Thread: Should i clip his wings or will he remember and hate me for that?

Hello everyone :)

It's time to trim my BHC for his safety. Where i live the kitchen and the living room don't have any doors between so its just open, and I am often in the living room with my bird, and i am so scared for the thought that someday i will have forgot that the hotplates on in the kitchen and that he will fly right in to it. and he often do fly to the kitchen from the livingroom. so i just want him trimmed asap so nothing happens to him :)

But here comes the question. I have trimmed many birds and parrots before so thats not a problem, but some guys i know have told me that parrots will remember me for clipping his wings and they will maybe hate me for that. That is my big concern I don't want to risk my caique to hate me :( Can anyone confirm this is true that they may hate me for that? or is it not true.

Do any of you guys trim your caiques yourself or do you take him to the vet?

Should i take him to the vet?

Thanks.

Hani :)

I can see that my question can be misleading so i am going to ask the question in a different way :D

My question is if I should clip his wings or should i take him to the vet to do that. its between me and the vet. my question is not if i should clip his wings or not.

Will he hate me if i do it? or should i take him to the vet so he can hate the vet instead of hating me. (If they do hate persons who clips their wings) :p

The first time I had Joule clipped, I took her back to her breeder because I didn't know how she would react. Since then I've done it myself. Now when I do Joule's beak, nails or wings, I let Zetta watch Joule first before I do her so she knows what I'm doing (granted I really haven't had to do Zetta yet, but I've rounded the tip on her beak and nails, just so she gets used to the procedure).

Have you play toweled him at all (i.e. peek-a-boo, hide & seek)? You may want to towel him if you do it yourself and unless you feel completely confident, I would recommend taking him to his vet to have it done as a sort of tutorial and to gauge his reaction.

I have played with him on a towel and etc. Sometimes he will play with the towel him self, like going under the towel and finds a way out etc. but i have never lifted him with a towel before, like holding him with a towel, maybe i should start making him used to that.

How did Joule behaive after the first clip at the breeder, and how did he behaive when you clipped the wings. Did he show any signs of sadness or anger with you?

I'm pretty no non-sense "this is for your own good". I think if your attitude is business as usual, they get over it quick. If you're hesitant and apologetic, they know exactly how to twist you. Keep it upbeat.

Neither girl is overly fond of the procedure, but we get it done and there's no hard feelings. Talking to them helps, "Now what did I tell you? See, no big deal, all done - Good Girl!" - remember praise goes a loooong way.

I've been doing Spanky's wings and nails for years. I just towel him and get things over with quickly, Cyreen was right about keeping your attitude "business as usual." If you pity them and feel bad about it they tend to sulk. Spanky will usually be flustered for a few minutes afterwards, so I just let him sit on his cage and then come back in a few minutes with a yummy piece of food and he's forgotten all about it. Just remember it's for their own safety, you're not doing it to be mean :)

I do my three birds wings, nails and beaks....they don't hate me for it....and it saves a lot of money too..

I haven't been brave enough to try to do any of Puck's grooming myself yet... When I put his harness on him, he wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day. I can only imagine what he'd do if I clipped his nails! LOL

I'm with Remy!.
Soentjie watches us like a hawk, and flies into a panic every time we forget and pass by the cage with a cloth in hand.

One time we caught her with a cloth to bring her to the vet. Then HE caught her with a cloth to clip her.

Forget Elephants...Caiques dont forget!

Im gonna keep my attitude "business as usual." and just do it and hope he doesnt get to angry at me :)
Guys do you think it is better to let him see it while im trimming him or is it better cover his head with the towel so he don't see anything? Do you guys cover their head while trimming them?