BirdWorld
Rollerblading along the road
Does anyone use the aviator bird harness for budgies? I’m thinking about getting mine one.
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Budgie Harness?
- Thread starter BirdWorld
- Start date
@Kiwi's Mom , I recall you saying something about this the other day?
@BirdWorld didn't you have a thread on this last week?
I have one for my budgies (Avian Web) but I haven't been able to use it outside yet, Kiwi will probably be able to use it soon, but Blizzard hates anything near her head so we haven't made any progress with her.
I don't have any experience with Aviator, I chose to get Avian Web's harness because it doesn't have wing loops.
JLcribber
@cockatoojohn
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How tame is your budgie and do you handle this bird now?
BirdWorld
Rollerblading along the road
They aren’t the tamest birds, they’ll sit on my shoulder and walk around the house with me, but they haven’t gotten to learning any tricks yet. They don’t take well to new people because when my friend took care of them when I went on vacation, she grabbed them to take them out of cage and they’re still a bit jittery from that.
how do you put the harness on Kiwi? Does he put his head in the loop himself? I've been training Pichu for over half a year and he still removes his head as soon as he gets the treat.. And if it's too tricky he'll prefer to not get the treat than risking being "caught"
JLcribber
@cockatoojohn
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I asked because unless your budgie is extremely hand tame, getting a harness on them is going to be a very stressful thing for them. The odds of them ever accepting it is low. Just because of the way budgies fly any harness will probably end up giving them a good yank because of the way they take off.
You're much better off taking a tiny bird like that outside in a cage or some other kind of secure carrier. Just for safety sake.
BirdWorld
Rollerblading along the road
I was just thinking to put on the harness by offering a treat. Even if it was stressful, wouldn’t they forget about that and just play? That way, they could learn that it’s a good thing.
Or would they be mad at me forever for stressing them out? Will they accidentally hurt themselves trying to fly away?
he will keep his head in for a very short time, (5 to 10 seconds max) he is okay with me resting some of it on his back, but he's not ready to wear it. I've been able to train him more now that I'm always at home, but it's still a slow process. When I said soon I meant probably 2 to 4 months at least lol. I have a horrible concept of time sometimes
Kiwi is much more trusting of me than Blizzard, who hasn't made any progress at all (she also hates things on or near her head)
With small birds like budgies, I agree with @JLcribber that a carrier or cage is the better option for outdoor excursions, for their own safety. I know a few people who have lost their birds to raptors while they were harnessed. A member here had her beloved conure taken right off her shoulder by a hawk.
Vittror
Jogging around the block
If your budgies aren't that tame I honestly wouldn't even try a harness at this time with them.
If they have been grabbed before I'm not sure a treat will make everything all right again.
Sounds like a better idea to continue training and bonding with your birds before even attempting a harness.
If they have been grabbed before I'm not sure a treat will make everything all right again.
Sounds like a better idea to continue training and bonding with your birds before even attempting a harness.
This. Better safe than sorry.
There are some hawks in my neighborhood, so if I get Kiwi harness trained I'm going to have someone walk with me, and whenever I hear/see the hawks I'll put him in his carrier (We have a pair red-shoulders here and luckily they are one of the more vocal species) I'll also stay near the house. I would hate for something to happed to him or Blizzard, so I already have someone with me when they're in they're only in the carrier, just in case.
We're planing to screen in our carport and turn it into a "patio", which I will be able to bring Kiwi and Blizzard into, so once we do that I probably won't continue with the harness training because they will have a nice "outside" area to fly in. We have a few bird-safe trees we're planing to cut down because they're in dangerous locations, (might fall on out house/shed, and for some reason we've been having pretty bad wind storms the last couple years, the worst one stopped school for a week and a half) so I'm planing to make a play stand out of one of them.
BirdWorld
Rollerblading along the road
I never even thought about hawks! I do live in an area where red tailed hawks are common. Hmmm...
I have a tame parrotlet that I've been harness-training since September last year. He still won't put the harness on even with a treat. He will put his beak, maybe up to his eyes, in the loop to grab the treat, but if the treat is too far and he'd have to put his head further inside he'd rather drop the treat that risking being caught in the scary loop. If I hold him he doesn't get mad at me because he is very tame, but he still doesn't like it and won't take a treat when I hold him because he is stressed. So no they don't forget and just play, they are things they won't do for a treat and when stressed, treats are the least of their problems.
This is why I'm still haven't put a harness on my bird after nearly one year of training (not intense training though). I don't want him to associate the harness or being hold with stress and I don't want to lose his trust so I go VEEERY slow. And even when and if we manage to put a harness on him one day, I'm not sure we will use it that much outside. No hawks here and the crows and magpies aren't really a problem (they can be in other areas) but I'm not even certain my bird would enjoy the outdoor that much... We are training because he is an intelligent bird and the stimulation is fun to him
I completely know what you meanhe will keep his head in for a very short time, (5 to 10 seconds max) he is okay with me resting some of it on his back, but he's not ready to wear it. I've been able to train him more now that I'm always at home, but it's still a slow process. When I said soon I meant probably 2 to 4 months at least lol. I have a horrible concept of time sometimes
Kiwi is much more trusting of me than Blizzard, who hasn't made any progress at all (she also hates things on or near her head)
I've been training Pichu to go through a loop I make with the belly buckle instead of the head loop, it is not as tight so less scary, but still not OK to have it touching him too long...