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Crash landings :-/

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Crash landings :-/

Postby Eric&Rebecca » Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:22 am

So Little Mi (Mia), has been having some out of cage time. I just left the cage open to see if she would fly out... which she did by herself. However, whenever she does maybe 2-3 times have a crash landing. Of course I ensure I have the blinds down and make sure any harmful or dangerous items are out of her way. She can perch and manages to sit places so its not a problem with flying necessarily, although she does have a light clip which means she flies but just not as fast.

These crash landings bother me, while both cockatiels did this at first she's so tiny and I worry she could really hurt herself. Although she has the flight cage I think its important for her to be out of the cage. I've decided to leave her in there for a few days more to settle down but I'm not sure what to do, how likely is she to hurt herself.... she kind of splats on the floor because she's still young, not hard but still like it could hurt. I remember Michael's story of how his bird fractured his pelvis and it sounds like what she's doing.

I will be letting her wings grow out, although the clip is not severe but what should I do in the meantime to make things safer for her? My AV said little birds are tougher and bouncy so not to worry too much but arrrgh!
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby cml » Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:37 pm

she's so tiny and I worry she could really hurt herself.

and
My AV said little birds are tougher and bouncy so not to worry too much but arrrgh!

dont match ^^.

I think your AV is correct though, generally the smaller an animal is, the longer and tougher falls can they take.
There is a really really small frog that uses rolling down from mountain as an escape tactics, pulling the legs close and bouncing down like a rubber ball. Being so light means they dont build up enough kinetic energy for the impacts to hurt them.
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby Eric&Rebecca » Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:41 pm

I know they don't match.... that's my quandry :-)

What my AV said was 'don't worry she'll bounce' but I am still worried she'll hurt herself. Its not that I don't trust my vet but you know what I mean, paranoid parront and all that.
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby cml » Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:48 pm

Eric&Rebecca wrote:I know they don't match.... that's my quandry :-)

What my AV said was 'don't worry she'll bounce' but I am still worried she'll hurt herself. Its not that I don't trust my vet but you know what I mean, paranoid parront and all that.

I completely understand, I was worrying sick when Leroy flew into walls after just arriving (dont know if you remember, he wasnt clipped - just bad at flying). He grew out of it though, and is now flying like a champ :)! Hoovering manuevers, jet fighter turns, sharp landings, and you name it.

I wouldnt worry too much since a parrotlet is so light...whats her weight?
Leroy weighed in at 234g today, so I think he's a little bigger ^^.

Oh how we parronts worry all the time ;) , feels like something I do too much!
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby Eric&Rebecca » Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:57 pm

Oh I haven't taken her to the vets yet... that's next week I just called my AV for some advice. She's around 30g on my scales but she doesn't sit still so no idea really.
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby marie83 » Mon Aug 05, 2013 5:57 pm

Harlie flew like she was on a suicide mission to start with. I know one of the arguments for clipping is that a bird may not survive the necessary lessons whilst learning but I strongly believe that in the long run flight is better for them and the birds are actually designed well to survive crash landings.
Harlies flying terrified me, literally terrified me, but if you take in to account that the risk of fatal or serious injury is actually pretty low and most wild fledglings that lose their lives are picked off by predators in the first few weeks rather than die from crash landings it doesn't seem quite so bad. That said you have to know that Harlie "fledged" late compared with normal, she was pretty much cagebound for years. Yours is still young and will get the hang of it much much quicker. Harlie still makes mistakes, she is still rubbish at flying but incidences are rare now and she has enough control to slow right down and begin to turn away, she will then land in a much safer manner elsewhere even if it is still very clumsy. Flight has made her so much more confident despite everything. i'm less confident that one day she might hurt herself but I would rather she enjoys herself whilst she is in this life than wrap her up in cotton wool.
I know you wont consider re-clipping the wings but do try not to worry too much, your parrotlet will get used to the rooms boundaries. You can also carry her round and get her to step on and off objects that are sturdy and safest to land on. Once she knows whats safe she is more likely to land on whats familiar to begin with until she has more control of her flight.
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby truste » Mon Aug 05, 2013 7:51 pm

I have this problem with Fizz, my GCC, too. His wings are "partially clipped," (said his breeder), but to me they don't look very different from a full clip, as his flights extend less than 1/4th inch. He can fly over 10 feet though, and even get some lift. At first I thought that being partially clipped would help him not crash so much as he got used to flying and his new space, but I've found that because of his clip, he has to flap so furiously that he can't spare any effort to be graceful and for gentle landings. All his effort is going into staying in the air and it makes him far more clumsy.

I have found that he crashes much less now since he's more used to the space, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just make sure to carefully observe her after she crashes to make sure she looks okay. Falling is very painful for humans, less painful for < 100 gram birdies. :)
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby Pajarita » Tue Aug 06, 2013 11:44 am

She just needs to get more strength in her wings and practice landing. And they are much hardier than we think they are. I had a lovebird that had been born with deformed wings so he never flew but I also could not keep in a cage because he would become absolutely frantic so I left him loose and put little ladders and ropes everywhere so he could climb up and down. But he ALWAYS chose to jump down to the ground instead of climbing and, every time he did it, he fell with a terrible FLOP on the floor to the point that my heart used to stop every time I heard it and I swear he must have taken ten years of my life! I always said he was going to die from one of his falls or get so hurt that I was going to have to put him down but he loved his freedom so that I just couldn't bring myself to cage little Geoffrey... And he did died. But he was 12 years old by then and it was a heart attack that did it.
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby Eric&Rebecca » Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:44 am

It doesn't help she has a partial clip so she has to clap far faster and harder... She can still fly pretty well and she flies in her cage as its a big budgie flight cage. I'm sure she's fine but she's still scared of hands so I have to pick her with a wooden dowel when she crashes.
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Re: Crash landings :-/

Postby marie83 » Tue Aug 13, 2013 8:30 am

She will come round :) which cage did you go with in the end?
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