Eli_bird
Moving in
- Joined
- 10/11/20
- Messages
- 7
- Real Name
- Elijah
For context, my cockatiel is 1 year + 3 months old, fully flighted (and a very strong flier at that), and already familiar with clicker training, targeting, and recall. He's tame and fine with head/cheek/neck pets. I'd quite like to harness train him as I think he'd benefit greatly from being able to safely travel with me to friends houses and other bird-safe environments - he is very clingy and I'd also like to desensitize him to new people and places. My issue is that he's extremely unreceptive to having his wings handled. Even gently brushing or tapping his wing as a starting point gets me bitten and he immediately becomes standoffish. I can't repeatedly breach his trust in an attempt to train him but I need to figure out what the first step for harness training would even be for him. I'm prepared for a very long and patient training process but I'm not sure where to start. Getting "big wings" on cue may be an option but he very rarely shows that behavior so it could be difficult.
Being able to handle his wings would be helpful even outside of harnessing, so I'd really like to be able to do it, but I'm not sure where to start with a bird who cannot handle having his wings touched in any capacity currently.
I appreciate any help that can be given.
Forcing him into a harness every time isn't an option, I would not want to grab him and handle him like that even briefly unless it was necessary. (I.e. towelling during vet trips, to cut nails or to pull a broken blood feather). I almost worry that this sort of handling in the past (for when it has had to be done for said vet trips, nail clipping and blood feather pulling) is what has gotten him so uncomfortable with being physically handled in the first place.
TLDR: How do I harness train a cockatiel who currently cannot handle having his wings touched at all?
Being able to handle his wings would be helpful even outside of harnessing, so I'd really like to be able to do it, but I'm not sure where to start with a bird who cannot handle having his wings touched in any capacity currently.
I appreciate any help that can be given.
Forcing him into a harness every time isn't an option, I would not want to grab him and handle him like that even briefly unless it was necessary. (I.e. towelling during vet trips, to cut nails or to pull a broken blood feather). I almost worry that this sort of handling in the past (for when it has had to be done for said vet trips, nail clipping and blood feather pulling) is what has gotten him so uncomfortable with being physically handled in the first place.
TLDR: How do I harness train a cockatiel who currently cannot handle having his wings touched at all?
