- Joined
- 7/25/18
- Messages
- 160
Hello everyone,
I am the very fortunate owner of a sweet and delightful nine year old female blue head Pionus named Zephyr. We adopted her almost exactly a year ago. As far as I am aware, she has been clipped her entire life and doesn't really know how to fly - she is not very interested, either, and only tries to fly if she's panicked or very frustrated.
So here's my question: should I continue to clip her wings, or should I let them grow out and if so how do I make it safe? We just moved to a bigger place, a small bungalow. Zephyr is the main living area, so she is near a entrance door (there isn't really a way to have her not near a door and still be out with us). I've been letting her wings grow out because I don't love the idea of clipping... and I've seen her flying in panic with clipped wings, smashing into the things and plummeting to the ground, and it doesn't seem very safe or healthy for her. That being said, I'm really concerned she may fly out the door. We've been here a week and she's attempted flight only twice: once from her perch to her cage when she was startled, and once from her cage to her perch. She landed quite well both times and I was amazed at the difference in control and precision she has for "emergency landings" compared to when she was clipped.
One thought I had for how I can make it safer - hanging a bead curtain over the door she is nearest to? Any other suggestions, opinions and ideas about whether to clip and/or be safely flighted would be very welcome!
I am the very fortunate owner of a sweet and delightful nine year old female blue head Pionus named Zephyr. We adopted her almost exactly a year ago. As far as I am aware, she has been clipped her entire life and doesn't really know how to fly - she is not very interested, either, and only tries to fly if she's panicked or very frustrated.
So here's my question: should I continue to clip her wings, or should I let them grow out and if so how do I make it safe? We just moved to a bigger place, a small bungalow. Zephyr is the main living area, so she is near a entrance door (there isn't really a way to have her not near a door and still be out with us). I've been letting her wings grow out because I don't love the idea of clipping... and I've seen her flying in panic with clipped wings, smashing into the things and plummeting to the ground, and it doesn't seem very safe or healthy for her. That being said, I'm really concerned she may fly out the door. We've been here a week and she's attempted flight only twice: once from her perch to her cage when she was startled, and once from her cage to her perch. She landed quite well both times and I was amazed at the difference in control and precision she has for "emergency landings" compared to when she was clipped.
One thought I had for how I can make it safer - hanging a bead curtain over the door she is nearest to? Any other suggestions, opinions and ideas about whether to clip and/or be safely flighted would be very welcome!