What’s your opinion on harnesses?

[Chubby The Amazon]

Hello!
I was looking forward to training my Chubbs on a harness.
I called a local Bird Supply store & asked if they had any harnesses, she replied, “No. We don’t believe in harnesses. We don’t have any here.”

Anyone know why some people would not “believe” in using a harness?

I looked up risk factors for using them but I was wondering what the majority thinks.

Thank you for your opinions.

 

[zERo]

What an odd thing to say!

I see nothing wrong with training your bird to wear a harness.
It keeps them safe outdoors! I mean, predators are always a problem but a harness at least prevents your bird from going airborne if it were to get spooked.

I know a few of our members here have harness trained birds, @wrench13 in particular!

 

[wrench13]

Correct-a-mundo, zERo, Salty is harness trained. check out the sig pic to the left. Salty never goes outside unless he is in harness or his travel carrier. On more then 1 occasion he would have flown away if he was not in harness, because something startled him.

Harness training is very worthwhile for a few reasons. Safety is a big one obviously, but more then that the actual training and working with your parrot to freely accept the harness builds trust and parrots are all about trust. WARNING - this does take time, a lot, usually. It took me about a year of every night training to get Salty fully trained and we still just put it on and take it off during our every night trick training sessions. DOnt believe vids you may see that say 2 or 3 sessions is enough to train them - yes a very few will take to it readily. for most parrots, its a step by step process.

 

[Chubby The Amazon]

What an odd thing to say!

I see nothing wrong with training your bird to wear a harness.
It keeps them safe outdoors! I mean, predators are always a problem but a harness at least prevents your bird from going airborne if it were to get spooked.

I know a few of our members here have harness trained birds, @wrench13 in particular!

That’s what I thought. I was wondering why she said that, it was strange to hear & got my mind wandering.

 

[Chubby The Amazon]

Correct-a-mundo, zERo, Salty is harness trained. check out the sig pic to the left. Salty never goes outside unless he is in harness or his travel carrier. On more then 1 occasion he would have flown away if he was not in harness, because something startled him.

Harness training is very worthwhile for a few reasons. Safety is a big one obviously, but more then that the actual training and working with your parrot to freely accept the harness builds trust and parrots are all about trust. WARNING - this does take time, a lot, usually. It took me about a year of every night training to get Salty fully trained and we still just put it on and take it off during our every night trick training sessions. DOnt believe vids you may see that say 2 or 3 sessions is enough to train them - yes a very few will take to it readily. for most parrots, its a step by step process.

Yea, I that’s what I planned to do. Until Chubby was COMPLETELY comfortable with it, THEN I’d bring him outside. However long that may take ….

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That’s what I thought. I was wondering why she said that, it was strange to hear & got my mind wandering.

If a parrot is wearing a harness with a 10 foot long leash outdoors sitting on owner's shoulder and gets spooked and flies off what happens when he gets to the end of the leash? It seems like that would be pretty unpleasant for the bird.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I think they are great! And can be wonderful for birds!

But Rico and I don’t like putting one on him because he doesn’t like wearing them. It messes up his feathers, tends to ride up a little, and there isn’t exactly a good place to connect the leash since it’s kinda crappily designed. (100% my fault for buying it.)

However there are risks such as raptors being able to swoop in and snatch up your bird. Or, getting tangled in a shorter tree. I have learned the tree one from experience. Not fun. The harness being broken from chewing is also a huge risk so always always always check your harness before putting it on your bird.

I prefer a travel cage for comfort and convenience on both ends. Saves me some time and saves Rico some annoyance. And, he can get comfy and play with toys. He doesn’t have to worry about any stupid eagles, owls, hawks, or some hungry ravens.

 

[wrench13]

If a parrot is wearing a harness with a 10 foot long leash outdoors sitting on owner's shoulder and gets spooked and flies off what happens when he gets to the end of the leash? It seems like that would be pretty unpleasant for the bird.

The Aviator harness has a shock cord leash so it does not just YOINK the bird to a stop. IMHO they are the best harness available.

 

[JinPicaJest]

The Aviator harness has a shock cord leash so it does not just YOINK the bird to a stop. IMHO they are the best harness available.

Yes! I had a cockatiel hen for ~15 years and she wore the Aviator with the flight line for outside flying. It was never a problem, she would just glide down if she reached the end of the line, because as wrench13 said, it is elastic/has give. Mostly I just carried two stand perches outside for flight practice, and Opal would fly between them. For walks and socialization/fun trips, we just used the short wrist leash.

