Harness or ?

[tiger2]

I would love to take my birds outside but am so afraid even with clipped wings that they will take off. The harness' that are available are a pain to put on. Has anyone ever used an ankle leash, like falconers use? To me this would be so much easier to use and since we now have a Falconer on our site, I hope to get some insite into this. What would you order for a macaw or amazon. I checked out some Falconry (?) sites and got confused by the terms. Are our parrots legs not strong enough for these as I've never heard of anyone using them. Pros? Cons?

[JThw8]

My concern would be
a) doing damage to their legs with a sudden yank
b) easier to get the "foot leash" off so they can escape it

Real world experience. When I was young, before the days of harnesses and such when ankle leashes were a bit more common my father always used to put one on his B&G when he took him out, just as a precaution (well he always did *after* she flew to the top of a tree once)

One day just sitting on her playstand outside with the leash on dad hadnt noticed she had been picking at it and had gotten it off. Something startled her and she flew into the street and was hit my a car. Not killed luckily, but it ended up costing her a wing.

[spectre]

I'd second the concern, I think your bird would hurt its leg. If you can get one of your birds comfortable with lying on its back in your hand this position makes putting the featehr tether on much easier.

[tiger2]

Hurting their legs is my concern too thats why I questioned using a leg leash. So why doesn't it hurt wild birds? Are they tougher? I'm just curious about this and thought it would make an interesting discussion plus a learning experience.

[Doubleyolk]

Originally Posted by tiger2

Hurting their legs is my concern too thats why I questioned using a leg leash. So why doesn't it hurt wild birds? Are they tougher? I'm just curious about this and thought it would make an interesting discussion plus a learning experience.

Yes their bones are bigger and more muscle. They use their legs to catch their prey and not to get to graphic you know the rest.

I have not seen the leg restraints used too often on raptors that have been trained.

[Alika]

No! Bad, bad idea! I've heard of this being done before, and it just doesn't work.

It works on raptors for two reasons: first of all, you always tetheter BOTH the legs so that when they bate (jump off the glove) the shock is taken by both the legs and it ends up being like bungie jumping. Even a raptor could break or dislocate a leg if only one leg was jessed (tied).

The other reason is that raptors' legs are built differently than parrots. They are a lot stronger and more sturdily built because they are predators that rely on their feet and legs to catch their foot.

Trained raptors do wear jesses all the time except during when they're actually flying. It's a very controlled situation, and I don't know of any raptor trainer who doesn't utilize them (except in vultures who would chew their jesses off) during handling, although some aren't jessed in their mews.

A parrot could easily dislocate or break it's leg(s) if it tried to fly away with it's feet tied up. Besides, I, for one, don't really think that my birds would leave something like that on without easily chewing it off.

As far as the harness goes, there are a lot of different opinions on that. I tried a figure 8 harness (feather teather) on Beeper last year. It was a pain in the butt to train him to wear it, and then he was so uncomfortable with it on that it wasn't even worth it.

I'm not a big fan of the Flight Suit, mostly because I don't like the idea that it traps their poop. It seems unsanitary and entirely unnatural to me, but a lot of people do like them.

I wouldn't recommend using any kind of harness on a bird smaller than a small amazon, though. The harnesses are just so bulky that I have a hard time imagining a small bird wearing one comfortably, which might have been Beeper's problem.

I share the sentiment about taking your bird outside. I recommend using a cage or kennel when simply transporting him or letting him get some sunshine (my birds go out on the balcony in their cages several times a week during the summer). If you're willing to, you can teach your bird the recall and train him up real good using that, then use a simple toe hold when out of doors. This only works if your bird is conditioned to it, since a bird that isn't used to a toe hold will try to pull it's toe free and then, when that doesn't work, bite the offending finger. In other words, it involves a lot of training.

Sometimes, when I am out of doors for a short period of time with my sennie, I will cup him securely for the duration of the walk AND use a toe hold. My BFA is used to the toe hold and has big enough toes that I feel secure using that with her. My cockatiel gets no such privilege; she is too good a flier. She doesn't go outside unless she's in her cage or kennel, period.

Just out of curiosity, who on this site is a falconer?

[volvobirds]

My B&G and M2 both wear harnesses when they are out of the house. luckly, they adjusted to them well from the first. plus, we have been consistent with them being harnessed if they go out of the house at all, even to get the mail.

I talk to mine while harnessing them up. they are told this is for around the neck, under a wing, to lift their wing please to put it on, you get the drift here. that way they are part of getting hooked up and know what is going on. just makes for a calmer experience overall for both of us.

[Stizby]

Have you heard about the aviator harness that is put out by Hartman Aviary? Here is the link: http://theparrotuniversity.com/harness/harness.html

I bought 2 for my birds and found that it is much, much easier to put on than the feather tether. There is no hardware on this harness and it has a bungee cord type leash to it so that when the bird flies to the end of the line, it bounces them slightly. Not a rough jerk. I bought mine for just $13 each, which is a special price that Hartman Aviary is running right now. For that price, you get nothing other than the harness -- it comes in a plain brown envelope with no packaging of any kind and no instructions. But the instructions are on their website.

Here's a few photos to help you understand what it looks like and one of my cockatoo wearing it.

[tiger2]

Thanks Stizby! That is exactly what I'm looking for.

[Stizby]