# Wing-Clipping vs Trust... Advice?



## MeggyWeggy (Jan 14, 2012)

Hey Pet Forums! With some but not very much prior bird experience, I recently rescued a young parakeet named Prudence, who also happens to love listening to the Beatles.  She seems very sweet, but isn't terribly tame. This is fine, since I have time to work with her and have been for the past few days, and she's starting to be fine with my hand being in the cage to change her food and water out. Progress!

I've clipped birds' wings before, and there's plenty of instruction (and opinions!) on how to do so everywhere online, but my main issue here is trust. She's pretty skittish once anybody gets near her, and she's escaped from the cage a couple of times since her wings aren't clipped - she hit a window and a mirror the second time, which was very stressful for her and horrifying for me. 

I'd like to clip her wings for the taming process (I've lived with flighted birds in-home before, and it's fine so long as they're tame as far as I'm concerned - I plan to let them grow back out once she's tame) but I'm worried about sabotaging my efforts because she's still very frightened of people. Is it more important that I build trust first, or protect her from accidents?


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## tinamary (Aug 17, 2008)

Hope this is not a wind up and im falling for it. 
please do not clip its wings. There is no reason to do it and it can severly damage the bird.
If you want something that scurrys please get a guinea pig and give the bird to someone who will not clip.
Treats can help to train the bird and there are good websites that tell you how to do it properly. I will say again please do not clip its wings.
There is nothing better than to see a bird with all its wings intact swooping and flying.


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

I just close the curtains to stop them hitting windows if I have a bird thats not very steady. If you clip feathers now you are going to undo all the work you have done so far


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## M.R Drake (Sep 1, 2010)

I think it's very possible to train and tame a parakeet or parrots in general without clipping their wings!!

Some people even allow them to free flight outdoor!! It sounds fun I know!! But there is a lot of work for that!! The parakeet will grow more tame as time comes... If you clip it's wings it will fear you more!! Just place the cage in an area where you spend most time around and your parakeet will slowly grow more confidence around you... But taming takes a lot of time.. Ask me!! I have cockatiels since last January and they don't even think about coming near me so I ended up keeping them in an outdoor aviary where they also layed their very first clutch of 5 eggs which I expect them to hatch around 26th-28th this month!!
You see the parrot in my avatar or pic? Thats Alex my congo African grey.. He is tame but he wasnt so until some time, patience and ALOT OF NIPPING AND BITING... But he's fine now!!

My point is DON'T CLIP JUST BE PATIENT and you will have a happy,hopping and flapping parakeet on your arm or shoulder!!


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## MeggyWeggy (Jan 14, 2012)

Thanks guys!


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