Animalspirit Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 As you might know, I have more parrots in my house. Of course there is my TAG Fernando. He is already over 40 and can't fly. Also my BFA Cootje can't fly, nor can my YCA Rumi. Their flight muscles aren't developed well enough, and Rumi's wings are clipped. I wanted to do free flight with my parrots though. So I have my OWA Rico's wings growing, but he still can't fly. I bought an aviator harness for him and will be training him to wear it, just in case he is able to fly. I have two flighted parrots though: my hybrid lovebird Stud, who will be sitting in a small cage on the buggy when the weather will be fine, and Asterix, my eastern rosella, whom I trained to wear an aviator harness. He is not the easiest bird to work with: he was born in an aviary and raised by his parents. He had been in a cage in a pet shop for a year, before he was sold to a man who didn't know much about parrots. He lived in a cage that was open, but there were only bare perches, a bowl of water and a bowl of seed. There wasn't much to do for the bird, whose owner spent most of the day outside. After two months the rosella started clipping his own feathers, and after four months hardly any colored feather was left over. The bird even clipped his own wings and tail. That's where I got him, to see if I could do anything about the clipping. I had the bird tested and started to train him. I taught him to step up, and because I spent a lot of money on him, the owner gave him to me. I called him Asterix and continued training him. I kept him, after his feathers had grown back, for several years clipped, so that I could take him out for a walk. But after my last course I decided to keep him flighted. And I bought an aviator harness to be able to take him outside. I wonderen if I would succeed, though: Asterix, not being hand-fed, is mostly a nervous, flighty bird. Some time ago the aviator harnesses arrived: one for the OWA, and one for Asterix. I first hung it near the play tree, where he could see it. I did this for several weeks, while I sometimes played with the harness. Since Asterix is very relaxed in the shower I started training him there. I stroke his head, and held his wings by turns, three seconds each. One day I did, the other I didn't. I didn't want to have him make the connection "shower=harness". He remained relaxed, even last week, when one part of the harness was inside out. I tried to fix it, and Asterix jumped off the perch. My BFA started to meddle in it, while sitting on a laundry basket. My TAG didn't approve, and both parrots started bickering until the laundry basket fell over, nearly on top of Asterix. I pulled the leach and saved him. I could release him from the harness while he remained calm again. Today I was outside the living room, while I heard Rumi, my YCA, screeching. I also heard another parrot: Asterx! I went into the room and noticed that Fernando was out of his cage, and on top of Asterix. He was holding Asterix's beak, while the latter was screaming. I got hold of Fernando's tail and lifted him up from the windowsill. It took a while before he let go of Asterix, who, fortunately, was unharmed. I put Fernando back in his cage and decided to take Asterix upstairs to take his mind off the fight. The sun was shining brightly, and I tried to put the harness on. After a while Asterix put his head in the harness, but he also jumped away. During the jump it had proved that also his wings were put through the harness, so he had his harness on! I pulled the strap and took him outside for a little walk. He seemed to like it! he was on my shoulder, while I carefully held the leash end around my wrist. Asterix nibbled on some fresh elder buds, and then I took him home. I took the harness off and brought the bird to the play stand. There he was chirping, he ate his apple and took a nap, completely relaxed. I hope to be able to take some pics of him in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Nina, that's great news about your walk with Asterix and how he enjoyed it so much. Can't wait to see some pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane08 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Good to hear how you did it. We are training our 2 at the moment with the harness. I have just started by touching them and stroking them with the harness and treating them for it. I also target them to put there heads through the opening. It is going real slow, but hopefully they will learn in a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animalspirit Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 Yes, that's the best way to do it: don't hurry, take your time. A bad experience will spoil everything, and targeting is a good way to make working with the harness a good experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayyan Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 congratulations! thats so wonderful that he likes it, i hope im going to be that lucky, ur birds are fortunate to have a loving sympathetic owner like u. well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayyan Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 congratulations! thats so wonderful that he likes it, i hope im going to be that lucky, ur birds are fortunate to have a loving sympathetic owner like u. well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animalspirit Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 Finally I have some pics ready. But... in the meantime I have clipped all wings again, since it isn't comfortable for my birds to try to climb trees and get entangled between the branches because of the leash. I have another PC, and so far I haven't succeeded in uploading a pic...<br><br>Post edited by: Animalspirit, at: 2009/07/11 12:14 Asterixtuigje2.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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