn't have to try and fly)

And I'm not too sure if I'll keep him trimmed the entire time or not. He came to me hand-raised, so he doesn't require any training, and I thought that it would be cool to teach him to fly to me upon command and do like I've seen others do where they turn an entire room into a bird room which they can fly around in and such. :tiel5::tiel5::tiel5:


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

Yea training to come when called is excellent and to teach him what you want to call the cage and play area then you can command him to fly to different areas it's a good way to encourage him to exercise every day and will make your bond very strong. YouTube has loads of tricks you can teach birds. My favourite is play dead lol


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

So the basic idea behind clipping is not to prevent flight, that's actually dangerous. You want them to be able to glide and get around using their wings. Clipping him any more could cause more harm than good. I had one tiel that was clipped when I got him and he dropped like a rock any time he tried to take off, cut his keep pretty good doing it too. He's able to fly better because he's building up those muscles. It's good exercise too.


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## Jaguar (Jul 11, 2014)

Heavy clips put them at risk of injury - keel bone and leg fractures, split wounds, broken feathers, etc.
It also has health consequences like increased risk of obesity and circulatory disease. They get almost all of their exercise from flight.
Not to mention the psychological effects of a severe clip. It's extremely stressful for them to feel so helpless and vulnerable.

Babies are clingy and yes you're reinforcing it. Now's a great time to start target and station training. If you give it a search, there's a few great guides and articles out there such as this one. Phoenix is my super clingy one, and he's been taught to station on the cage door. This keeps him from flying at me constantly while I'm doing things, but also spills over in being helpful in stationing during things like being weighed.


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