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Bad wing clipping

Violaxo

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886ADBB6-0D00-4BD4-B96F-0668D803BD3D.png so my budgie seems to have had a bad wing clipping .... all the feathers are clipped on both wings, except they left the long primary feathers on her left wing. Is this okay for now, or should I take her back...

I’m skeptical about taking her back because she has been to and from the vet the last couple weeks with an infection, and I just want her to rest and not be stressed out...(she’s 100% healthy now)

Is it okay to leave it like this, and just wait for her other primary featehrs to grow back, or should I get her back ASAP?
 

Zara

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No. This needs fixed now. Would you leave a man with one leg with no walking stick?

Birds need balance. This is why they molt one feather on both sides at a time.

Take her to a proper avian vet and not an amature.
 

Ripshod

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You can Google wing clipping and you'll find really old advice to clip one wing only. I hate the thought of someone becoming a clipping 'expert' after reading up on the net.
 

Lady Jane

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If this was my bird I would go right to the person that did this old school cutting of feathers and give them a piece of my anger. It is dangerous for a bird to be like this as @Zara said. Most likely your beautiful budgie will have to have the remaining left side cut also to even things out. I am so sorry. Regrowth will take many months so keep her safe and away from other pets if you have any.
 
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Zara

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I just want her to rest and not be stressed out.
Having no balance will stress her out a lot.

Clipping must be done by a professonal (if at all), namely an avian vet. Please don´t let any old Tom, Dick or Harry take a pair of scissors to her.

I hope you can get this sorted today, if not give it your best shot to fix it tomorrow.
 

saroj12

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As has been said, clipping one side only is highly dangerous for the bird. Glad you got her evened out. Hopefully she might molt out the clipped feathers this year and then be able to do what she was designed to do... fly! :fly2:

Keep an eye on her so that she doesn't fall if she tries to fly. Is her cage on carpet or hard floor? If hard floor you may want to think about padding out the area with mats around her cage.
 

Fergus Mom

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She is a gorgeous bird. I'm so glad she did not have to live with this horrible clip for very long. Both my birds are flighted, and they get a lot of time out of their cage each day to do what birds do best.... Flyyyyyy. They love to fly!
 

Zara

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Glad to see you sort this so quick. But like I said, it was important.

I would love for your bird to one day be able to fly. @Lady Jane has a good thread with info on flighted birds, I will link it in when I get on my laptop.
At least read and consider it.
 

Violaxo

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@Zara oh I will deffs let her fly. She is a new budgie so she is till getting used to her surroundings. So until she is comfy with her new surroundings she will be clipped. But all my budgies are allowed to fly after they settle
 

Zara

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I'm sure she will be settled in by the time her flights grow back.
Nice to hear she will get to fly one day :)
 

karen256

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No one should have clipped your budgie like that - that said, it's hard to say what is better to do. Some birds can learn to compensate for being unbalanced and, if so, it's probably best to do nothing and just wait for her to molt and regrow the feathers. If she acts clumsy and unbalanced and can't control where she goes after an adjustment period, then you might want to clip her left wing a little bit more to help balance her out. But clip as little as possible to balance her - you don't want to remove any more than absolutely needed to let her balance.

If she is clipped too much, she will just fall like a rock and it won't matter if she is balanced or not.

My little budgie Winter came with most of her primaries on both wings clipped; even though it was a balanced clip, she was clipped so short she would fall like a rock if she slipped (she liked to climb to her highest perch and swing by one toe just to scare me). She injured herself one time, damaging the skin over her keel; it caused no visible wound at the time but became infected later and required a vet visit although it did heal up well. Budgies are lightweight strong fliers so falling related injuries are less common than with other birds, but still possible.
 

Ripshod

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Keep an eye on her so that she doesn't fall if she tries to fly. Is her cage on carpet or hard floor? If hard floor you may want to think about padding out the area with mats around her cage.
This is the only time I would advocate letting a bird play on the floor. Let her learn she can't fly, from the lowest and safest point possible.
 

Lady Jane

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When my two were babies and had a breeder cut flights I got a long safe ladder. I put it on the floor leading up into the cage. Now, I never advocate for any bird to be on the floor but mine learned to climb up the ladder into the cage which was a huge step towards independence and confidence. To this day they really like the ladder. I took the hooks out for safety reasons. Some ladders were no wide enough so if you shop for one make sure it is at least 4 inches wide so they can safely climb and the length should be greater that or at 23 inches.
 
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