Choosing a harness?

Hey everyone
I want to harness train my 2 green cheek conures but I don’t know what kind of brand is the best for conures that is not too expensive. I wondered if you could tell me what do you use and what’s your advice on choosing a harness and also if you know some things to avoid? Thank you

Julianna

Hi there. Most people choose the Aviator harness ( I did). There are a few that are similar in construction. Aviator has the most instructional videos out there on Youtube to help with the training. I personally recommend getting 2 of them, one the right size for your parrot, and one in the next larger size. Why? Because the head loop will be bigger, and easier to train your parrot to put his head thru the head loop with the larger size, and once they are comfortable doing that, go to the correct size for your parrot.

Harness training can take quite awhile, please dont rush it. It took me almost a whole year of training every single night with my Amazon Salty, until he was OK putting it on fully, and we still do it 3 or 4 times a week, just putting it on AND taking it off ( which is just as important as putting it on). SOme parrots get it quicker, and some just never accept harnesses.

With a harness, there are a few things to consider.

Make sure there aren't anything that the bird can easily undo themselves. That includes metal spring clasps/hooks, velcro, etc. If a toddler can undo it, a bird can too.

Make sure there isn't anything that can dig into the bird. That includes, again, metal spring clasps/hooks.

Make sure the point of connection between the leash and the body harness can swivel. If it's attached a single point, it can (and often will) flip a bird off balance and over, rendering them unable to control any descent or recall back to you.

These three points are why I prefer an Aviator harness. It has no parts that can dig into a bird's body, it is bird proof from opening (unless they are given a ton of time to tear it apart, in which case no harness is going to survive that), and the leash is part of a swivelling waistband.


That being said, others don't like the Aviator harness because you do have to train for it.

Some folks prefer what's easier to put on without the bird getting a say. Other harnesses are easier to put on (they have all the metal/velcro parts that make the process less involved for the bird). If you don't have the time and patience to train your bird, the Aviator may not be for you. But be aware of the risks of the other harnesses out there.


That being said, our ekkie who hates being touched learned harness training within 2-3 weeks. He will literally fly over and lean forward just to shove his head through the neck loop.

Thank you guys I guess I'll choose Avitor then. I think it's going to take at least a year because my parrots hat being touched by anything. I'm going to try anyways. thanka

when it comes make sure it slides easily. My slider was really really sticky and somehow it never occured to me that maybe this was a problem until we were at the point where I thought she was ready to attempt wings-thru. Disaster => broken feathers => vet visit & harness-traumatized bird. I thought the slide-resistant-slider was some kind of feature of the harness. Haha! I was wrong, it was a defect. I should've returned it right away, or even just contacted them to ask about it & I'm sure they would've told me it was a defect & would've replaced it ... and perhaps I would have a harness-trained bird by now. Anyway despite that one problem I do believe it's probably the best harness there is. Good luck!