Wing clipped receovery

[DORIS123]

Hi everyone, I recently got my first cockatiel, he could potentially be 16 year old and his wing was clipped. And After quarantining in my office for 6 weeks(passing avian vet exam, and chlamydia free), he is finally home. I can tell that the last owner barely let him out of the cage. So when I all of a sudden put him in the middle of the living room, he panicked and fly into the window and fell down. I got scared and put him back in the cage.

I want to know how to slowly transition him to a new environment.

Some basic info about him:
-He is not tame and he will open his mouth and warn me and other birds not to get too close to him.
-Currently, he is on an all-seed diet.
-Most of the time he will sit on one branch and observe other birds. He will climb a little bit around the cage
-He is slowly starting to chirp a little bit
-He can fly a few steps but most of the time he bumps into things and fell down.

Some info about my home
-We live in a condo unit with floor-to-ceiling windows(really bright).
-All my birds(2 lovebirds and 1 budgie) roam around free at home(no wing clipped).
-Lovebirds(Handfed since 4 weeks old) are aggressive when budgie goes out of his way to annoy them (but now they are used to his existence and they are gentler towards him)
So far the lovebirds are okay with him. They don't seem to care about each other and do their own thing.
-Budgie(I had him for about 8 months and he will come to me if he wants) is really friendly and loves flying and making lots of noise. He is by the cage with the cockatiel ever since he comes home. And he is really liking the cockatiel and cockatiel is slowly getting used to him. But he will still open his mouth when budgie is getting too close.

What I want:
-I want him to be free and not in the cage at all times. How do I train him to fly again without him getting hurt?
-I want him to be eventually able to socialize with other birds

Any help and advice will be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[DORIS123]

This is the boy

 

[Lady Jane]

-I want him to be free and not in the cage at all times. How do I train him to fly again without him getting hurt?
-I want him to be eventually able to socialize with other birds

Sometimes its not what you want, it's what is good for the bird. When a bird is learning to fly safely in a new place one begins i a small room that has been made bird safe. Reflective surfaces like mirrors and windows covered. Fish tanks also if you have one.

You cannot force this bird to socialize with other birds. Are they your birds? Cockatiels are naturally social birds so you should not have too many problems in this department.

 

[DORIS123]

Sometimes its not what you want, it's what is good for the bird. When a bird is learning to fly safely in a new place one begins i a small room that has been made bird safe. Reflective surfaces like mirrors and windows covered. Fish tanks also if you have one.

You cannot force this bird to socialize with other birds. Are they your birds? Cockatiels are naturally social birds so you should not have too many problems in this department.

Yes, budgie and lovebirds are all my birds. I am not trying to force him, I know these things will happen naturally especially now that one of my birds is already trying to take care of him by keeping him company. I am just thinking about how I can support him so that he can feel comfortable and happy in this home. Due to the lack of background knowledge about him, everything is guesswork. I can tell that this bird went through a lot. He had a really bad eye infection when he came to me and his wing was clipped. He was really scared about everything around him(especially after 3 vet visits in a month ). How would you go about the out-of-cage time? Sometimes, I feel really bad that he was climbing up and down the cage when he see my birds flying around the room. I want to let him out, but I know that he will bump into things and get hurt. Even if I take him to a smaller room, he will still bump into things. How can I protect him in this situation? Should I put some cushions under the wall? Or I should just have him in the cage until the flight feather grow back? Is there any way that I can help so that his feather can grow faster?

 

[Tazlima]

Re: the clip itself, it's hard to be sure from the photo, but looks like just one wing is clipped and the other one is fully feathered, is that correct?

If so, you may want to clip the other wing to match. Two short wings is bad, but at least it's balanced and he'll have some control over what direction he's going if he falls. The feathers should molt and regrow in matching pairs, so they'll stay roughly matching through the whole growing-out process. (Unless the growing feathers break off, which is more likely on a clipped wing, so this method is not without it's risks. Even in that case, though, better to be mismatched by one feather than by a whole wing. They can compensate for a feather or two pretty easily).

One short wing and one long wing will basically send him in a circle every time he tries to fly or break a fall, which will make crashes even more dangerous.

Until they grow back, you need to basically crash-proof your home. Give him plenty of ladders and stuff so he can get around and put pillows or padding anyplace he's likely to hit the floor, so he'll have a soft landing if he does fall.

 

[DORIS123]

Re: the clip itself, it's hard to be sure from the photo, but looks like just one wing is clipped and the other one is fully feathered, is that correct?

If so, you may want to clip the other wing to match. Two short wings is bad, but at least it's balanced and he'll have some control over what direction he's going if he falls. The feathers should molt and regrow in matching pairs, so they'll stay roughly matching through the whole growing-out process. (Unless the growing feathers break off, which is more likely on a clipped wing, so this method is not without it's risks. Even in that case, though, better to be mismatched by one feather than by a whole wing. They can compensate for a feather or two pretty easily).

One short wing and one long wing will basically send him in a circle every time he tries to fly or break a fall, which will make crashes even more dangerous.

Until they grow back, you need to basically crash-proof your home. Give him plenty of ladders and stuff so he can get around and put pillows or padding anyplace he's likely to hit the floor, so he'll have a soft landing if he does fall.

I am not sure about the clip as he won't let me touch him without me being screamed at and he is currently in the cage so he should be safe. I am concerned to let him out of the cage right now because he took flight one time with my budgie and hit the wall. Even if I can put cushions and stuff on the floor, it doens't prevent him from hitting the wall. And his eyesight is not that good. I don't know exactly how old is the bird, but he has a leg band that said 06, the vet told me that he could be 16 year old tho the vet said that he does not look that old. Let's just assume that he is a 16-year-old bird, is he considered to be an old bird?