Aviator flight harness

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Bird_lover574
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2014 12:46 pm

Aviator flight harness

Post by Bird_lover574 »

Hi
I was wondering if anyone has harness trained their ringneck and what size harness to use? Also are these harnesses safe and reliable?
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: Aviator flight harness

Post by InTheAir »

Yes, it is possible to train a ringneck to wear a harness. I don't believe that every ringneck is a suitable candidate though. Putting the harness on involves a lot of handling around their body, those tiny straps are reallly fiddly! The easiest birds to train to wear one are birds that are really calm with handling and not very inclined to fly off when nervous.
I stuffed up when training Nila and pushed him too fast which made him scared of the harness, and it was really hard work to retrain him. Sapphire has had the benefit of me being so cautious of rushing that she hasn't even had the harness on all the way yet, we just practice the basics. :lol: Sapphire was not handraised, so didn't have any handling in the fledging and weaning stage, but the breeder handled her before she fledged.

Personally I would recommend that you towel train your bird first. When that is going well, you can teach him to put his head through your looped fingers, lift his wings, let you cup your hands around him etc before you even buy a harness. If it doesn't go well then you've saved some money and you can buy more toys instead :wink:

Here is Sapphire learning towel training, because I have been teaching her to let me hold her and to go through a cloth tunnel, she found the towel training really easy. http://youtu.be/7-QPb8o1JYY

This is a harness training video I made to show a friend who was finding it hard to move forward with harness training. Since I did such a shoddy job of training Nila, I'm trying to be really thorough about having Sapphire accustomed to the harness touching her anywhere. She is easier than Nila in some ways as she is quite physical and doesn't mind a little wrestling or having her tail touched. http://youtu.be/g7eMr9eNAFk
You can also practice a lot of basic harness training with a shoelace, just hold it in a loop. If the bird looks uncomfortable it is easy to make the loop bigger or let go of one side.

I hope that is helpful.
Bird_lover574
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2014 12:46 pm

Re: Aviator flight harness

Post by Bird_lover574 »

Thank you! Ill check out both of your videos im sure it will be a huge help. I am eager to train him so that he can go outside in the summer but im not sure if he will be suitable. The breeder i got him from hadnt bred ringnecks before and didnt handle them very much. First time i met him and the breeder he was put in my hand and he bit me because he was not used to being handled. He is a little better now. He likes to just sit on me, he isnt fond of being touched. Im hoping that if i take it really slow and persuade him with treats he will become more comfortable
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