Are you a parakeet owner wondering whether to trim or keep the feathers? Some people find it cruel, while others feel it’s the right thing to do.
Clipping has some benefits and disadvantages, so you should check them before deciding.
Let’s check how wing clipping affects your bird and everything you need to know. Stick on.
What’s Wing Clipping?
The process involves reducing your bird’s feathers and helps in preventing your bird from flying too high. The best part is the process doesn’t hurt since the wings don’t have nerves.
The process affects your budgie’s mobility, and most bird owners opt for the process to prevent their pets from disappearing when let out of their cages.
It’s primarily compared to having a haircut, only that it affects movement. The clipping happens on the innermost, primary, and secondary feathers.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Wing Clipping Your Parakeet?
There are disagreements between bird enthusiasts and some bird lovers over clipping, arguing that the process favors the owner and doesn’t consider the bird’s mental needs.
Let’s learn some pros and cons that come with wing clipping.
Pros
- First, the clipping keeps your pet away from hazardous areas with controlled flight. These places include windows and fans, not to mention the kitchen full of items that can hurt your pet. It also keeps the bird from flying to areas with toxic plants that can hurt or even kill them.
- A clipped parakeet will spend time in the aviary, with low chances of going to the wild. The bird can’t flow through an open window, and at this time, you can let your bird enjoy time out of the cage to build on friendliness and prevent aggressiveness.
- The clipping keeps your budgies from flying into open toilets and avoiding other dangerous places near your aviary or cage. Ensure you provide some play toys and enough food during the period.
- Additionally, after clipping your budgie’s feathers, they keep calm, and it’s easier to tame and train them to stop destructive behaviors as they can’t fly away effortlessly. Plus, you can use the opportunity to ease the bonding process.
- Even when your parakeet manages to escape, there are higher chances that you will find her in your area or home. With controlled flight, you can regulate the exposure to chewing.
Cons
- Clipping your budgie exposes her to attack by other birds since the lovely bird can’t fly away from her enemies or fight back.
- The clipping affects your bird’s mental health as its inability to fly keeps them from interacting, and it can lead to depression and other destructive behaviors like feather plucking.
- When your bird isn’t flying, he lacks exercise, which could affect her health and lead to obesity and heart disease.
- The clipped feathers are at risk of drying out, which irritates and breaks the skin beneath them.
- Lastly, when you clip the wings wrongly, it can lead to injuries that affect the well-being of your bird, plus your bird can hurt herself when attempting to fly.
Getting an Option
The sensitive practice requires you to decide before making any decision. Check both sides and check which outweighs the other and begin from there.
Parakeet owners have different views regarding clipping, and we must respect that. If you feel undecided, here are some considerations for you.
Clip a few feathers: You can clip the light feathers and leave the innermost, enabling your bird to get off the ground even if he can’t fly away.
Here you can tell the behavior and decide if you will proceed with clipping all the feathers. If you remove too many feathers, your bird won’t glide on the floor, which can cause injuries.
Clip your bird for a short time: The best time to clip your bird’s feather is summer, as wings grow once a year. You can keep your pet outdoors to enjoy the cool breeze during this time.
When cutting the feathers, keep off the dark feather sharp since it shows a blood feather. Use sharp scissors too.
Is Wing Clipping Permanent?
No. The wings will grow again with time. For parakeets, the growth depends on their molting style since the feathers don’t grow continuously. After clipping the wings, you must allow the wings to grow before you get back to training your bird on how to fly.
But there’s a risk that your parakeet will have difficulty regaining the flight feather, which may cause more depression.
Final Thoughts
Wing clipping your parakeet is a personal decision, and the above pros, cons, and tips will help you decide which way to go. If you decide to clip the wings, ensure you get an excellent location to carry out the process, and if you can’t do it yourself, feel free to ask for help.
If you avoid the process, you can opt for other methods of training her. All the best as you weigh and decide about wing clipping.
