I agree with everything you all are saying, but like everyone is saying... I think it should be what you think is best for your bird... his freedom and his fun... and which one is more dangerous to you... but in the end Kazu did come clipped... I know of this one bird at the store me and Trinity's Mommy named him... yes he has been up there for three months long enough to go through his molting he came up there going through it, but something happened to him before he got there and his wing is... well it looks broken and has grown back fully that way... he has all of his feathers and his wings have grown back, but he can only fly like a clipped bird... I feel sorry for him, but he is the biggest one up there and no one wants him... it is sad. He isn't very friendly with the other keets and he is just getting older and older with out being tame... I have tried, but there are at least 20 in the cage so it is hard... I would say he is probably six or seven months old cause he stopped loosing feathers three or four weeks ago... I was guessing he stopped molting.

esso loves to fly and he uses the house like his home. when he sits with me i know its because he chooses to and not because its his only option. if people lose a keet because the keet flies away, slams into a mirror, window, or wall in an unfamiliar room, it is not because the wings were clipped but that in combination with failure of the owner to ensure the birds safety.

Many people have the view that clipping a birds wings helps the bonding process. Unfortunately, this is what they're being told again and again by Pet Shops.

From my experience it does not do anything of the kind. All you end up with is a bird sitting on your hand or shoulder, not because its tame and wants to be with you but simply because it has no choice.

There are many steps to training a baby bird that require effort and patience and as long as it is finger tamed IN THE CAGE FIRST (to avoid any fiasco when trying to return it to its cage) AND YOU TAKE ALL THE NECESSARY SECURITY PRECAUTIONS around the home (one room at a time) then there should be no problem in letting it out. I'll summarise some of the security precautions in a separate post if any of you want it.

As I say many times to people I visit, the thrill of the bonding process is when your bird flies to you of its own accord because it wants to be with you. This only comes about through patience, tender loving care and trust.
Sylv knows what I'm talking about.

Finally, when purchasing your bird it is my recommendation you do not let anyone talk you into clipping its wings.

In regard to a baby budgie, clipping its wings will rob it of its natural ability, inquisitiveness and spontaneity. This will be extremely noticeable in that early and essential bonding period and be particularly evident when it is out of its cage for the first time.

for those opposed to flying freedom:
it isn't very natural for a budgie to live in a cage/eat at the same areas/interact with other "species", is it?
sylv, these are full length mirrors. my mom refuses to use bedsheets to cover them and says that they make my room look ugly.
i just don't want anything bad to happen for sierra because she was flighted.

i just crack up every time people use the "well it isn't natural to put them in a cage argument."
its like saying - well since we are doing something "unnatural" to begin with, that we might as well keep making things even more as unnatural as possible.
that is called rationalization.

You beat me to it, Esso's Mommy; that's exactly what I was thinking!
I just LOVE that avatar picture of Esso, by the way...

I just thought I would add my 2c worth about clipping wings. I bought a budgie a couple of years ago from a mall pet shop (she died within 2 months unfortunately). The gal at the counter took her out of the cage and was clipping her wings before I took her home. As she was holding the frightened bird and trying to clip it's wings, she yelled at it very loudly every time it nipped at her fingers. I told her it wasn't necessary to clip the wings but she told me it would be fine. She kept yelling at the bird and saying "NO" when it nipped her fingers. I told her to quit yelling at the bird.....I couldn't wait to get out of there! I ended up calling back and reporting her once I got home.

But the really sad thing was that poor bird never would let me touch her! I think she equated any female with fear and pain! I will never again let someone clip wings on a bird I buy after that episode.

La Sierra Madre -

I understand your concerns about the full length mirrors. I have an almost wall-sized mirror in the room where I keep Link & Zelda. When they started learning to fly they would crash into it a few times, but I think that was mainly b/c they were trying to build up the muscles in their wings. In the 3 months they've been flying, they have NEVER crashed into that mirror again.


I don't know if that helps in your decision to clip Sierra's wings or not. I guess what I'm trying to say is that keets will learn quickly whether or not they can fly into something.

I also have a full-length mirror and my budgies seem to instinctively know to avoid it. It's not in their flight path, you see.

Yeah well... I think I will keep them un clipped, but I have to wait for them to grow back... does any one know how long that cold take... cause I want to know if they will be back after he is done molting like in two or three months and hopefully by then he trust me and he is trained.