Crash Landings

[battybirdie]

Hey Guys

OK I have a silly question for you! Not sure if anyone else come up against this one, but Betty (one of the Batty Tiels) has a bit of a problem. Basically she sucks at flying - actually that's a little unfair ... as long as she doesn't have to go round corners or land she's fine

Joking aside though I am quite worried as she is constantly crashing into things when she's out, and I'm really worried that she's going to hurt herself before too long. Betty's biggest problem is that she's not overly bright she is such a little sweetheart, but she was quite close to the back of the line when the brains were being handed out
She genuinely has no clue where her cage is (in spite of the fact that she's lived there for about 6 months now!), and the only way for me to get her back in is with the dreaded Bird Net. This is also a bit of an ordeal these days as she knows exactly what it is and charges around like a loony until I get her - this means even more crashing into things, and even if I manage to catch her quite quickly she's usually quite stressed by the time I get her back in. I'm 100% confident that there is nothing wrong with her sight as she spots the bird net the moment I pick it up!

Does anyone have any suggestions that might help??

At the moment, as far as I can see so far, I have 3 options:

1, put up with the problem and pray that she doesn't hurt herself or have a heart attack as a result of the stress (taking into account the number of times she flys straight into walls, the odds are that she will hurt herself quite badly sooner or later)

2, install padded walls throughout the house - problem as I am just a regular working girlie and not a millionaire!

3, much though I hate the idea (and I've always sworn that this is something I would never do), I might have no choice but to clip her wings Betty loves waddling around the floor checking things out, and although it would break my heart to think of her not being able to fly (as she loves sitting on the picture frames with the others), my dilema is whether I'm goning to have to be cruel to be kind - this really would be my last resort as I hate the idea so much

- All suggestions very very gratefully received as I'm all out of ideas

[Scully]

I too was against wing clipping, very much, but even though i still cannot bring myself to do it, (yet) i feel there are good reasons to have it done.
You can have them clipped so she can still fly a bit, and flutter to the ground, and i think it would help you both out.
I'm siure it would be better than catching her all the time with a net. Maybe by then she may have calmed down, and found her way to her cage.

Having Graham, and learning more about how, why, and what for, has me so undecided if i feel its cruel. I dont think so many vets would do it, if it was.

[battybirdie]

Thanks for that Scully - I think I'll give the vet a call tomorrow morning to see what they think.

The problem is that she's actually a really big bird and she flys very fast - that means that when she hits the wall/stairs/me etc that she does it with quite a force. I think it really is only a matter of time before she hurts herself quite badly, and I know I would blame myself if I just stood back and watched that happen.

Other than not letting her out at all (which would be just plain mean) i think I may be forced to give her some type of wing clip for her own safety. Of course if anyone has any other ideas I'm all ears ...

[orange]

Poor Betty!
D'ya know... I am not being funny or nowt but she could have some kind of mild case of retardation or something actually wrong with her brain. I had it with a rat of mine who was absolutely fine until he was running around at high speeds and then he would just run into a wall. Then as he got older he started to get a head thing where he physically couldn't keep his head still, it swayed from side to side. I got him checked for middle ear infection (which can sometimes cause head swaying) with that ruled out the vet told me that he thought he just had a mild case of brain damage which can be for all sorts of reasons, like a hit to the head or lack of oxygen when developing in the mummy etc

Anyway, no matter what it is thats causing poor Betty to fly like a nutcase it sounds to me as if she would be better off with her wings clipped, for her own safety and to cut down on the amount of stress in her life. As you know I am not a fan of wing clipping but there are certainly cases where it should be done. In my opinion this is one of them and I am sure she will be much happier without flying into things and without the net business.
It's your call though
Let us know what the vet says and I hope all goes well x

[silvercloud]

Is it possible She has a sight problem? That may explain why she can't find her cage properly.

[Scully]

could Silvercloud have a point there Batty? maybe you have a short sighted tiel?

[a11ycat]

Hi,
My Minstrel (who sadly just passed away) was exactly the same. Going at top speed into solid objects ; generally walls. I clipped him because I was worried that he was going to do himself more damaged. He grew out his feathers once, but was still a bit crazy, so I clipped him again, but this time around I was hoping that he'd be able to fly a bit more sensibly as he'd calmed down a lot in character. Unfortunately he didn't make it to his next molt, but I'd recommend clipping. Once he was clipped I tried to make sure that there were ladders and ropes around so he could still get around while outside the cage to play with the other birds. They are so beautiful in flight, but I'm hoping that just one or two clips could sort the problem out for you.