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Ok. can anyone tell me about these harnesses? What do they look like? How do they work? And how do you get your birds to wear them? Anyone have pictures? I am thinking of keeping my birds flighted, I am just so very afraid of an escape. ... THANKS AGAIN you guys... you all are so helpful with this stuff...
Cheryl

Hi Cheryl,

I also have a fully flighted too, and unlike you, had to end up with my bird on the roof of my house before investing in a harness, so I can reccomend them!!

I firstly bought a 'feather teather', but found that my too could undo the fastners, (they are like clips) and was left holding a lead, turning around and seeing my bird wandering across the garden! So.... I got an 'aviator' and as it is a one part harness, the more he pulls on it the tighter it gets, so he cant escape. It also has a bungee type lead so if the bird takes off, it pulls tight, but not straight away, so it doesnt 'snap' back. (if you know what I mean.) The Aviator also comes with a dvd, which I found very useful. It teaches you how to condition your bird so he gets used to it.

But....... My cockatoo wouldnt do what it said on the dvd. So what I did was when we were going out, I would show him the lead, telling him that we were going to go outside. I would then put him in his carrier, and when we arrived at our destination, put him on my knee in the car and put it on. I could never get him near it in the house, he flys away as soon as I get it out, in the car, he has no-where to go!! But now he associates the lead with going outside, and is running to his carrier!

Hope this helps, take it from someone whos got the scars to prove it!!

Nicky

Here's the link to the Aviator:
http://theparrotuniversity.com/harness/harness.html

We just bought one for Sera yesterday. She can remove the Feather Tether. She has no problem unclipping it. It's a game to her now.

There are no clips on the Aviator.

And I did what Nicky did. Harness on....go RIGHT outside. That makes them associate it with fun times!!

I don't have a 'too, but I did look at the various types of harnesses available before I also decided to get the Aviator harness for my conure. It costs more, but IMO it's worth the extra.

I used to keep Frances on a harness, but they are bloody expensive and she would chew threw them in about a week.

I just make doubly sure that her wings are clipped, and when I have her outside, I hold her feet.

Hi,

In response to the above post, I am a firm beliver that birds should fly! Birds have are amazing animals, and they have wings for a reason. If that means I have to be careful about open windows and doors, and have my fingers bitten off every time I want to go outside through putting a harness on, so be it! If you diddnt want a bird that can fly why buy one??

Please let your beutiful animals wings grow back. Watching birds in flight is an amazing sight, and I belive all birds must be happier with the power of flight!!

Nicky x

I dont think its the not wanting them to fly, its the fear of them getting away, and not knowing how to defend- feed, and live on their own. I will never take our birds out to fly, too many preditors and dangers. Id love to someday have a huge aviary built and let them have spacious areas to live in. But yhea- harnesses can be chewed and then good tail wind, sorry Im not risking my birds safety over my feeling what I think they want.Ive witnessed a couple of accidents and call me mean but all our birds are safe and happy!

It's absolutely not about "not wanting Frances to fly"

Frances is hand raised, and I don't think she even KNOWS she can fly. I keep her wings clipped for her own safety. If something startled her and she took to the sky, she woudn't know how to land, navigate... hell, she probably wouldn't be strong enough to stay in the air at all. Once she landed , she would be a prime target for cars, or other animals.

I have her outside with me during the nice weather. She loves that. But the trade off is that her wings stay clipped.

Please don't let your emotions cloud common sense. Many an owner has uttered those famous last words "My bird doesn't know how to fly" just before they fly off, never to be seen again.

I totally agree that birds should be able to fly, and in a perfect world, I would wish Frances back in the wild, living amongst her own, the way God intended her to live and not in a cage. But she is a hand-raised bird, and as her owner/mom, I have to see to it that she is safe above all else. And clipping her wings before I take her outside is one of the kindest things I can do for her.

Wing clipping is so controversial.

I really think (in my heart) that there is no right or wrong answer. We each do what we feel is best for our current situation.

Sera is flighted. But she's really taking advantage of it. Yesterday, while she was out, she flew after our one Chinese Crested trying to attack him. This is VERY unacceptable. The dogs are afraid of the birds.....but you know what? They are DOGS! Dogs have teeth. Any dog can and will bite. I'm not taking that chance and since the dog was lying in his bed, it was unprovoked. So Sera went back into her cage. When she starts acting up, she goes back in. Hopefully she'll learn that she CANNOT fly after the dogs.

