Tieing a string to the birds leg....

[Shrub]

Before anyone goes off at me, NO I wont be putting a string on my poor little Giggles leg. I could never.

We had a visitor today while she was out free flying so had to make sure everything stayed closed. Often telling the visitor to close the door close the door. She is only allowed to free fly in the living room/kitchen although thinking about separating the rooms with a curtain to keep her only in the living room.

But because she is not tame yet, wont come to us wont allow us to hold her yet I was told to tie a string to her leg so she has to stay close to me when she is out. I would hate forcing here, there are some things that spook her and she not ready to stay that close to people. Then she wouldn't be able to flee if she feels like she needs to.

I tried explaining that we are trying to build trust and a bond and forcing her by my side wouldn't work, and may even undo what progress I have made in the last few days with her. But apparently I am wrong.

Giggles is a gorgeous birdy and I enjoy listening to her and watching her flying around even if she doesn't come to me yet. She has circled over my head a few times and sometimes talks to me and waits for an answer (I whistle to her) and sometimes reply to each other.

Do you get bad/unwanted advice about your feathery friend?
Honestly this "suggestion" that was given to me had me fuming a little bit because if anyone knows me knows I wouldn't do something like that. I think it would be cruel especially since she doesn't like to be to close to people yet. She will come to me when she is ready

 

[clark_conure]

There are harnesses for birds......

look up aviator harness on amazon....

I'm not sure exactly what the story is here...but it's ok to put a bird in a harness...but it may take time for them to accept it.

So you have an untamed bird but you allow it free flight in your house? I don't think I'm getting the entire picture.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Where you live, that recommendation is actually illegal from what I understand. While it is common practice in Asia, most Western countries find it barbaric due to the damage it can do to a bird (sprain or break their leg). In time, hopefully, Giggles will warm up to you guys and be up for harness training.

As for bad/unwanted advice, it depends on the person who is giving it. If it's a close friend or someone who is open to correction, I will speak up and explain/educate. If they still push, then I obviously misjudged their receptiveness, so then I just firmly put that I'm putting my bird's health and safety first, then stop the conversation there (either change the topic or walk away).

If it's some person whom I can tell won't listen to reason, I just smile and brush them off (I literally smile ditzily and say, "yeah...."). Can't be bothered to shout at a wall of stubborn ignorance.

 

[Jen5200]

You are totally on the right path with your new addition, and it sounds like you are making good progress if she’s looking for answers from you when she talks!

I too have received unwanted or bad ideas about my birds and how to train them. My reaction generally depends on who is saying this to me.... close friends or family, I will often try to explain why I’m not in agreement. I refuse to debate with someone about my flock and how we do things. If it’s a friend or acquaintance, I’ll test for interest in an explanation, and then just ignore the advice and move on. I do understand that most people (non-bird people) think birds work the same as dogs and cats, so I try to keep in mind that this is the context that they are thinking in. It’s very seldom that people realize how different birds are from domesticated pets....so I try to keep the appalled or frustrated look off my face when I answer them .

 

[Teddscau]

Yeah, using a creance is only for birds of prey and corvids. Their legs and feet are far more robust than those of parrots, not to mention they don't tend to "dart" like parrots. If you did that with a parrot, they'd end up dislocating something, breaking their leg, or trying to gnaw their leg off to escape.

Oh, and Clark, I find it can be beneficial to allow untamed budgies to fly around in a "safe" room so they can build confidence, improve their flying abilities, and encourage them to trust you. Most of my budgies were wary of humans and terrible at flying when I first adopted them because they'd been confined to tiny cages for most of their lives. However, with other species, I believe in training them to accept treats and step up before even letting them out of the cage.

 

[EllenD]

I'm glad that you recognized that "Tying a string to you bird's leg so they can't fly away from you" was very, very bad advice. Yes, there is lot's of it out there, and the best advice I can give you is that anything that someone tells you to do regarding your bird, if you think it's at all iffy, that you thoroughly research it and ask the forum BEFORE you ever do any of it, because it's more often that people try/do these things that someone tells them to do or that they read on some website, and only after they do it and something horrible happens do they come here for help with the issues that were created by trying it (in this example it would be a broken leg, a dislocated hip, a horrible skin laceration from the string because a bird's skin is paper-thin and extremely delicate, or just a bird that will never ever come near you ever again).

It takes time to hand-tame a bird who was not hand-raised or that was ignored for a long period of time. You first must earn the bird's trust before you can hand-tame them. It sounds like what you've been doing is going down the right track, just remember and keep in-mind that earning a bird's trust and hand-taming a non-tame bird can take months and months to sometimes even years. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and it requires an incredible amount of patience from you. So you certainly don't want to do anything like this person told you to do because it will set you back light-years...

