Help - Tinkerbell

[rebeccaldaniels]

Hi, I am BRAND NEW here.

I have a question/concern that I'm hoping you can help me with.
I took Tinkerbell (she's a GCC) to have her nails trimmed at the vet last evening. And today, she can't fly.

She tries, but falls to the ground like a bird that has had her wings clipped.

I took her back to the vet because I was concerned and they said that she may be sore. A different vet saw her this morning. They gave her an anti-inflammatory. They checked her wings (no dislocations, etc.)
She is still eating. She IS a little more stand-offish with me today.
She was still attempting to fly from her cage to her play stand. But she falls pretty quickly. It's very weird.

This was a bird that until I took her to the vet could fly circles around the room. Was confidently able to plan where she wanted to go. She was even able to fly up and down and make adjustments in flight.

Now she starts and falls like her primary feathers were clipped.

I have not clipped her wings. I don't believe the vet clipped them, but I can't figure out why she would be acting like this. When she had her "vet visit" the first time, they held her and she didn't come home with an inability to fly.

Clipping her nails shouldn't affect her flight...I'm concerned.


Have anyone else ever encountered this before? If a bird is sore, does it affect their ability to fly? Why else might this be happening? How long should I wait before taking her BACK again?

[Dragonlady2]

Welcome to the forum Rebecca.
So sorry to hear about Tinkerbell. Just a question, was the vet an avian vet? The vet may have trimmed her nails a little short and she is not feeling as secure in her flight due to the new feeling (pain) in her toes. Did you watch the vet trim her toenails?
Because birds can go quickly from well to not well, if she is acting the same tomorrow, I would take her in.
Is she climbing around in her cage? Is she walking or just standing?

[Lady]

Hi Rebecca,

I'm sorry to hear the Tinkerbell is having a difficult time at the moment. Gees, I don't have any idea what else could be bothering her. I think Helena has a good suggestion. I wouldn't wait long to take her back to see the vet if she doesn't improve. I'm anxious to hear the answers to the other questions Helena asked as well. Lets hope it is just some sore toes.

Welcome to P.P.

[Quakerella]

Hi Rebecca, and welcome.

So sorry to hear about Tinkerbell. It is very unusual for a bird to not be able to fly after getting their nails trimmed, something I have never heard of.

Is it possible the vet did a trim of only the flight feathers?
Can you post a picture of Tinkerbell, possibly with the wing stretched out? If not that is okay, a regular picture from the side might work. Maybe we can see something that is unusual.

I also agree, if the wings were not clipped keep a very close eye on her and if this continues get her to an avian vet as soon as possible.

[rebeccaldaniels]

Welcome to the forum Rebecca.
So sorry to hear about Tinkerbell. Just a question, was the vet an avian vet? The vet may have trimmed her nails a little short and she is not feeling as secure in her flight due to the new feeling (pain) in her toes. Did you watch the vet trim her toenails?
Because birds can go quickly from well to not well, if she is acting the same tomorrow, I would take her in.
Is she climbing around in her cage? Is she walking or just standing?


Hi, Thanks.

I did not see the vet trim her nails. He and his assistant took her to another room.
The website for the centre states that they are an avian vet. I am not sure how many birds they see, but the Dr. when I visited him the first time for the well-check, mentioned other birds they see.

I took her back in this morning when I discovered that she wasn't flying per usual. They gave her Metacam (1 ml) injection and sent me home with some to start tonight.

At first, before I took her into the vet (this morning), she wasn't moving around so much. Over the course of today, she tried to fly places she normally flies to (water fountain for a bath, play stand, around the room to have run, but a couple of her attempts didn't get her where she wanted [instead straight to the floor), so right now she is not trying.

She is, however, moving around (climbing on outside of cage), trying to get to my hand for a sunflower seed (This was a no brainer before...she would fly, but now she wants me to come close enough to climb onto my hand to get it)

I'm watching her pretty closely and will take her in quickly to the vet should she not be her old self soon!

