Has anyone ever had any harness success with smaller birds?

[bumblebec]

I've got two aviator harnesses for my two conures, and I can't seem to make any progress with either of them. Lola is completely terrified of it and have not managed to get her used to it despite numerous attempts, (hanging it in the cage, putting treats near it, hanging it off my shoulder when she's out etc) and Mimi is not scared of it, but completely freaks out when I put her in it. She doesn't seem to care while I'm actually putting the harness on her, but once she's in, she FREAKS out. She flaps around, bites at it, falls over, can't perch properly and just looks noticeably uncomfortable and unhappy. When she's in it, she looks like she's wearing the equivalent of a person wearing a big, inflated life jacket. They've both got the correct sizes, and they do FIT them, but they look awkward in them. It looks so bulky on her, and she just doesn't look happy in it. Even when I took her outside, she was just so focused on destroying the harness that she didn't even care about exploring or enjoying the new scenery.

I'm wondering if anyone has had any success stories with training smaller birds to wear a harness? I've tried approaching it the way the aviator harness DVD told me to, but it hasn't helped. I would love to take my girls outside more often.

Thanks for any tips!

 

[Parrotmamma]

I use a flight suite for my GCC , I have not tried the Aviator harness on her . I do have the aviator harness and a flight suit for my TAG. I just kept putting it on them every day for about 5 min. at a time and then increasing the amount of wear time every couple days. Also giving treats while they are wearing it helped too. For me the flight suits are easier to get on and off so I prefer to use them.
Mine tolerate them , but I don't think they are ever gonna be happy wearing them . most of the time I put them in a cage I have for them outside and they seem to enjoy that much better : )

 

[headfeathermistress]

I want to read this topic. I never had any luck with my birds. I think it was because I just was not consistant with training daily/ offering good treats etc

 

[Klaery]

Thanks for asking this question. I am looking at harness training my young hahns and I am sure the replies here will help me out too.

Keep us posted on the continued training with your two

 

[dawnkyung]

I successfully had my green cheek, Aki (years ago) harness trained. She didn't love it, but would tolerate me putting it on her. My advice is to get good at putting it on a stuffed bird or something with similar shape before you attempt to put it on your actual bird. I thought that I would be able to get it on her with no problem and ended up traumatizing her the first time because I was so clumsy. I also recommend that your bird be on a perch instead of on your lap or a table. It's easy for them to try to stick their feet into the waistband part and then get completely tangled.

As for getting them used to it, start over. Try putting it all the way across the room and then move it closer day by day. Eventually they should get used to it, even if it takes a long long time.

I also had my TAG trained to wear one and I have to say it was much easier with the bigger bird, although she did get me good a couple times if I wasn't fast enough putting it on or off. I had to have a plethora of her favorite treats to try to distract her every time!