# Flying into walls!



## Apfelschorle (Feb 23, 2014)

I've had my two birdies for almost two full weeks now and whilst they appear to be feeling more at ease in their cage and with us, the handful of times we've let them out to explore the (bird-proofed) living room, it's suddenly a very different story.

They get incredibly panicked and flutter erratically around the room, knocking into walls and furniture and eventually crash landing on the floor, or nestling into the small gap between the ledge above the curtain and the ceiling. It's obviously very stressful for everyone involved... I'm always terrified that they'll seriously hurt themselves (get a concussion or break a blood feather)!

In an attempt to prevent this from happening, I decided to order a plethora of perches and playgyms, which I plan to put up all over the room so they'll at least have somewhere to land, instead of circling the room in a mounting frenzy. In the meantime, we're too scared to let them out their cage...which I don't feel *too* bad about because it's massive (4x3 ft)!

I was wondering, though, if I should just suck up my fear and let them out anyway, accepting that they'll take a few knocks. I know they'll have to learn their way around the room eventually, but they're only 10 weeks old, so fragile-looking, still quite jumpy and not very good flyers  What to do?


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## goose'smom (Jan 1, 2014)

It might be better for you to have them slightly clipped so they can get a little flutter but not full flight. How old are they? When I brought home goose she hadn't had her first molt yet. She was clipped (but not super short) and could flutter nicely so even if she tried to fly she wouldn't just fall. Then after we had her two months she molted and quickly grew her adult wing feathers in. She has full flight now but she is secure, bonded, and comfortable with her home. It seems like your birds are a bit afraid, so they fly, then they further freighten themselves by running into things. It's almost like a vicious cycle from the sound of it. If they were slightly clipped they would rely on you for transport, then you could slowly expose them to certain areas of the house. You can set up perch stations that they play on. When they get full flight they will fly to their stations. Goose can go anywhere but she stays on her stations or me.
I don't know what others will offer you in terms of advice, they may be against clipping, and usually I am too, but it seems like your babies our overwhelmed and would benefit from depending on you for slow exposure until they are secure.


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## kmclaassen (Jan 17, 2013)

Haze used to be like that when he was younger. He used to fly into walls and such. Now that he is older and gotten used to his surroundings he is a much better flyer. I have not clipped his wings in the year and a half I have had him.


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## Peaches&Me (Oct 30, 2013)

I have had Skye just one week, she's a rescue and wasn't in great shape.
Although an older bird and unclipped (I never clip), she couldn't fly very well, a combination of being overweight and unused untoned wing muscles and no tail! In her previous situation she was cage bound, in our new and unfamiliar home she simply flew around in a panic crashing into windows, walls, furniture and always ending up slumped on the floor hyperventilating from exhaustion! 
Fast forward one week until now and she's flying well, landing well, changing direction well and hasn't crashed into anything in a couple of days  It's almost like she's a totally different bird altogether  she has lost weight from being able to fly around and toned her wing muscles some and she loves being able to fly  The only thing I did was to leave her out of the cage most of the day and rescue her when she was stuck 
I'm sure your babies will adjust well too, it just takes a little time for them to learn the art of flying, and flying is an art  and one they will love when they have learnt it


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## Apfelschorle (Feb 23, 2014)

Haha oh dear, it seems I may have accidentally resurrected the eternal 'to clip or not to clip' debate 

goose'smom, they're still very little (just over 10 weeks old) so as appealing as the idea of clipping their wings is in that it would force them to be more reliant on me, I worry that if I do they'll never learn to fly "properly"!

It's good to know that it's not only my tiels who have wall-flying-intoing (then ending up on the floor, dazed and panting) tendencies, and that there's a hope they may grow out of it! I think it could be that they're used to being able to land on any of the walls of their cage (what with their horizontal bars), and they haven't yet figured out that this doesn't work with the walls of a room. Peaches&Me, it's so lovely to hear how much progress Skye has made under your care!  

In that case, I'll just wait for all the perches and playgyms to arrive, set everything up nicely all over the room, cross my fingers and hope they'll eventually learn the layout of the living room and to keep their flying speed down to a level which their reaction time allows!
(I've also ordered four bottles of Kwik Stop and have the local avian vet's number saved on my phone - so I'll be ready for all eventualities, haha)

Thanks for the tips and encouragement! I'd be a nervous wreck if it weren't for this forum


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## goose'smom (Jan 1, 2014)

I am not for clipping, don't get me wrong. Your description of the situation seemed a bit different in that it appeared they were maybe fearful and at risk of getting hurt. Goose came to me partially clipped and learned to fly great 
I would never clip her again and wouldn't recommend it for the purposes of bonding, because i think innately they want to bond to you. When she was a baby she was afraid of everything so I would hold her and show her things, she found comfort in me. She grew brave through that. That is what I was referring to above, not clipping as a method to force dependency.
Like I said, I am not for clipping, but i have read several stories of overly frightened birds that get hurt because they overwhelmed, so I was trying to offer help in terms of that.
Sorry. Thanks


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## thewandererw (Aug 22, 2011)

When I first adopted my tiel he was badly clipped, and would fall to the ground when he tried to fly.now 9 months later he fly all around the apt with no trouble.

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## H3lix86 (Oct 6, 2013)

since clipping is a very controversial subject, the following is only my opinion. In your case since your birds seem to be at high risk of injuring themselves i feel a slight clip may be more beneficial than detrimental. While normally i don't condone clipping. In this case until they learn their surroundings, and become more comfortable it may be a good idea to have them partially clipped. When it comes to 'tiel's i personally feel since they are such good flyers you will never truly ground them. Even if you cut the feathers all the way down they will just gain more muscle to make up for the lack of feathers. they will just adapt to continue flying. 

All you can honestly do is trim them down, and slow them down. When i first adopted nimbus from his previous owner, he had NEVER been allowed to fly so thats one of the reason he has such a big chest. it's mostly muscle from adapting to not having flight feathers. however after i adopted him (i don't clip feathers) they have since grown back in and he has had to relearn how to fly all over again since now he has fully grown wings. It was an ordeal, but he learned eventually. He basically had to "fledge" at over a year old.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I've never had tiels that young so I don't know how long it takes them to learn to fly properly etc. I know you should never clip a young birds wings before they learn to fly because it can hinder them from learning. I have a 17 year old tiel who came to live with us when he was 15. I don't think he had much out of the cage time before us. During those initial weeks with us, he took a couple nasty crashes. They scared me to death and I did consider clipping. I didn't- and I'm glad I didn't. He needed to relearn flying and learn to maneuver around the house. It really didn't take him long and now he's a good little flyer. Overall, it's better for their health and mental well-being if they can fly. But I think each person needs to weigh the risks and make their own decision based on their own situation. I personally though am very glad I didn't clip his wings.


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## catalinadee (Jan 1, 2011)

I think baby tiels are some of the clumsiest birds going. Harvey would always scrape the walls, even at a year old. I agree with some of the others, I wouldn't clip. They'll get the hang of it eventually


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## Nikster199 (Oct 5, 2013)

Apfelschorle said:


> Haha oh dear, it seems I may have accidentally resurrected the eternal 'to clip or not to clip' debate
> 
> goose'smom, they're still very little (just over 10 weeks old) so as appealing as the idea of clipping their wings is in that it would force them to be more reliant on me, I worry that if I do they'll never learn to fly "properly"!
> 
> ...



I got my teil when he was 10 weeks old and he used to fly into wall sometimes and crash land. But after about 2 1/2 weeks he got used to the room and landed on my door or curtain railing. Now he flies all over the house, from the kitchen down the hallway into the lounge and back but only when someone's with him 


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