[Marnies' mom]

my Moustache Skittles has been here almost 2 weeks and she is fully flighted. so i let her be and tried to enjoy her as herself. my 1st flying bird!
but i am tired of her crashing into windows (hoping she is ok)
and very worried she will land on Marnies cage. (not good)
she flies very erratic and fast with no plan to her flight. most of the time she crashes into the wondows.
she is not hand tame but will step up onto a stick to be put back on to her cage.

i can't let this keep up or she will hurt herself. i really don't want to clip her though but i don't see a way to make sure she is safe. plus we do run our ceiling fan most of the summer so there is another danger to face.
its like having an unpredictable kamikazee in the house!

update:
her flights are still so very erratic. like me on skates! lol i can skate but usually run into a wall to stop myself ha ha!
plus, the other thing is the very open floor plan of my house. once she is out of here (the computer room) its all one big open space from the family room through the dining room to the kitchen and TV room. there are no doors to close. if i had doors to close to give her limited space, i would. that would get rid of the fear of her clashing with Marnie.
i hate to keep the computer room door closed all the time to contain her as it puts her in solitary confinement till i come in here (which is a lot!). she does like company and its not fair to keep her closed off from the rest of the goings on around here.
so i know in my heart its best for her, but i also know she is born to fly, which is making me sad to do it.
Marnie is clipped and she is very good about it as she never learned to fly.
whenever she lands on the floor she just goes to the rug in front of the sink and waits for me to find her there. then she does her little happy spinning dance and waits for me to pick her up. she is such a cutie.
just now i came in the computer room to find skittle clinging to a picture frame on the wall, it could have crashed down on her. i guess i have to get busy and do it before she does hurt herself. then i will really be sad because i could have prevented it.

sorry for the long post, i have posted this on 4 boards so far as i need all the help and ideas/suggestions i can get.
i appreciate any and all input,
thanks
Joan

 

[GRANNYKAT50]

I know what you mean. When I first got Sprout (parrotlet) he could fly and he kept hitting windows and walls. Ended up putting lace curtain up so he quit hitting the window. When I took him to the vet for his first visit I asked her to clip the wings and the vet did not want to do it, she said it would do bad things to his confidence. I told her I want the wings clipped cause I don't want a dead bird. When she went to do it she told me his wings were already clipped. I told her to take off a few more and she did. Two months later we got Buddy and a pet store clipped his wings. Since then I have tried to do it. Sprout is still a fantastic flier even with clipped wings Buddy on the other hand can fly but not very well. When I open the cage Sprout flies all over and around the room. Now I have the conures and I got them from Petsmart and they have really bad clips. When you let them out they kind of fall to the ground. When Sprout is flying they look at him as if to say I want to do that or why can't I do that. With parrotlets everyone says to clip otherwise they
won't do what you want them to do. For their safety they should be clipped but for their physce they should fly. Not much help huh?

 

[Marnies' mom]

"For their safety they should be clipped but for their psyche they should fly"
yeah thats about it in a nutshell.

i did lightly clip her wings and she flew into the kitchen about 3ft off the ground, which i thought was great.
but the next day she regained her altitude and was back up on top the cupboards. so i gave her another clipping.
now she stays right here in the computer room and no more flying. she will fall lightly to the floor, which is a soft landing on carpet, she explores a bit, then she climbs right back up to her cage.
i feel so much better about her safety and know i can go out for a bit and she will be ok.
she is still very new here, once she gets more tame and used to her new home, i may let her have some flight back. we'll see how it plays out.