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An Aviator Harness and Freedom


Talon

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I have a question for you all. My amazon, Nilah LOVES the outdoors. She will sit by an open window for hours. She is always quiet while she's observing and listening to all te outdoor sounds. I live in a very quiet, wooded country setting. We have horses, wildlife and birds all around.

 

I would love to be able to take her out on a harness, br my fear is that bce she actually experiences the outside and sees there is a whole new world to explore (one of her favorite things to do) I am afraid she will make every effort to scoot out the door when ever she hears it open. Right now, she will watch us go out, then fly to the window sill to watch us.. I fear that she will be more apt to get out. And she is VERY fast and can get thru the smallest opening.

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Thats a tough one Penny but if you want to try her with a harness and see how she does it might quell her appetite to be outside, sometimes when we get what we seem to desire the desire is not quite as strong as it was before, then again it might be that she likes looking out and observing it but actually going out might not be what she actually wants to do. If she likes it outside then you might want to invest in one of those outside aviaries. I would like my hubby to build me one but with his accident its only the have to do things that are getting done at the moment but I haven't given up on it.

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More than likely, she'll be much more nervous being put into an unfamilar area ( outside). It's one thing to check out everything with a glass in front, it's another to be out there. If your bird was gonna make a move to get outside, it would have happened already. Wanna get your bird used to the outside without worrying? Put a harness on,put him in a small cage and put it on the porch. Leave him out for a while with no sun beating down on him. Let him associate what a harness means. Do it over and over. Then one day, put the harness on and go out minus the cage. Have the cage nearby. He'll already be used to the outside, smells, sights, sounds. When you're finished, put him back in the cage that's outside.Leave harness on until you go back in. That's the method I used with 2 of my 3 greys. The third can't fly at all so he just perches in a cage outside. Your bird will feel a lot more secure with you around. ( you're the safety net)Think about it.

Edited by Dave007
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My Ana Grey was like Nilah, she would sit by the window and look outside all the time. I put her in a harness and took her out. She immediately tried to fly off. And then she settled down and sat on my shoulder enjoying being outside. Each time I took her out, she would try to fly off and be abruptly stopped. She would only try once each time, to see if she could fly away. I have not taken her out this year yet as the weather has been cold. But I am now use to what happens and don't worry about it. Luckily she does not chew on her harness so it has remained in great shape. My tribe enjoys being outside in their travel cages as well.

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Thank everyone. I a afraid they will g wt taste of the outdoors and attempt to fly out when I go.....Talon does go out in her travel pak, Rikki hates to go out, too scared....haven't yet tried with Nilah, she is throne who would try and fly out. Two days ago, I was cooking burgers on the grill, going in and out of the house. Last summer I had storm doors put on all my doors, and NilAh tried to fly out at it the other day. She knows they are there, as all 3 tried one time last year and quickly learned.

I don't have a lot of trust in her, she wants what she wants and she wants to follow me out....:(

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One thing I could suggest is using a different door (like go through the garage) in order to go outside, that way Nilah will know only that door will take you outside, and if she does slip through, well, there's always the garage door that will stay closed.

 

I'll also reiterate what Dave said, looking outdoors and being outdoors are 2 completely different things. Archimedes is very timid when we go outside, and the other day Archimedes was just hanging out on his tree (by the glass patio door) when my dad was outside grilling. Now Archimedes loves my dad, but seeing him on the other side of the glass door, it was like he saw a monster and flew away.

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Talking about garage doors. Ana Grey loves to sit on my shoulder but if I open the house door to the garage, she will immediately fly off my shoulder back into the house. I have tried to take her into the garage several times and she always head back into the depths of the house. Now if I walk toward the back door to the patio, she flies toward me and I have to watch her.

 

On another note, I just noticed your pink Rocky in your signature line. I remember the "dyeing" but I never knew you permanently posted "Pink Rocky". Too cute!!!!

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Janet, I do go out in my garage with my birds perched on my shoulder occasionally, they seem to be okay with it, well, of course, I have to talk the thru the process as I feel the tense up a bit depending on who is on me at the time, but I like the suggestion of only going outside with them thru the garage and in a travel cage. Definitely safer!!

