Can i clip my tamed lovebird wings myself?

[mwlky]

Hi everyone!

I have actually clip my lovebirds wing once at my nearby bird shop but they charge me for that.now their feather are almost fully grow.and they are starting to fly again.may i know if i can clip my tamed lovebird wings myself?As i was told by the staff from the bird shop that i cant do it myself as they will be upset and will not be tamed to me.is that truth?please advise...

[linda040899]

As i was told by the staff from the bird shop that i cant do it myself as they will be upset and will not be tamed to me.is that truth?please advise...
The reason they told you that you can't clip them yourself is because if you do (and it's very simple), they lose money!!! I've been doing my own flight feather clipping for many years and the one thing I can guarantee is that it's always done the way I want it to be done. :)

I generally start by having someone hold my lovie (or you can do this yourself if you are comfortable holding and clipping) and then spread the first wing. Count the number of feathers you want to clip and I usually start from the inner most feather and clip outward towards the outermost one. Clip right under the line of the top covert feathers and you are done. Just check first to make sure there are no blood feathers (new not completely grown in feathers) in the ones you intend to clip. If there are, skip that feather or you can wait a while for the new feather to mature. I usually start with 4 on each wing and see how well they can fly afterwards. If too much, clip one more on each wing.

Will they be upset with you? Mine generally aren't, especially if I give them a treat immediately afterwards. :)

[mwlky]

Oh cool!thanknfor your info!i was worry as he said they will be aggressive toward me if I clip their wings myself.its best to let a stranger to do so.haha!

[linda040899]

Sometimes what we hear from pet shop personnel never ceases to amaze me!!! I've learned to do a lot of things with my lovebirds all by myself and none have ever gotten aggressive or mistrusted me as a result. In fact, it's much less traumatic because they know you and you don't have to take them to a strange place! :)

[mwlky]

Cool..noted...I was wondering is there a way to train my lovebird not to **** in the nest box?the 2 pairs that I bought from the farm alway **** outside their nest box when they need to.so as result their nest box are alway clean.but as for their babies which is 3 mths old.their nest box are alway full of ****.

[linda040899]

Babies generally will poop out the entrance of the nest or they back up into a corner so the corners look like plaster! If there's a way to train them, I haven't found it yet! I've just gotten good at corner poop removal! :)

[Pips mom]

I clip my Pip all the time and he not only still loves me.......he flies around looking for me and won't get off of me sometimes!!!! Like Linda said, it's much less stressful if you can learn to do it yourself. In my first couple of years with pet birds, I was too nervous and would just take them somewhere, but after a while you start to see that it not always best, and when you do it yourself, you don't have to worry about them clipping too much, and it has to be scarey for them to be held down by a stranger.......at least if it's us, they know and trust us. I know alot of times they don't like it being clipped, but they adjust to it fast and move on like nothing ever happened........especially if you're not clipping too much and they still have enough flight. No big deal......it's like giving meds when they're sick......they hate it, but they still love you and forgive you!

[mariesonia]

Yes you can! and it's very simple. It's a quick and painless operation. I've been trimming Coco's wings for almost a year know and she's perfectly OK with it me doing it. I agree 100% with Pips mom and Linda. It's less stressful for your bird to be groomed by it's human companion than a perfect stranger