[Dragonlady2]

It sounds as if they clipped her wings. It wouldn't hurt to call the vet and ask him if that is what he did. If he clipped Tinkerbell's wings without your authorization, you may need to have a conversation with him about this.
As well, I am not sure that I would let the vet take your bird and treat her, trim nails, clip wings unless you are present. Only you will know if your bird is in distress as you know her better than anyone and you will also know what has been done with regard to treatment.
Hopefully Tinkerbell is feeling better by morning. Please let us know how she is doing.

[Quakerella]

It does sound like the wings were clipped, and if this is the case you may want to be careful giving her medication if it is not needed.

Will she let you hold her so you can look at her wings? If they were clipped you should be able to see where it was done.

I hope she is okay, and please keep us updated.

[rebeccaldaniels]

I didn't like that they took her out of the room either (never have liked that). I have a dog I take to another vet and they do the same thing. Not sure why.

Thanks so much for your help and empathy! I'll keep you posted!

[Mare]

Hi Rebecca, welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your bird having problems after being at the vet's. I have a thought that he may have tried to escape a toweling and got his wing tweaked, maybe in the shoulder area..?.hard to know if you weren't in the room..just a thought.

I have a cockatoo that I've been having to take in for beak trims and as much as I would not like to be witness to how uncomfortable these trims make him..I stick around just to keep informed.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

It should be very obvious if the wing feathers have been clipped, this is what is done
[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]
Picture borrowed from backyard chickens forum.

[rebeccaldaniels]

I have a thought that he may have tried to escape a toweling and got his wing tweaked, maybe in the shoulder area..?.hard to know if you weren't in the room..just a thought.


She was certainly making a bit of a racket...I could hear her squealing so this is what I'm thinking happened.

It's been several days and she still isn't flying correctly. She isn't making much noise, and one weird thing is she doesn't call to me anymore. She is pretty quiet (unusual). She is still eating okay, and drinking. She won't leave the top of her cage much. Won't step up much.

She seems to be slowly coming around. Today she finally made a kissing noise to me. She was doing this every morning when I came in with breakfast. It was our hello. So, that's an improvement. And today I got her to do a couple other normal things.


She doesn't trust me much now. (again), so now I have another two months of work to do! Today was the first time since we went to the vet that she was willing to go on a "field trip" with me. A field trip is when we leave the room she stays in (my office). We were venturing out once or twice per day so that she could get used to the rest of the house.

Ever since the vet, she didn't want to leave the room. Today she was willing to go into the bathroom with me for our usual cleaning of her bird bath, and to freshen water bowls.

And then we went into my bed room for a stroll around. This was a test. She seemed okay. Just a bit nervous. I didn't want her trying to fly away, so we kept it short.

[Dragonlady2]

Thanks for the update. Poor Tinkerbell...hopefully, she continues to come around with no ill effects. You are doing a great job taking it slow with her.

[Quakerella]

It is sad that a trip to the vet was such a traumatic experience for Tinkerbell. Glad to hear she is coming around, keep up the good work.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

Glad to read that Tinkerbelle is on the mend. Margaret decided we were going to trim Casper's nails this evening. It was all going quite well, using a small towel to wrap him in. Unfortunately she managed to draw blood on one nail and by the time it stopped bleeding the room looked like there had been an explosion in a Colombian cocaine factory with cornflower powder everywhere. Casper thought it was fun*.

[Mare]

Vet trips pretty much..suck. I feel for you, Rebecca. My last trip, with Shaggy, didn't go as well as our first trip..but what do we do? I love my bird to pieces but now my bird is asking questions..

