Lovebird's personality seemed to change after having his wings trimmed

[YodaBird]

Hello.

A few days ago, I had my lovebird's wings trimmed, along with his beak and nails, and since then Yoda is a lot less feisty and more reluctant to come out of his cage. He seems to be a bit fearful, whereas before the trimming he essentially had the run of the room: flying up to the ceiling fan, landing on the blinds, etc. Now, he seems almost depressed.

Have any of you seen a similar behavioral change after your bird has had his wings trimmed? If so, what have you done to help draw him out? How often do you have your bird's wings trimmed?

Keep chirping, and thanks.
L

[linda040899]

The behavior you are seeing can be quite normal after a fully flighted bird has flight feathers clipped. He has lost an ability that he had and liked. Unfortunately, parrots are wild animals living in a captive situation and they are not as domesticated as dogs or cats. They retain a lot of their wild behavior, some of which may or may not be acceptable to where they live.

How much flight remains? I usually do a mini wing clip so they can still fly but don't have access to places where they should not be. I don't like mine up on the ceiling fans (dangerous place!), either so clipping 3 primary flights will allow them to fly, just not gain altitude.

As for beak trimming, unless the beak is long and overgrown, I never recommend it. Once you start it, it must be maintained regularly. Beaks are not perfect. They can appear chipped; sometimes tips are broken and they grown back looking a bit odd. Parrots will maintain their own beaks by rubbing them against perches so I usually try to have a concrete perch in front of a food dish, where they perch but not all the time. Concrete is hard on delicate feet so you don't want a concrete perch where they sit all the time or sleep.

Give him a bit of time to adjust and he should be OK.