Leg leashes? ya or nay?

I don't know what to think.... Marc Marrone is the one who said oh they are great and Marc is a great pet ower but it seems the leash would seriously hurt your bird! Because if its around their leg it seems it could pull their leg and dislocate it or break it!

But here's the problem, Lilo will NOT put a harness on! She refuses with all the energy she has! I have tried everything! I got some ideas from Bird Talk Magazine and nothing! And I really want to bring her places with me but obviously I don't want her flying away! What should I do??? Is there any hope?

I don't want her to go through trauma just so I can bring her places!

NAY! NAY! NAY! NAYNAYNAY! NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!
Very very very dangerous. Some people think they are ok because they birds of prey being held by them, well the leg anatomy is VERY different. You are right, a parrot can be SERIOUSLY injured by a leg leash!!!

Now that this has been said, what kind of harness are you using? The Aviator is a great one and comes with a 45 minute instructional DVD. You NEED to watch that and follow every step. Remember that the bird in the DVD has been raised in such a way as to accept the harness, and your bird likely has not. This means that the bird in the DVD accepts the harness in a day, mine took almost 6 months! You don't start by trying to get it on her, you have to work slow, get her used to seeing it, get her used to touching it/walking on it, get her used to it touching her. Get her used to taking a treat from underneath it, get her used to you brushing over her whole head including eyes, get her used to it being draped on her. If at any point your bird is AFRAID you are not doing it right.

There is a chance that you have already damaged your bird's view of the harness by trying to put it on her when she was afraid. If this has happened and you do not think you have the patience to undo the damage, try a different kind of harness. For example, if you have used the Aviator, switch to a flight suit or vice versa, but you STILL have to do ALL the training, not just follow the little cartoon that comes with a flight suit. Wearing and accepting a harness is a TRAINED BEHAVIOR. When you learned to ride a bike, your parents didn't say "Ugh, she keeps refusing to ride a bike, she just won't do it!" They said "she doesn't know how to ride a bike yet." Someone had to teach you how to do it - think about the harness that way. and do NOT endanger your bird with a leg leash!

Jesses are for raptors. They have different bodies than parrots and they are able to safely be handled with them. Most parrots, and all conures, are far too fragile -- leg strength compared to wing strength -- and could break their own legs trying to pull against leg tethers.

So the answer really should be 'no' in 95% of circumstances. There are always exceptions and I'm not qualified to determine when those are, but if you aren't a falconer or vet or animal behavior expert, you probably aren't either.

If your bird won't wear a harness, then use a travel cage for outside time.

Personally, I would NEVER use a leg leash. The facts you stated above are reason enough not too.
Is your bird okay with you covering their head with your hand so that their eyes are covered? If nit start with that, and leave the harness in plain view, moving it closer everyday, even let them touch it without putting it on them. Just so they know it's not gonna hurt them. I have given Mango a treat through the head loop to get him started, sometimes he won't want the harness. So that day we use the travel cage.

Thank you everyone! I will try all of that! I really want her to be with me but I really really really don't want to hurt her! I have always been for harnesses! Marc said that harnesses are bad for birds! What? So he thinks you should brek their legs instead of have a good brace on their body with no way that it could hurt them? Are you serious?

Also have you seen the Hawks legs! They are like a dogs leg! So big and powerful! Made for hauling big prey across the country! Not tiny legs that are made for cuddling and eating little treats with!

If you're asking, the answer is don't use them. They can seriously harm your bird if the handler isnotproperly trained to use them, or the materials or fitting is not correct. I use Aviators on my parrots, but do jess corvids and raptors. The only reason I do this is because I have years of experience with this system of tethering. I do not recommend just anybody do it.

Who is this Marc person? And what grounds does he give for saying harnesses are bad and leg leashes are safe??

Some harnesses are bad, too be fair.

Marc marrone is a pet keeping expert... or so I thought! Now I don't know! On another avian forum, they dislike him! I had no idea he was a bad egg!

But even Kings cages sells them???? I have seen them!

Ok, thanks to youtube I have found this character. Yeah, he think that a leash with 3 CLASPS is going to hold parrots, and he even admits his bird can take them off! Harnesses that are uncomfortable are probably poorly fitting. On the other hand, I find clothes in general to be uncomfortable, and I still wear them!


ugh! He is letting a monkey stick his fingers in a parrot's mouth! How would he feel if the poor monkey lost a finger? And here he is with a PILE of dogs, an iguana, cats, a spider, a monkey, and parrots. A PILE.

now he is claiming "all birds make great pets."

In all his videos he seems to be surrounded by a teaming pile of pets, which is irresponsible. Oh, now he says birds cannot be housebroken or taught not to chew on our glasses. Can you tell I am watching his video while I type this? And here we have a suggestion to get a parrot that will not complicate your life.

