Rudy got a clip today

[Pips mom]

I finally got Rudy to the little pet store where I have always brought Pip to get clipped. I don't take Pip there anymore because we can handle Pip more now and can do it ourselves. Rudy has been impossible! We tried to clip him ourselves, but he freaks out and got away, then we had to catch him again. Ended up he could fly just about as good after our clip, so I guess we didn't do a very good job!! That was when we first got Rudy and he's grown new flights since then. He seemed to like going in the smaller carrier cage and the ride in the car....he was very quiet though. Pip usually makes noises while riding in the car. I had to get Rudy there to get clipped because letting him out has been too much of a chore trying to get him back in the cage. He's still very scared of hands and even scared of us still. Pip was never that scared, but Pip had a good owner before us who let him out of cage and really loved him....unlike Rudy. After she was done clipping Rudy, she showed me her finger.....Rudy got her good and her finger was bleeding! :omg: Pip has never done that before either and drew blood. Pip is more into quantity instead of quality when it comes to bites....alot of bites, but he doesn't put alot of effort into them! After I got Rudy home, I tried putting him back in his cage for a rest, but out he came to find out his new limmitations! He doesn't seem to upset about it all, but he did seem somewhat shocked. He landed on the floor and couldn't get up high enough to get up on anything and kept running around on the floor. I tried putting a perch in front of him to step onto, but he ran a few times, then finally realized that he was dependent on me to get him back up off the floor and back to his cage, so he reluctantly stepped on the perch and stayed there until I got him back to his cage! Now I can get Rudy out and spend time with him, getting him more used to people and maybe to step up onto hands, but for now I don't want to push too much, so we'll practice stepping onto perches for a while first. I can't believe he bit that lady so bad like that! It had to be out of fear only because he's such a sweet little guy!

[FuzzyAga]

Yes, the taming process when the lovies are babies makes all the difference in their easy acceptance of future owners.

When I was co-parenting Juanita's baby, I tamed the heck out of him, constantly encouraging him to run under my hands, take things from my hands, run up and down on me, climb on me, to relax when I pick him up, etc. -- all because I was able to do this with Juanita and Petey (they were the role models) -- except the parents didn't like hands. With Chickopea, however, I went one step farther and was successful with the acceptance of hands.

Now, with his new family, they adore him and love that he's very tame and sweet. Most people find out slowly that the sweetness generally comes from the male gender--it's not anything that I did--I can't even take the credit for it!

Yeah, Rudy, zero; PipsMom, one. :) The wing clip will give you the breathing space you need so you can work on things you never would have done without a clip.

[linda040899]

Sounds like you made a good decision with Rudy. Wing clipping can be very effective if done properly. You may find you only need to do it once.

Many of mine will go from fully flighted to partially clipped when behavior gets out of control. I take of 3-4 of the outside primaries and the attitude change is amazing. Ginger (CAG) is my worst offender. She has toys she can chew but she will begin to wander in search of things that I would prefer be left in their original condition!!!