# Bird harness?



## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

does or has anybody ever used them? i quite like the idea of them,but just how safe are they..i put my birds outside in there cages when its nice but would be nice to be able to sit outside with them properly.


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## Ian.g (Nov 23, 2006)

i used the aviator harness for my IRN Yoshi, the hardest part is getting them used to it...I started him VERY young so he was not bothered by it much...sadly I no longer have him, as he had to be re-homed due to some personal circumstances a while back ...but if fitted correctly, and the bird is happy to use it then it is perfectly safe.

here is a video of him wearing it properly outside for the first time.

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


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## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

Ian.g said:


> i used the aviator harness for my IRN Yoshi, the hardest part is getting them used to it...I started him VERY young so he was not bothered by it much...sadly I no longer have him, as he had to be re-homed due to some personal circumstances a while back ...but if fitted correctly, and the bird is happy to use it then it is perfectly safe.
> 
> here is a video of him wearing it properly outside for the first time.
> 
> ‪Yoshi`s first day with his aviator on‬‏ - YouTube


sorry to hear you had to rehome him 
he looks a happy chap in it,im deffo looking into getting one,but im guessing it will be baby steps trying to get pinky used to it


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## Snoopy84 (May 15, 2010)

i have one for sale which would fit your conure

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

we use harnesses on the tame conures and grey, it didnt fit the bird i briought it for, i assumed x small meant birds like budgies lol


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## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

Snoopy84 said:


> i have one for sale which would fit your conure
> 
> eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
> 
> we use harnesses on the tame conures and grey, it didnt fit the bird i briought it for, i assumed x small meant birds like budgies lol


ooooh i shall watch this hun :0)


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## Snoopy84 (May 15, 2010)

no probs!! my conures are gits though when on the harness as they love the freedom.

yours got clipped wings at all? my 2 have a light clip, they can both still fly but dont get the speed our roughians from the aviary get!!


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## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

Snoopy84 said:


> no probs!! my conures are gits though when on the harness as they love the freedom.
> 
> yours got clipped wings at all? my 2 have a light clip, they can both still fly but dont get the speed our roughians from the aviary get!!


no he doesnt need his wings clipping,he doesnt fly about that much only after me..he prefers to trott about on me or the dogs:flrt:


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## Snoopy84 (May 15, 2010)

rach666 said:


> no he doesnt need his wings clipping,he doesnt fly about that much only after me..he prefers to trott about on me or the dogs:flrt:


how cute! my 2 are buggers as if i try and go to the loo or leave the front room they always fly to me, and as im on crutches wit limited mobility they catch up with me and i cant escape them :2thumb:


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## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

Snoopy84 said:


> how cute! my 2 are buggers as if i try and go to the loo or leave the front room they always fly to me, and as im on crutches wit limited mobility they catch up with me and i cant escape them :2thumb:


haha pinky is like that,hes a bugger with my dad though nips him as he lets him get away with it haha


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## Snoopy84 (May 15, 2010)

rach666 said:


> haha pinky is like that,hes a bugger with my dad though nips him as he lets him get away with it haha



oh my 2 bite me, they seem to think im up for play all the time! they are so different when seperated but ttogether they are just naughty. They dont bite my hubby though, but they dont particuarly like him and always fly to me if he trys to spend time with them :lol2:

when theyre tired they turn into nice little monkeys, and cuddle up and sleep on me, lola my pineapple blue sleeps in weird positions, last night in their cage she was on her bridge stretched out in what i can only describe as a bird sausage position


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## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

Snoopy84 said:


> oh my 2 bite me, they seem to think im up for play all the time! they are so different when seperated but ttogether they are just naughty. They dont bite my hubby though, but they dont particuarly like him and always fly to me if he trys to spend time with them :lol2:
> 
> when theyre tired they turn into nice little monkeys, and cuddle up and sleep on me, lola my pineapple blue sleeps in weird positions, last night in their cage she was on her bridge stretched out in what i can only describe as a bird sausage position


haha they are buggers for biting when they are young,pinky doesnt bite me now and he knows the words 'oi' and 'no' but like a child he will push his luck:lol2:


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## Snoopy84 (May 15, 2010)

how old is pinky?


