How to tell if harness is the correct size?

Flockmaster

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Feb 24, 2018
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Budgie and sputnik (both cockatiels, budgie is a pearled and sputnik a grey faced)

Coconut (Pineapple conure)

Talon (african grey)

Ziggy (Macaw)
I've been harness training ziggy recently, and thanks to some great advice from this forum, it's been going pretty well. However, now that he's putting his head through the harness, it looks like it might be too small.

I'm pretty certain I ordered the size aviator recommends for a blue and gold macaw, but I just want to be absolutely certain I'm not putting him in something that might be too tight or hurt him.

Is there an easy way to tell if the harness will fit? I've included pictures, though it may be hard to tell from those. He only puts his head through the loop for a few seconds right now, so its not easy to get a good picture
 

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charmedbyekkie

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The harness will inevitably brush against the bird's eyes. That being said, it should not feel like you're squeezing him into it (like a pair of skinny jeans). It should still slip on comfortably. Brush his eyes, yes; squeeze his face, no.

It's worth getting a size up just to try and make sure you avoid any negative situation where he might feel trapped. From there, you can decide which ones works better.

After all, a recommended size is just that - recommended. Not necessarily a one size fits all bngs.
 

wrench13

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Beautiful B&G, BTW. SO its better at first to have one too big to start the training, bigger than one for a B&G , if such a thing is possible, and thn switch after he is super comfy putting his head thru the loop.
If he only gets his head thru the loop for a few seconds, to extend that,with Salty, I jiggle the harness, and reward him immediately after,so he associates the feel of the harness with good things. We put his on every night, as a part of his training sessions, and do the jiggle thing. Now when he sees me take it out, he gets all happy and running around the training table, almost hopping from foot to foot.
 

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