Sorry KQ, but it seems that we have a quack on our hands with this guy. He may have owned a bird, but he doesn't seem to be knowledgeable AT ALL. The only safe way to put any sort of leash on your bird is with a harness. This guys is kidding himself, or just has not done the research. Note that he is the ONLY one who can sell his product, so it is basically a commercial and commercials always say they are better than other products. This guys seems to have little to no actual insight into parrots. I suggest ditching him for more credible sources such as Dr. Steve Hartman of the Parrot University and Hartman Aviaries, and Barbara Hiedenriech a world famous animal behaviorist and trainer.

I just wrote a long post, and it somehow got deleted. I looked him up and watched some videos - oh wow oh wow oh wow. My verdict is: QUACK.

First I watched the leashes video
-parrots are not hawks, they are not built like hawks! He is making a HUGE BOLD LIE when he says that every vet in the world will tell you that the jesses system is safe for parrots. Go ask a vet.
-The system included CLASPS. seriously, CLASPS! Has he ever MET a parrot? Oh yeah, he admits in the video that his macaw takes the leash off. HOW IS THAT SAFE????
-He says that harnesses are uncomfortable, but that is his only argument against it. Does he really think that shackles are less awkward for a bird? I can only assume that the jesses are made out of metal, since he claims leather would be chewed up he BETTER be making them out of metal. Who wants to drag around metal shackles? Oh, no one? Well we all have beaks so we will just take them off then
-He says he cannot train Harry the Macaw to leave them on. Ok, maybe he can't. On to the next video.

Then I watched the "difficult pets" video. Well I watched SOME of it. He had a literal PILE of pets on front of him that kept running all over! Dogs, cats, rabbits, a spider, parrots an iguana, a monkey! The monkey was sticking his fingers in the eyes and beak of a CAG! He could have lost a finger! I skimmed through it, but it seemed like every time I stopped to watch he was all "Oh, we have a bird on the floor! Uh-oh, where did the dog go, we are missing a dog! Come here kitty, where are you??" So I went to the next video.

The "Birds 101 video"
-Oh my word. He says birds cannot be potty trained.
-He says birds cannot be trained not to chew on whatever they want (in this case the CAG cannot be taught not to chew on the glasses on the face. How long did it teach me to teach my birds not to do that? NOT. LONG.)
-He just in general seems to be a quack with not one single example of real knowledge about parrots. He seems to be a TV guy who owns a lot of pets. Who cares? If you don't study them, it doesn't mean you know ANYTHING about them.

The jesses thing really makes me mad. That is going to lead to a lot of injuries in parrots! Not just for the obvious reasons, but also from hitting the ground face first because some knucklehead has tied something to their feet and held it in the air.

KQ, please move on to a better source of info. I suggest Dr. Steve Hartman and Barbara Heidenriech. I am sorry that this guy has been influencing you. I am SO GLAD you asked this question here before getting his leash! Good for you for checking things out!

I could only watch the 3 videos, then I couldnt stomach any more.

He really disappointed me! I don't know if he is right about other pets but man he is a non knowable person who clams he knows everything! It always bothers me when he has that pile of animals in front of him! Someday a cat will get his bird or dog will get annoyed and bite a bunny! Poor monkey will most likely get his finger bit! And im sure that CAG is not to thrilled about a monkey sticking his sticky hands in his face! And I am defiantly leaving his so called good source of info!

Ok, I see that both of my posts actually appear now, even though the first one I could not find. Weird. Anyway, he probably has a deal with Kings Cages. Just because a company sells products for birds does not mean they know what is good for them, or are motivated more by the good of the birds than by money.

Also, anyone who is an expert in anything should have actual scholastic articles, not just videos. Videos are great, but check the source, check the credentials. Even owning a parrot all these years has apparently taught him very little. Also, "pets" are not the same as parrots. Most likely he is just finding info on species for the camera, not studying the way he needs to to truly understand the avian mind.

Oh my gosh!!!!! No I am watching marc on youtube pets get hurt and thid cockatoo is doing weight lifts with a senigal by its leg!!!!! Oh my gosh!!!! I dont like him at all!!!!!!!! A monkey put his mouth around the cockatiels head! Ahhhh

Sometimes we only see the good until someone points out the bad. It could be that you started watching him before you knew very much about parrots, and it could be that he knew more than you at the time. Now you know better, and you have us on your side

I am so glad I have you guys! I don't know what I would do!
BTW don't watch that video! it is bad! It made me cry!

I just watched the pets get hurt video - what an irresponsible and cruel person. And to think he allowed some of these things to happen multiple times - like TWO puppies getting their tongues bitten by turtles!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZS0diVzjxg"]Marc Morrone - Pets get hurt - YouTube[/ame]

It is awful! Poor puppy! And he tries to make it better with "funny" fraises! Um ya NOT FUNNY!