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  • 1 month later...
Thats a tough one Penny but if you want to try her with a harness and see how she does it might quell her appetite to be outside, sometimes when we get what we seem to desire the desire is not quite as strong as it was before, then again it might be that she likes looking out and observing it but actually going out might not be what she actually wants to do. If she likes it outside then you might want to invest in one of those outside aviaries. I would like my hubby to build me one but with his accident its only the have to do things that are getting done at the moment but I haven't given up on it.

I am having my neighbor build me one I cant wait ....

More than likely, she'll be much more nervous being put into an unfamilar area ( outside). It's one thing to check out everything with a glass in front, it's another to be out there. If your bird was gonna make a move to get outside, it would have happened already. Wanna get your bird used to the outside without worrying? Put a harness on,put him in a small cage and put it on the porch. Leave him out for a while with no sun beating down on him. Let him associate what a harness means. Do it over and over. Then one day, put the harness on and go out minus the cage. Have the cage nearby. He'll already be used to the outside, smells, sights, sounds. When you're finished, put him back in the cage that's outside.Leave harness on until you go back in. That's the method I used with 2 of my 3 greys. The third can't fly at all so he just perches in a cage outside. Your bird will feel a lot more secure with you around. ( you're the safety net)Think about it.
I can totally vouche for that .... I was so excited to have the harness .... took her out a slight breeze ... put her in the grass and tween the newness of the harness, the sounds, the wind, the feel of the grass ... she did NOT like it so I didnt want to stress her out too much so we came in within 10 min. She didnt try to fly she was more annoyed by the harness. We'll try again tomorrow. I bought a medium I am sure the small would of been TOOO small and the large TOOO large but the medium didnt fit REALLY well over her "shoulder" area. She was able to get her beak up under it and chew on it. but least we tried and she came in and took a nap and now shes much better!

 

One thing I could suggest is using a different door (like go through the garage) in order to go outside, that way Nilah will know only that door will take you outside, and if she does slip through, well, there's always the garage door that will stay closed.

 

I'll also reiterate what Dave said, looking outdoors and being outdoors are 2 completely different things. Archimedes is very timid when we go outside, and the other day Archimedes was just hanging out on his tree (by the glass patio door) when my dad was outside grilling. Now Archimedes loves my dad, but seeing him on the other side of the glass door, it was like he saw a monster and flew away.

good Idea! Im going to use the "back" door. Shes never tried to fly towards the door but she does like lookin out the window behind the couch altho if someone walks up to it she freaks out lol .... :rolleyes:

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smiles thanks ... it wasnt so much that she was chewin on it that bothered me .. she was able to get her lil foot up there and it would knock herself off balance and then when id have to try and get her foot out shed bite me in frustration. it wasnt LOOSE by anymeans I dont know how she kept doing it lol ... but we'll try again tomorrow and hopefully she'll start realizing shes outside and its FUN time to play maybe I'll take some toys next time

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I have a question for you all. My amazon, Nilah LOVES the outdoors. She will sit by an open window for hours. She is always quiet while she's observing and listening to all te outdoor sounds. I live in a very quiet, wooded country setting. We have horses, wildlife and birds all around.

 

I would love to be able to take her out on a harness, br my fear is that bce she actually experiences the outside and sees there is a whole new world to explore (one of her favorite things to do) I am afraid she will make every effort to scoot out the door when ever she hears it open. Right now, she will watch us go out, then fly to the window sill to watch us.. I fear that she will be more apt to get out. And she is VERY fast and can get thru the smallest opening.

 

Spock would sit by the window and coo with the wild doves, Greywings called it "Zen Coo". Our birds are wild, When Spock flew, he circled once and never looked back. Your fear is one we've adapted...Jay and Maggie

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smiles thanks ... it wasnt so much that she was chewin on it that bothered me .. she was able to get her lil foot up there and it would knock herself off balance and then when id have to try and get her foot out shed bite me in frustration. it wasnt LOOSE by anymeans I dont know how she kept doing it lol ... but we'll try again tomorrow and hopefully she'll start realizing shes outside and its FUN time to play maybe I'll take some toys next time

 

Chickie would do the same thing too. I'm hoping it's just a matter of getting her used to it. I had the same problem you did because she weighs 430g, so I got her the medium. I worry if it's almost too small, but a larg would be way too big.

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well marco is bout 395g ... so it really doesnt seem to fit round the neck shoulders thats where she liked to chew on it and then somehow she get her lil food wedged in the belt part grrrr but ... im definately not gonna give up ... not to mention the birds outside WAY gave her a complex lol

Edited by aerial.2000
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