As for flight vs clipping, IMO it's a personal choice, and should be done so considering your own circumstances... In some countries, clipping is frowned upon greatly, while in some they may have laws about the size cage the birds are allowed to live in (I love that rule!!!). And yet, in some countries its a common practice to chain a bird to a playstand, gym, or table-top/hanging perch, for sale, and for in the house, thus needing no cage. Parrot keeping around the world is so different in the various countries, and in America we are just starting to slide with flighted birds rather than clipped, and larger cages rather than small... however, there's still plenty of people who clip their birds do to their own circumstances, and others who will continue buying the small cages no matter how small, or how unsafe, or how wrongly built they are for birds. Petstores especially are a bad example of where to find some really bad sized cages, less your lucky to find one that has decent cages.

As far as harness go however, there are three types that are made in the USA, and a third that I've heard about. The first, a flight suit, is also part birdy diaper, so to speak, and covers up much of the birds body, not including head, wings, or tail. Most birds do not enjoy a flight suit however many can learn to wear them. Some people do not like how the suit connects in the back....

Here's three girls putting flight suits on a green cheek, a blue crown conure, and an eclectus...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0rm_Dt8XW54

Next is the feather teather harness, which is similar to a dog harness, and should be able to be put on the bird in two different ways (from my understanding?). It's a pretty simple design, however some birds have learned how to get out of them.

Can't find a video of a feather teather harness, but this one is similar as to how to put it on....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgWJHPNDjQ

Then, of course you have the aviator harness, which most people seem to enjoy, especially when they can buy different sized leads.... thus making it the best item bought for their money, even though it is the most expensive one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1qMSUlvZ8



I have a feather teather harness for my mitred conure, as it came with him. The more he wears it the more he gets used to it... otherwise though, if he's inside he wants nothing to do with it...

So true about the cages, We buy the largest for all of ours- Ive come away buying a neglected Macaw- living in a cat condo with 1 one inch pvc pipe to sit on, cockatiel seed to eat and dog bowl to drink from, never had a toy, and he was 2 yrs old. The people still have a 27 yr old kept like this. Only if laws were here!

Okay I will add one more vote for the aviator. Our U2 Gracie wears it. WHenever we go outside or to vet appts, etc. WE are also adding a RB2 that will be trained to wear the same harness. Honestly I think it's healthy for them to fly. I was told that 5 minutes of flying was equal to 6 hours of just regular play.

Everyone has their own opinions. You just need to do what you feel is right for your bird.



ljhassell out of curiosity what do you use for filitration in your house? I see that you have both cockatoos and macaws. Do you keep them seperated? Have you ever had any problems with your macaws getting sick? I don't mean to upset you or anything. It's just a lot of people saw you can't mix the two species. SO I wondered if it has been okay for your fids

gracie's mommy, indeed you are correct there... macaws can get respiratory issues due to dust from cockatoos, african greys, and cockatiels. Even if they are kept in separate rooms in the house, 20+ feet away, if they share the same air system then macaws can still get sick... most noticeably blue and golds and then greenwings... and it is something that can become permanent. There are quite a few people who have been able to successfully keep the two parrots together, while others have had to rehome some.

As for birds and cages... indeed true! Most of my birds have been rehomes, and I have already adopted out two of them, due to the fact that I wont be able to keep all birds given to me. Thus, I just help them on their way!

All of my birdies are flighted. The lovebirds do not go outside unless in a cage and supervised (except when we had the aviary outside, it is inside now and they have chewed holes in it during the first winter it was inside). My Caique has a Feather Tether and I never had a problem with it. There is a pic of him wearing it as my avatar. My Senegal hates harnesses so she is only to be brought outside while held in a hand (around the wings) and then put in an outdoor cage. She used to be trusted outside, no harness or cage, flighted. But she gets scared easily so she is no longer allowed like that. My Caique has the potential to be free flight trained but I want to work on it more before I do anything like that. He always comes when we call but I don't want to risk anything. All of my birds are supervised while outside, BTW.

Just to update.

I tried the Aviator on Sera today and she did GREAT with it! She seemed much more comfortable in it then her Feather Tether.

I then said to my husband, "I wonder if I could ever get one on Uri?" He responded by laughing and saying, "Good luck"

Uri HATES him. Uri loves to do his best to make my husband bleed. But Uri and I have bonded really well and he just gets a kick out of me now. So maybe it might be possible!