You also need to consider the source of the information...I don't know if the person who told you to do this is a bird-owner themselves, it certainly doesn't sound like it to me, it sounds like they might own dogs or cats, but certainly not birds. Or maybe they "used to own a bird or birds, but they don't any longer", etc. If that's the case then you need to say to yourself "Dogs are not anything at all like birds/parrots, not in any way, and this person has no idea what they are talking about"...It's just using logic and reasoning and filtering out the BS...

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL the only time you put string around a birds leg is to prepare it for a stint in the oven! (according to most cookbooks anyway)


(Yes I am a barbarian: I love animals, alive and well done. Usually very different species though )


The dumbest advice I got sofar was from a CAV a few years ago- when I told him Japie was having serious issues with (re)learning how to fly. (He kept flying into things, just like any young inexperienced bird would, but he is not a young bird) His suggestion was to clip his wings: no flying -> no bumping into things...
I did not believe my ears, and of course protested against that suggestion and Japie learned to fly pretty well the past few years.

(Maybe I was not very clear in that I really wanted him to learn, and the CAV thought I was worried about it or something and tried to help me - but it was really, really surreal.)
Btw- he is great and that is the only time he suggested something to me (or anyone else I know off) that really did not "match".

He was dealing with an african grey before me that absolutely never got out of his cage because his owners were afraid of him. (I met them in the waitingroom and they were kind of freaked out my parrot was not caged at that time and did not believe me when I said he was out a big part of the day every day --- I felt so sorry for their bird!)
So that may have put him in the wrong headspace for a bit?

 

[Amsterdam]

that sounds cruel....

 

[itzjbean]

It's actually very dangerous to let a bird fly around loose like this if they won't come back to you. What if there is an emergency and you need to get your bird out of there?

When I got Ember (male cockatiel) at 3 months he came to me clipped. This actually helped me tremendously because he couldn't get anywhere far without me. He would try flying but couldn't get far. It gave me control o keep him where I needed him until our bond was more solidified.

Now at 8 months old his flight feathers are coming in and he is flying around the house beautifully. I have been working on training him as soon as his flight feathers came in and now he is getting better at flying. And now he is allowed free flight because he will allow me to pick him up wherever he is.

 

[Sandy19]

I would not tie a string to my pet birds leg anymore than I'd tie a string to a bad tooth and yank it out with the door.

 

[clark_conure]

Sandy I have a loose tooth do you think that....oh wait nvm.....

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Sandy I have a loose tooth do you think that....oh wait nvm.....

Been there done that clark


Jim

 

[Shrub]

There are harnesses for birds......

look up aviator harness on amazon....

I'm not sure exactly what the story is here...but it's ok to put a bird in a harness...but it may take time for them to accept it.

So you have an untamed bird but you allow it free flight in your house? I don't think I'm getting the entire picture.

I have looked at harnesses and thought about getting one. But this was a little string on her little foot, I would be worried it would be to tight or she would hurt herself or get it tangled.

She is semi tame I guess. Her cage is small and she sometimes needs to get rid of the energy. Might not be the best thing to do but she is a bird, birds fly and she enjoys being out and I don't want her in the cage non stop for weeks til she is tame.

We have had her for a week I can get really close to her, maybe 3cm before she will take off. She sometimes (rarely) will eat from my hand. She enjoys being in the same area I am in and we talk to each other. We only let her out when we are home and in the same room with her and always know where she is.

We let her take baths in the sink (I clean sink before and after) and she plays with me when she has a bath I can get closer to her and splash water on her and if I stop she will come real close to my hand and tell me to keep going by waving her foot at me. She is easy to get back in her cage after a little free flight time and she is calmer after burning off some of her energy.

Today while out she almost landed on my head. She circled a few times coming close enough to the top of my head I could feel her, while splashing water in the sink checking things out.

When I say small cage she can freely move around, jump, walk etc just not enough room to fly

 

[Shrub]

It's actually very dangerous to let a bird fly around loose like this if they won't come back to you. What if there is an emergency and you need to get your bird out of there?

When I got Ember (male cockatiel) at 3 months he came to me clipped. This actually helped me tremendously because he couldn't get anywhere far without me. He would try flying but couldn't get far. It gave me control o keep him where I needed him until our bond was more solidified.

Now at 8 months old his flight feathers are coming in and he is flying around the house beautifully. I have been working on training him as soon as his flight feathers came in and now he is getting better at flying. And now he is allowed free flight because he will allow me to pick him up wherever he is.

when we need to put her back in her cage it takes us maybe 5 minutes to safely get her and put her away without adding stress to her.