Flight harness

[SunniDai]

Soooo. I have recently discovered the joys of having fully flighted fids. My youngest, Sunni, is used to going everywhere with us, however. This poses a HUGE concern for me since she is only a year old and not clicker trained to return to me. She is discovering that she quite enjoys flying. My question is about flight harnesses. Who uses them, and do you have any suggestions on what kind are the best to use? I feel that if I start leaving her at home when we leave she will think she is being punished since she has gone everywhere with us since she was three weeks old. She is about the size of a Conure, so I'm also thinking that she will need a slightly larger harness.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Dana

[SunniDai]

Here is a picture of all three of them so you can all see how large Sunni is in comparison to Oscar and Luna.
Dana

[InTheAir]

Aviator harness! the recommended size for ringnecks is extra small. We have an undersized bird (98g) and the harness is a teensy bit big, but still useable.
Check out Barbara Heidenreich (good bird inc) on the subject. She has a great video on YouTube about harness training. She also recommends doing the initial training with an oversized harness, which sounds like a great idea to me.

I have heard of clipped birds taking flight outdoors and catching a thermal or wind gust.

[Skyes_crew]

Definitely the aviator harness. Here is the YouTube link for Barbara heidenreich's video

http://youtu.be/etKRisR7vgo

[Jen&Bug]

The harness is definitely a good idea. I know from experience that even a clipped, well-trained bird who gets a fright outside can be off into the sky and out of earshot before you have a chance to react. The risk of her feeling left out is much less serious than the risk of her getting lost or injured in unrestrained flight - even if she doesn't see it that way herself!

That said, I haven't had any success getting Bug to tolerate a harness. I probably rushed the training in the early stages and scared him (he's always disliked being handled), so take it slow and follow Barbara Heidenreich's instructions.

Good luck!

[SunniDai]

Thank you everyone for your input. I am going to invest in a good harness for her and start the slow process of training her for it
Dana

[Skyes_crew]

Please be very very patient. I got quite a few nips from my Alex thinking because he was so laid back that it would be easy for him. Just watch for her comfort level and back off and offer lots of cuddles when she gets nervous. And good luck once she's wearing it, you'll want all your birds in a harness.

[InTheAir]

Lol @ Cyrano
We have been really lucky, Nele bites the harness not us if we upset him!

My words of wisdom are: Aviator harness seems to be the only one that is suitable for a flighted bird. It's such a pain to get on and off though... I guess that's why it's escape proof, cos even hands have trouble undoing it!

Follow that video that Melissa linked, it's the best one I've seen.
Also get birdy used to putting head through a small loop that you are holding and can release if birdy gets scared, rather than going straight to the head loop. The head loop is really tight, and can be hard to remove if the bird is upset.
If you can afford it buy a big one for training, they aren't too expensive if you are in America (they are pretty expensive in aus though!).

[Skyes_crew]

You've never really been nipped till you've been nipped by an Alex he's so cute though because he knows he shouldn't nip so the few times he did he crawled up under my chin and pushed his beak into my cheek to say sorry. Skye and hamlet were a breeze compared to Cyrano. He's not food driven at all so treats have no effect on him. It's been weeks and he's still uncomfortable with the darn thing. Maybe it's the color I chose lol. I thought he'd look good in silver