I haven't managed to get any of my 3 conures in a harness -- yet. I had one hanging just outside Picasso's cage for months to begin desensitization, but never really systematically pursued it. Sure was fun with Opal, though.

Maybe the pet shop owner had a lot of customers who weren't successful with harness training (because it really can take MONTHS and MONTHS) and they felt it was better to steer clear of selling them because of that ??? For me, even with having such good experiences with Opal, the conures are so opposed to touch (well, just touches that THEY haven't initiated, lol) that harness training is daunting. They get walks in their carriers.

 

[clark_conure]

If a parrot is wearing a harness with a 10 foot long leash outdoors sitting on owner's shoulder and gets spooked and flies off what happens when he gets to the end of the leash? It seems like that would be pretty unpleasant for the bird.

I have a harness for each bird the problem is getting them into them. THEY LIKE IT, BUT HATE IT. If your on the go, a harness is not bad, doesn't hurt the bird, but "I" don't do it enough to make it normal.

If they take off they can.....and just get pulled into a circle. (I've got it to work before) but for the most part they seem to be, naw I'm fine in the rec room.

It's really me just not wanting the effort I think to take em out. It's a special occasion kind of thing to me. I believe in them (the harnesses) I'm just a bit lazy I guess.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Im

The Aviator harness has a shock cord leash so it does not just YOINK the bird to a stop. IMHO they are the best harness available.

The Aviator harness has a shock cord leash so it does not just YOINK the bird to a stop. IMHO they are the best harness available.

The Aviator harness has a shock cord leash so it does not just YOINK the bird to a stop. IMHO they are the best harness available.

I'm glad someone thought of that. I had an image in my mind of the unpleasant abrupt stop mid-flight at the end of the leash. Why don't people put leashes attached to one of the the bird's legs?

 

[clark_conure]

oh no it's like elastic...it doesn't hurt the bird at all, at most they chew on the bindings because it's like "what the F*** is this on me". I ony wish I started sooner when they were way young.

 

[zERo]

Im





I'm glad someone thought of that. I had an image in my mind of the unpleasant abrupt stop mid-flight at the end of the leash. Why don't people put leashes attached to one of the the bird's legs?

The reason leg chains/leashes aren’t recommended and can be dangerous for parrots is because they can easily break their legs.
A parrots legs aren’t nearly as strong as say, an owls or hawks who wear leather leashes on their legs.

 

[clark_conure]

OH ONE THING!!!!!

A proper harness....will not hurt the bird so long as you are with it. JUST DO NOT LEAVE IT ON UNATTENDED!!!! They could get caught up in something. Only use it if you are with them and holding the leash.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

The reason leg chains/leashes aren’t recommended and can be dangerous for parrots is because they can easily break their legs.
A parrots legs aren’t nearly as strong as say, an owls or hawks who wear leather leashes on their legs.

That's what I figured. Birds legs are pretty delicate.

 

[JinPicaJest]

Also, the jesses used in falconry are just short leather strips made for holding the bird while it's already perched on your glove -- they're not long leashes. So even hawks , falcons, etc. aren't being attached to a long leash on their legs.

 

[Tinabell]

I use the Aviator harness on my African Greg and it’s a fantastic way to enjoy the outdoors. Parrot wizard has a great video you can buy on how to train them to wear them. Nothing wrong at all with a harness

 

[Zazuthebird]

with my tame conures and cockatiels, i like to take them out on the farm, in the sun and fresh air, cause they stay in the house and not outside. I see nothing wrong with them, the birds do(to start with ) they chew it a bit and get a bit angry, but calm down after a few minutes, and are used to it after a few times.
Plus i love taking them outside

 

[wrench13]

I think I already said this, but we put Salty's harness on almost every night, its the second "trick" in most training sessions. Not all the way, mind you, just getting him to put the head loop on (which he does by himself) and then draping the rest of the hardness over him. Its enough so that when its time to really put it on, he is nonplussed and even ignores the harness.

Re: leg chains and other restraints - leg chains on parrots is very common in Asia, but slowly changing to harnesses. Most people will agree its a dangerous thing to do: as has been pointed out, parrot legs are much thinner than raptor legs.

 

[Free as a bird]

Well this thread was an excellent read considering Iv already got a harness on order. I know at least one of my birds will be spooked by it at first but I hope they get used to it.