[Dragonlady2]

This just a bit of a follow-up with regard to the nail trimming. You may be able to avoid having to get her nails trimmed if you can supply a variety of perches around the cage. Wood perches, sandy perches, soft perches, branches etc. Place the rougher more uneven perches around her food dishes so that she will regularly use them. I don't have my birds nails trimmed, as the use of the different perches keeps them from growing too long. I save a soft perch higher up in the cage for their roosting one.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

We have all those for Casper but it does need the bird to do its own pedicure as well. Casper doesn't usually bother but I did notice this time that one nail was pointy, sharp and proper looking whilst all the others were flat at the ends where they had been trimmed by the clippers. I had noticed him making crunching noises whilst he had his foot near his mouth so he must have been profiling that nail.
Margaret had decided that they needed trimming because he has been a bit clumsy climbing about in his cage just recently and thought his nails might be too long. I thought they were alright and maybe, in hindsight, she will secretly agree with me. My argument will have more strength next time :)

[Dragonlady2]

Every now and again I see a couple of my birds nails are a bit longer than I would like. I change perches or move things further away so they have to stretch just a little more. I also use a file for nails if I want points taken off. A long time ago I took my Bella for a nail clip and the person clipping nicked 3 of her nails. I didn' t want to have to put my birds through any unnecessary trauma like nail clipping/vet visits and that's when I started thinking about how I could utilize perches better. As well, I think that flighted birds require a longer nail for grip when landing and taking off, jmo.

[Quakerella]

The diameter of the perch is also important. If the perches are too small the nails do not come into contact with them, and will not keep them trim.

[Cedardave]

I would bet if you checked her wings...they have been clipped.Sore toes shouldn't effect flight as you have described.Once she trusts you again...use an emery board to keep her nails trim...in addition to a variety of perches.

[luckyandjenn]

Every now and again I see a couple of my birds nails are a bit longer than I would like. I change perches or move things further away so they have to stretch just a little more. I also use a file for nails if I want points taken off. A long time ago I took my Bella for a nail clip and the person clipping nicked 3 of her nails. I didn' t want to have to put my birds through any unnecessary trauma like nail clipping/vet visits and that's when I started thinking about how I could utilize perches better. As well, I think that flighted birds require a longer nail for grip when landing and taking off, jmo.

How did you get your bird or birds used to the nail file

[Dragonlady2]

4748I started by stroking their toes when they were hanging off the side of the cage, telling them what a nice boy/girl they were. Then I added a quick pinching motion on the tip of the nail and said snip snip, so they got used to the pressure. Next I showed them the file and let them examine it. Then I touched their feet with it and began by just taking one or two strokes. This was done over a period of weeks. It takes time but it is worth it to me because it doesn't stress them out. If they don't want it done at a time when I bring out the file, I just leave it for another time.

If you are thinking of Lucky, you may need a heavier file like the one in the picture as a regular nail file may not be strong enough.

[rebeccaldaniels]

I started by stroking their toes when they were hanging off the side of the cage, telling them what a nice boy/girl they were. Then I added a quick pinching motion on the tip of the nail and said snip snip, so they got used to the pressure. Next I showed them the file and let them examine it. Then I touched their feet with it and began by just taking one or two strokes. This was done over a period of weeks. It takes time but it is worth it to me because it doesn't stress them out. If they don't want it done at a time when I bring out the file, I just leave it for another time.

If you are thinking of Lucky, you may need a heavier file like the one in the picture as a regular nail file may not be strong enough.
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Oh, thank for this suggestion. I really don't want to take her back to the vet and experience this ever again! I am going to give this training a try.

Also, I wanted everyone to know that she is almost back to 100% normal. She still isn't flying circles around the room yet, but she is starting to be able to make adjustments in flight. And she is now (starting yesterday) flying across the room (about 12 feet) from her cage to play stand. And she's shouting for me again. After the vet, she lost all trust. I think she felt totally molested and I was the pimp!

We are still working on regaining trust...she will step up now, but only after a lot of coaxing.

[Quakerella]

Wonderful to hear Rebecca. Everyday is a new day, and it sounds like Tinkerbell is doing well.

[Mare]

Good news! I'm happy to know Tinkerbell is coming back to normal :)

[Lady]

Yay :happydance2: glad to hear this news. I know what it is like when they lose some trust, but I know you'll work hard getting her back to her old self and it will come.