'Closed' Leg Bands for Adults

Imgur album as you read along: https://imgur.com/a/nBJtdqo

Hi guys! As some of you may remember, Cairo's closed leg band was cut off when his previous family lost him. So his visible form of ID was gone. Then, when he got hospitalised, the vet cut off his S-hook, so he no longer had any indication that he was a domesticated bird. And we live in a place where long-tailed parakeets are common as well as hornbills, an untrained eye could easily assume him to be a wild bird (until he starts talking).

My biggest concern about putting an open band on him would be the potential for it snagging on things, causing him to tear at it and himself. So I delayed doing anything - he was microchipped, but he might be one of the few birds in the country to be microchipped so I doubt anyone would bother scanning him. And I wasn't going to put another S-hook on him because his toe kept getting caught in it. Which meant, I thought we were out of leg band options.

Then we went to a parrot meet-up where members spoke about C-hooks. Now, locally, chaining birds is considered normal (harnesses are considered Western and unrealistic), so they were using that function of the C-hooks, but they specifically said they went with C-hooks because of the same problem we had with his S-hook.

I looked at the C-hooks and realised you could easily engrave on them like a regular open/closed leg band. And that's what we just managed to do today!

We used a different ring to close the C-hook because we don't believe in the risks of chaining a parrot (and I know Cairo does not cope well with being chained). But it has my phone number so non-bird people can easily call me without searching on Facebook like I had to do when we first found and returned Cairo.

Just wanted to put it out there as an option for folks with concerns about open leg bands for adult birds.

Actually tying anything around parrotlegs is just plain asking for sprains, dislocations and fractures.


I know "local customs and all" - but that is no alternative for common sense and good husbandry.
Just be that idiotic westerner with a aviator, at least your bird will not suffer.


Like taking your bird outside (Pack o Bird etc.) is a typical "city-people-thing" here, just because people in the far more densely populated west of NL have less space and more likely to have no outsidespace of their own the people in the east of NL consider them "a bit soft in the head". Completely not understanding that the west-parrots do not 'just spend time in the garden like the east-parrots', because the owners do not have one...

Yep, exactly how I feel, and Cairo is much happier with his harness. We're just using C-hook as a form of ID (I made sure you can't attach a chain to it). I just needed that mental security that he can be quickly identified as a domestic bird with a family who is easily contactable via my phone number on the C-hook. It's also easily removable in case he needs to be hospitalised again, unlike his S-hook. And it's unlikely to get caught on anything, unlike an open leg band (which was the only option I could think of before I heard about this one).

As far as I know, we're the only people using a C-hook as ID instead of as a way to chain. Just thought I'd put it out there as a potentially safer option than an open leg band. God knows I went back and forth so much on whether I should risk an open leg band. But he needed a form of ID, so any kind soul could help him find his way back to us if he ever got lost again.