# First flight gone wrong



## BudgieAdventure (Aug 27, 2016)

So, about two months ago, i got two sweet little budgies named BlueBell:budge: and Sunshine :yellow plet:, and i've been working with both of them to gain their trust. 

Recently, I thought that perhaps i could take them out of their cage, at least take them just outside their cage to get them used to the idea of being able to go outside, with their door being open so they can just as easily fly back in. This worked for a couple of days because both were too scared to stay out any more, until today, when Sunshine panicked and flew across the room and landed wrong on her tail and i heard a crunching sound and my heart sunk. 

After a bit of chasing her around the room when she was stationed and literally climbing my kitchen counter to catch her, (surprisingly, i was able to pick her up and take her back into her cage) I was able to assess the damage.

Her feathers are still attached but they're crooked, i don't see any blood or any signs of her being in pain (i think), she still moves around her cage, eats normally and is still preening, however i do notice that she sometimes fluffs up and shivers, something i haven't really seen her do before, as a result i'm worried that she's in a lot of pain.


Any advice?


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Welcome to the forums! 

I'm sorry your budgie had a bumpy first out of cage experience.
Generally speaking and in order to avoid a situation or limit the chances of the pet bird to panic while flying and having a crash landing, it's always advisable to confine the space where the budgie is having out of cage time in. 
This should be in a room familiar to the budgie and before allowing out of cage time, the room should be bird proofed. Having the budgies finger tamed will also be quite helpful in order to avoid unnecessary stress and to be able to take the budgies out and placing them back in the cage with no fuss at all.
Having a play area set up near the cage will also be helpful, because budgies identify the cage as their safe place to be in and by extending a play area outside of the cage, the budgie will gradually get used to being out without being overly stressed and freaking out. 

It will take some time for your budgie to settle back in, she's in the process of coping with the recent ordeal she has been through.
It's good that there was no visible injury despite having dishevelled feathers which may or may not be bent. When she feels better she will preen her feathers back into place.
To help decrease her stress levels and make her feel more comfortable, you can cover the cage on 3 sides (leaving front part uncovered) and have some soothing music playing on low volume.


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## BudgieAdventure (Aug 27, 2016)

Thank you for the advice  

i've put some classical music for them and covered their cage like you advised. They seem to be sleepy as a result of it which i'm glad for since they were a bit restless when i put them back inside and seem to have calmed down enough  

Do you think I should clip their wings whilst they get used to being outside their cage or if I should just let them be as they are?


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

You're very welcome. I'm glad your budgies are calmer now!

As for a potential wing clipping, since this is more of a controversial subject, you can check the information on this link and then decide if you would go through with it or not: http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/339722-clip-not-clip.html


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi! :welcome: to Talk Budgies

aluz has give you excellent advice concerning out-of-cage time as well as about Sunshine's tail feathers.

We prefer members make their own decisions regarding wing-clipping as there are very strong proponents on both sides of the topic and we don't want multiple threads reiterating everyone's stance. 

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## BudgieAdventure (Aug 27, 2016)

aluz said:


> You're very welcome. I'm glad your budgies are calmer now!
> 
> As for a potential wing clipping, since this is more of a controversial subject, you can check the information on this link and then decide if you would go through with it or not: http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/339722-clip-not-clip.html


Thank you for the article link 

It provided a lot of information i hadn't considered before about clipping 

Both Sunshine and BlueBell seem to have completely calmed down since this afternoon's flight, and i am thankful to the Gods that they are, I can't begin to imagine how scared they were.

I'm really surprised sunshine is still okay with me going near her and eating out of my hand as I had to pick her up by wrapping my hand around her body (although, she seemed pretty okay with this, but she might have been really scared to react) and I've heard that birds can lose trust in their owners if they do this. Although i'm scared to open their cage door to do this for now.

Sunshine's feather's seem to be okay, but one of them is clearly bent, I just hope she replaces them soon, so as to not cause any discomfort (I think she's going through a molt, i've seen her with wing and tail feathers in her mouth before but i haven't seen any pin feathers).

I've also noticed that the tip of Blue's flight feathers on his left wing seem to have been sliced by something, (he also flew out in panic when i was trying to get Sunshine back into her cage but i don't recall him bumping into anything that could have caused that). He is currently molting, so i'm hoping he replaces them soon, i worry it will cause issues if he tries to fly again as he will be unbalanced and seriously injure himself.  :sad3:


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi there and :welcome: to the forums! I'm glad that Sunshine and Bluebell are doing well, despite the experience they had with their first flight out. 

In time, when they (and you!) are ready for them to venture out again, they will slowly be used to their surroundings and have fewer accidents :thumbsup: 

With regards to Blue's flight feathers, it's very likely that they were clipped at a pet store rather than broke that cleanly while he was out. 

You've been given some great advice as well as wonderful resources with the other links posted by FaeryBee, so be sure to read through everything to stay updated on the best of budgie practices! If you have any questions afterwards, don't hesitate to ask as we'd love to help.  

We hope to meet your budgies soon! hoto: 

Cheers :wave:


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