how often does a budgie need to be cliped?

Answer 1

Whether or not you clip your budgies wings is your choice. If the bird is unpredictible and risks flying away then you should. If it is usually calm and there is little chance it can escape out a door then don't worry about it. I wouldn't listen to people who say never do it or to those who say always do it. You know your bird better than anyone else. My birds are about half fully flighted and half not.

As far as how often it needs to be done watch her when she does try to fly off. If she heads straight for the ground and crashes then they may be too short already. She should get just enough lift to land gently, but not enough to get any height when she tries to fly. Still, small birds are amazing at learning to fly with clipped wings so find out what length suits your budgie.

You will notice her getting more lift after a molt when the new feathers start coming in. Usually twice a year or so.

If you clip them yourself, please be careful and follow this very important instruction: Look at the feathers you are cutting from the bottom of the wing, not the top! If there is a new feather coming it it willl look like a small white straw with red stuff inside. This feather is filled with blood (hence the name 'bloodfeather') and is directly linked to your birds bloodstream. Cutting a feather like this will cause it to begin bleeding. It may clot off quickly depending on how deep you cut, but if it doens't a small bird like a budgie can bleed to death quickly. A teaspoon of blood loss could be fatal to your budgie so be very careful. I have an anxious Umbrella cockatoo who always breaks these feathers and we have to towel her and pull the feather out at the follacle to stop the bleeding (otherwise it is like a needle, just holding the wound open and allowing more blood to flow out). This damages her follacles and seems to hurt her badly so we do all we can to make sure these new feathers aren't broken. Do not cut too closley to her skin as you may cut her. Use very sharp scissors so that you aren't just bending the feather but are actually cutting through it. It is best to take her to a professional until you learn how to do it yourself.

About those sandpaper perches...have you ever looked at a birds feet? They are a lot thicker than our own and they don't seem to be as sensitive as our own feet. My birds don't even seem to notice that they are standing on a sandpaper perch. My Grey sleeps on his each night, even though he has another perch that is natural wood. If he thought it was uncomfortable he wouldn't sleep there. I like the ones called Polly's therapudic perch or something like that...They alternate the girth of the perch so the birds feet can get excercise. It helps prevent arthritis. As far as how well they work....well It's debatable. I like them for their shape for my birds feet and their pretty colors. My birds don't seem to care one way or the other. Just don't make that her only option. Give her a few places to perch from and let her decide.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Clipping of the wings is needed after each molt. The toenails and beak should be clipped whenever they start to look overgrown. There are products like sandpaper perch covers that claim to keep nails at a proper length--though I don't recommend using them-- How would you feel if you had to stand on sand paper all day?? As for keeping beaks trim, wooden bird toys and cuttle bones will help (cuttle bone will also provide calcium ). Wings, nails and beaks should only be clipped by someone who KNOWS what they are doing. A bleeding cut can easily turn fatal for a small bird. Certain feathers called blood or pin feathers can also bleed. Let someone with experience help you out in this arena.

Answer 3

Wings get clipped once or twice a year they only really need clipping this time of year because he will be malting and his wing feathers will grow back.

Nails get clipped whenever they're sharp and there are sandpaper pearches to keep them from growing long again.

Answer 4

Don't clip your budgie. I have had one for 8 years and have never clipped him. There is no need too. The more you clip him, the more often you will have to do it. So just let them be, and you will never have to do it.

Answer 5

They need their wings trimmed whenever they grow back in, which will usually be about once or twice a year. And definitely avoid those sandpaper perches or if you must use them, don't put it on every perch and don't put it on the top-most perch.

Answer 6

Don't clip
if you don't want an animal that flies get fish

clipping thier wings is like breaking the toes of toddler so they don't crawl