Which harness other than Feather Tether for eclectus?

[tashawithanekkie]

Mods feel free to move if this is in the wrong section.

Duke came to us with two Feather Tether harnesses. He, um, hates them. At first he seemed not to recognize them, now he flies away from them. I haven't tried using them at all, I just get them out and leave them around. He won't go near them, won't stay with me if I pick one up, I'm taking it as a pretty clear "no thanks."

The world of harnesses is kind of confusing. I don't know what to look for in a good one, what styles there are, or anything. I'll be reading through threads to learn what I can of course, but also . . . anyone feel like educating me a bit?

Thanks in advance.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

You can train him to wear any kind of harness, but in general, the Aviator is the best. There are many posts on how to harness train a bird.

 

[SilverSage]

The Aviator is by far the safest and definitely comes with the best training instructions of all the harnesses!


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[Anansi]

I agree. The Aviator Harness is an exceptional one. Not that he'll necessarily like it any more than he does the Feather Tether. It can be a bit of a trial as well.

And much depends on how smoothly you can get yourself to be with the process. I marvel when I watch some other people and see how much more graceful their attempts seem in comparison to my lumbering own. Lol!

Here's a link to harness training with the Aviator: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/59374-harness-training-videos.html

Pay special attention to the 2nd video (by Miloslave). Yeah, my fumbling looks nothing like that!

 

[tashawithanekkie]

Sweet y'all, thanks! Off to read more and watch vids . . .

 

[wrench13]

Aviator here also. Took me almost a year of training every night to get Salty OK with me putting it on. Just did it this Sunday. Watch his video "How to Not put on a harness" to get an idea of what level of trust you'll need from Duke. Basically you will need to hold his head with one hand and slip the head loop over his head with the other. Then put the side loops over his wings - Salty and I have figured out that's best done while he is on his back in my lap. Tighten up the strap and make sure that all straps are lying flat and your done. Now wasn't that easy? True be told you need to be able to handle Duke, like a lot of handling. Thats true of any of the commercially available harnesses. There is no easy one, like dog collar, which would snap the birds neck. In Asia they still use leg chains, but thats barbaric and use of them is going down.

 

[tashawithanekkie]

Oh man, it's going to be a long road.

I think I'll toss the Feather Tethers then or offer them for free here.

I've been working on closer handling. He knows I'm not out to hurt him, but he's not into it. He'll let me briefly touch his head, so I started trying to make a ring around his neck with a thumb and forefinger recently. He'll consent to lifting a wing for just a bit as well . . . but again only for about a second.

But I don't think I need to worry about getting the Aviator any time in the near future. *shrug* That's fine. We'll just work on building up to it. Thanks again all.

PS, I love watching Salty's vids. I show them to the kids, too. You two are a great team!

 

[wrench13]

Well we thank you! We started with holding the head loop open at the edge of the training table with two fingers, and offering a treat for Salty first to just get his head near the head loop, and gradually, successively pulling the treat back further and further into the head loop, with the goal of having him put his head all the way through. To be successful with this you need:

1) A regular training time every night, which will have other tricks and efforts
2) Supply of Dukes absolute fav treat
3) Aviator of the correct size - too big is better then too small
4) Decide what the commands will be for putting the harness on and off and use them religiously
5) Work on handling - good trick that will aid with harness training is to get Duke to lie quietly in your hand on his back. Play fighting, giving belly rasberries, neck tickles all are good ways to build up his trust ( and fun factor)

Like I said originally - it took a YEAR for our first successful Aviator harness wearing.