Aviator Harness on GCC

So I bought an aviator harness for Jonah thinking it would be good to get him used to it while he's young. I approached him with it just as the DVD said and even got him to stick his head through the hole. The problem....as soon as he got his head through and I was fixing the rest of the harness he was going crazy. After I got it completely on him, he looked so miserable.

I did as the DVD said and took him outside so he wouldn't be thinking about the harness being on him. Well, all he did was chew the harness. It is almost destroyed already. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to get him to be comfortable in it? The guy in the DVD used a Macaw (which I think was a cop-out) since my GCC is much smaller and quicker than the macaw.

I'm really disheartened and am thinking about pulling the plug on the harness idea.

im getting the same on for my macaw havent used it before either

I keep wanting to get them for our birdies, but I keep hesitating. I'm a little newvous because of the winged predators we have in our area.

If you have no other choice. Then just clip his wings. I don't like to but I still do with some of my birds cause they can't be handled unless they're clipped....

u should prob just put it on ur bird for like few mintues atime still he gets used to it on dwn the line. but trying one on for first time its going to wander whats going on

i tried one on angel, she freaked out and now everytime she see's it flys on top of her cage and wont come off til i put the harness away

mellykyitus said:

i tried one on angel, she freaked out and now everytime she see's it flys on top of her cage and wont come off til i put the harness away

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Haha! I think my macaw would do the samething. He hates going outside so I don't even bother with harness. He freaks out everytime we go outside. Then he tuck his head under my chin to hide.

Well I tried again and it was another struggle to get him in it (because he's so small), but after that we went outside. He mostly tried to bite the harness/get out of it but he did enjoy the new sights I believe. I'll keep working with him and hopefully he'll get to where he doesn't even know he has it on!

Predators scare me as well. I have to constantly monitor the skies and the harness so he doesn't get out. His wings are clipped right now but I still wouldn't risk taking him outside without a harness.

Do you have any updates with you GCC and the harness? Please let me know I want to get one for my GCC...

Yeah, I think I'm not going to use it anymore. Jonah hates it so much and it really stresses him out. I just don't think they were intended for smaller birds. The material is so bulky and all he concentrates on is getting out of it. Even if he got to the point of wearing it without biting it, he would still have problems stepping up and moving in general. Just to show you how much he hates it...he doesn't even acknowledge his favorite treat when he has that harness on.

I don't think I rushed it because he willingly put his head through a lot before I fully put it on. It was when I got it on him that made him freak out and hate it. I think its good to try out, but don't expect the bird to accept it.

The trick is to not go too far. The minute you take a small step and he gets uncomfortable, go back a step. You want to get the bird comfortable VERY slowly. And when I say slowly... I mean "watching paint dry" slowly. Since some of your parrots have already developed a phobia for the harness, it will probably be extremely difficult to re-introduce the harness. My pionus will accept a flightsuit readily, and loves car rides.

At the moment I am trying to introduce the aviator harness to him because it seems better for outside use and flying (which should be interesting). The first step I took was putting the harness on the floor near his cage. Left it there for two day. Next step is I moved the harness to hang on a part of his cage, on the far end from his favorite perch.

This is just an example of how slowly you can move... Which I have to do for my pionus when I want him to be comfortable with an object. Like I said... very very slow steps sometimes it seems you are going backwards.

Pionus said:

My pionus will accept a flightsuit readily, and loves car rides.

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My sun conure takes to the aviator harness well, and we've been outside with it several times. So I decided to try out a flight suit for the car and such. I hung it on his cage a few days, stroked him with it while cuddling, and so on, but then when the time came to try getting the silly thing on... that was the first time he ever bit me! I cannot for the life of me figure out how to maneuver his wings into those sleeves, no matter how slow I go. Any advice on how to go about putting it on??

Hi,
I don't know if the fact that your parrot is smaller is the issue. I don't know, I just bought one for my new 10 month old harlequin macaw but have not tried it out yet. They had clipped her wing at the bird shop before I took her home. I am going to let her wing feathers grow out and see if she will behave fully flighted. I have read that it is good to have them clipped until they are trained. Anyway, I am going to try to put the harness on her in the next month or so. Will let you know how it goes. I use to put a harness on my Moluccan cockatoo that was not the same as the aviator but fit much in the same way. He did get used to it after a while, but again he is a large bird. Good luck, Lesley

MikeyTN said:

mellykyitus said:

i tried one on angel, she freaked out and now everytime she see's it flys on top of her cage and wont come off til i put the harness away

Click to expand...

Haha! I think my macaw would do the samething. He hates going outside so I don't even bother with harness. He freaks out everytime we go outside. Then he tuck his head under my chin to hide.

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haha mike that is too cute!