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## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

Snoopy84 said:


> how old is pinky?


he is 6 months old on monday:flrt:


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## Snoopy84 (May 15, 2010)

rach666 said:


> he is 6 months old on monday:flrt:


awww mine are about 3 months now i think, they getting their first moult and their colours are changing a tad its sooo cute! i love your pinky, good job ur miles off as id send my little conures to go kidnap urs


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## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

Snoopy84 said:


> awww mine are about 3 months now i think, they getting their first moult and their colours are changing a tad its sooo cute! i love your pinky, good job ur miles off as id send my little conures to go kidnap urs


haha he is funny has started to try and talk he just sits there saying 'what you doin' in his cute squeaky voice hes mid way through a full moult so is a tad irritable atm:lol2:


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

I have an aviator harness for my african grey, she was fine with it a year ago when she was only a couple of months old, but then winter came and I didn't take her outside so she didn't wear the harness for a few months and now she is terrified of it. The problem is they don't particularly like things going near their eyes and you have to put the aviator harness over their head. My grey is fine with the harness itself but once you try and put it near her head shes not one little bit happy! I know someone who is about to manufacture a new harness that does not go over their heads so I am going to give that a try and hopefully my grey will cooperate! if you do get an aviator harness make sure you watch the DVD and do everything it says, it will probably take a long time for your conure to take to it, it takes ages to train them to use it lol


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## grannykins (Oct 9, 2006)

What happens if they try to fly too far - do they get pulled up short? Would it hurt them in any way? Its just that I am considering a parrot, and would have to have him harness trained as we are planning to retire to a narrow boat in 5 or 6 years time.


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

grannykins said:


> What happens if they try to fly too far - do they get pulled up short? Would it hurt them in any way? Its just that I am considering a parrot, and would have to have him harness trained as we are planning to retire to a narrow boat in 5 or 6 years time.


The aviator harness comes with an elastic leash, although not very long, but a 'flight line' can be purchased to attach to it too. My african grey tried to fly off when she was on her and she bounced back lol

you are gonna need a very big narrow boat to accomodate a parrot cage they are rather large lol


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## grannykins (Oct 9, 2006)

I'd only really need a sleep cage, as the bird would be with us on the back of the boat most of the time, with a play stand. Hence the need to be harness trained. I've also been looking at one of the corner cages, its 3ft each side, so would fit in anyway


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## Snoopy84 (May 15, 2010)

as said u can get a flight line, i find with the elastic it doesnt twang the bird back like you think but just grounds them to a halt, i have harnesses for my conures and african grey and cockatoo.

With my conures we never had any problems getting them in their harnesses, we would fuss their necks with the harness already on our fingers then slipped it down whilst fussing them and they never even noticed it going on.

My afircan grey also is fab with that trick as they just think their getting fuss. if the bird goes walkies and goes too far on the leash they just give up trying to push to escape and just trot back.

Rach also has the advantage of it being such a young bird that its much more accepting of new things than an older more accepting bird, and she has a good bond with her that conures are so very trusting of who their bonded to that they will let them do anything.

Conures against african grey- you have more chance of the bird trusting you and getting the harness on due to it trusting than you have a bigger more nervous bird


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

My conure was very young and she was raised with a harness to play with, everything was done as like it said on the DVD, she let me put it on her, but as soon as it was tight she freaked out tried to escape and took a chunk out of my hand, never tried it again

Fussing their necks sounds fine but dont forget you have to get their wings through it somehow too, that tends to be the problem, my african grey will let me do anything, but as soon as you try getting her harness on she turns evil

The harness did not grind my african grey to a halt, it actually bounced her back towards me

Slowly trying to get my african grey used to it again but I am going to be trying a different type of harness that doesn't need to go over her head that someone I know is developing


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