Not having a good day with Cookie.. *sigh*

[Emmilyy]

The way she reacts to me changes week by week! sometimes she's all loveydovey, flying to me, cuddling, napping with me.. And other days she doesn't want me around her. She flies away.. Sure, she'll hang out around me, but doesn't want me to come close to her. *sigh* it seems like we've been having more and more of those days since she's become flighted.

When i told my mom, the first thing she said was, 'well, why don't we get her clipped again?"

Not i have no idea what to do. I want to keep her flighted - i LOVE having her flighted, it makes me happy and I'm sure it makes her happy, too. but this house is just to dangerous! People are constantly coming and going, doors opening and closing, the house is tiny.. I'd hate to lose her outisde. and it gets so coold here. I know its horrible to think about but i'm trying to make a decision.. i'd been planning on clipping her, I've just been waiting for her to molt all her feathers back.. But now that my mom made that comment.. i don't know.. Now i don't want to clip her.. because, well. its hard to explain. Because i don't want her to spend time with me if she doesn't want to, you know what i mean? I dont want to clip her and have her be more 'handable' just because she's clipped. I want her to do what she wants, but i want her to be happy, too..

Any one have any suggestions? I know this could turn into a debate, you know, clipped vs. flighted, but please try and refrain from debating.. i just would love it if you could consider my situation and help me think of a solution.

*sigh*

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

every time she flies to you give her a treat she just might start returning to you more the must be very small so that she does not get full quickly that might help

 

[Janie]

I do agree with Cynthia. I also would recommend some clicker training and recall training (which is basically what Cynthia suggested). This will help with whatever you decide to do on clipping. I keep my flighted in a fairly unsafe house so I feel your pain on that. You can't take your eyes off of them. I'm going to use the clicker training to try to train Pearl to stay put.

 

[Emmilyy]

thank you, guys! when i am in my room on the computer desk, she knows she gets treats when i'm there. she'll fly over when she see's me with the jar... and she'll fly to me when i have food, but thats about it... Once in a while now she'll get her scritches, she used to LOVE them. now she loves them the most when she's sleepy, lol! I have tried clicker training before, i have a book.. but we didn't have much progres... I'll dig it out again and possibly try again soon.. I'd love to have her recall trained. How do i go about that?

She's a real flighty bird. everything startles her. Someone can walk by and she'll spook and fly across the room.. she calms down right after, but its hard to get her to keep in one place..

I dont really care if she likes me or not, though. I mean, sure, obviously i'd LOVE it if she wanted to be with me, but the main thing is i just want her to be happy. My main concern is the clipping.. If i clip her, i can still clicker train her and gain more of her trust so she *wants* to be with me, right? I am deffinately not going to force her into.. right now I'm thinkin about her safety. My brother and sister have friends through here all the time, family is coming and going.. the house is tiny.. like i said, i dont want anything to happen. (plus, she runs into things when she flys! )

hmm

 

[ilikebirds]

I am sorry. Constantly fretting about your birds safty sucks. I hope clicker training works. But like you said, it is dangerous. People were in and out of my apartment, and I had the misfortune of watching Louie budgie fly past my head and out the open door. I know wings make them happy, I had so much joy watching them fly free. But they played on top of doors, basically every spot that they are not supposed to. If you do clip, she will adjust. And they grow back. Maybe by the time she is flighted again, you can figure something out. Have you thought of a flight suit?
And my budgies arent caged forever...they have super supervised budgie partys We pull a blanket across the kitchen, they see it as a barier and stay in the room. We lock all the doors, no one in or out. Ever had 16 Budgies doing flybys? Its so cool! They are so fast!
I bet Cookie is faster! I wish they would fly to me...

 

[Emmilyy]

Cookie is crazy fast! she was clipped when i got her, so this is the first time she's been flighted. I'm thinking of doing a light clip, though i've heard GCC's outpower them pretty fast.

and ohh yes i've tried the flightsuit - one ANGRY bird and two bloody hands later, i promised myself, NEVER AGAIN. she wouldn't let me near her for days/

 

[bubblelady]

I know that clipping is a personal decision, and a controversial one as well. But I've lost 4 birds to accidents that wouldn't have happened had the birds not been fully flighted. The first was my first bird, when I was 8 years old. I cried & cried & cried. And my dad, who had closed the kitchen door to keep the bird from following him into the bathroom, felt absolutely horrible. So now all my babies are lightly clipped. And Gingus, my GCC, does just fine with it. She came to me with a baby clip & I have maintained it ever since. She can cross half the room before gliding to a stop, which means she can still fly short distances without ending up on the floor. Like, from my recliner to the desk, or bookshelf to her playgym. I already have enough gray hairs, so worry about the dangers of full flight indoors--or through an outside door--are NOT welcome in my life! A hard decision, I know.

 

[Emmilyy]

I know its really hard.. i think i`m going to go with a light clip once she`s finished molting all her flights in.. This house is just too small, i almost have a heart attack every time she takes off.

Like, yesterday, we were downstairs, and something scared her. She took off, flew laps around the room, went to high, hit against the ceiling, and then almost smacked into a wall..

 

[hsmoscout]

After seeing it with Apple, a light clip isn't going to so much good. Yes, it may keep her from going all the way from your room into the kitchen and getting accidentally burned, but otherwise it won't make much of a difference.

 

[bubblelady]

and something scared her. She took off, flew laps around the room, went to high, hit against the ceiling, and then almost smacked into a wall..

Yep, that's exactly how I lost JB (Junior Bird...the budgie who annoyed my budgie hen no end.) The hen got fed up with him bugging her & lunged at him. He took off & flew into a wall. Broke his little neck. Pete, the hen, didn't mind at all

 

[Emmilyy]

:O

I think I'm deffinately going to do a light clip.. Just got to wait until she's molted in.

Is it hard to do yourself? Would a vet do it for me?

 

[bubblelady]

:O

I think I'm deffinately going to do a light clip.. Just got to wait until she's molted in.

Is it hard to do yourself? Would a vet do it for me?

Not hard to do, once you know how. I do my own birds now but didn't at first. A vet will do it but it's usually cheaper at a pet store or breeder. I'd stick with a non-chain pet store that specializes in birds. Where did you get Cookie? You might be able to return to whomever clipped her the first time. It's best to start out with just a few flight feathers on each wing. If she still is too moble, you can clip one or two more. Much easier to clip more than to try to put them back Don't want Cookie to fall to the floor is she tried to fly. Just don't want her to be able to gain too much altitude. After you've seen it done once or twice...or 3 times...and know how many to clip, you can do it yourself. Good luck!