Harness Training Vixen

ChocolateChipCookiez · Aug 16, 2020

So I've begun trying to harness train Vixen and she tolerates surprisingly well. She's already associated the harness with millet after only 2 training sessions. If I put the harness on her (not entirely) and not give her some millet for a few seconds, she doesn't panic and chews on the harness. I'm not really sure why she's so tolerant of things being on her but I don't know how she was raised...

But my question here is, (based on the following video) what do you think I have to improve?

[ame="https://youtu.be/0UwyVrsnBpg"]https://youtu.be/0UwyVrsnBpg[/ame]

wrench13 · Aug 16, 2020

That is good progress, however I have some suggestions, some which you may not like tho.

1 Are you able to handle Vixen's wings without her freaking out? Not for long, but you need to able to do that in order to get the harness fully on. Practice extending her wings one by one ( with treats each time).

2 Gradually and I mean by an 1/8 of an inch every few days, start to tighten up the body loop so that when its done, it sits loosely OVER her wings. Practice putting it on like that. We do that every single day, with Salty, and he's accepted a fully installed harness 4 years ago. Its just good practice so they stay totally OK with putting it on.

3) Heres the one you wont like. I think that while the harness you have may be the one for cockatiels, the head loop is so small that she is not liking the taking off of it, her crest feathers are pulled against the grain. Part of training for a harness is also taking it off and the parrot should do most of the work. I suggest you get one 1 or 2 sizes larger to do this initial training phase. Same color too. You want her to withdraw her head easily for the head loop, not having to push her head thru. Once she is comfy doing that, you can go back to your original harness, and maybe sell the larger one on here. Once the larger one is on though, I seriously doubt she would be able to get out of it after every thing is fully on and tightened up. Salty's harness is one size up and hr could never get out of it.

4 Develop specific commands for putting it on and off, and use those religiously every time. Thats so important in training any parrot for tricks and other stuff. Doing that lets them know exactly what is expected.

5 Once you finally get the harness completely installed, take Vixen outside immediately so she learns that the harness means going out into the world!

Good Luck, Vixen seems like a very nice parrot, who clearly wants to please you, which is a big step!

noodles123 · Aug 16, 2020

GREAT JOB!
Vixen is so cute and you do a very good job. Your hands are so steady. Love how food-motivated Vixen is-- when you take it off, she's just like, "I ONLY CARE ABOUT THE FOOD, DO WHAT YOU WANT TO MY HAIR"

ChocolateChipCookiez · Aug 16, 2020

wrench13 said:
That is good progress, however I have some suggestions, some which you may not like tho.

1 Are you able to handle Vixen's wings without her freaking out? Not for long, but you need to able to do that in order to get the harness fully on. Practice extending her wings one by one ( with treats each time).

2 Gradually and I mean by an 1/8 of an inch every few days, start to tighten up the body loop so that when its done, it sits loosely OVER her wings. Practice putting it on like that. We do that every single day, with Salty, and he's accepted a fully installed harness 4 years ago. Its just good practice so they stay totally OK with putting it on.

3) Heres the one you wont like. I think that while the harness you have may be the one for cockatiels, the head loop is so small that she is not liking the taking off of it, her crest feathers are pulled against the grain. Part of training for a harness is also taking it off and the parrot should do most of the work. I suggest you get one 1 or 2 sizes larger to do this initial training phase. Same color too. You want her to withdraw her head easily for the head loop, not having to push her head thru. Once she is comfy doing that, you can go back to your original harness, and maybe sell the larger one on here. Once the larger one is on though, I seriously doubt she would be able to get out of it after every thing is fully on and tightened up. Salty's harness is one size up and hr could never get out of it.

4 Develop specific commands for putting it on and off, and use those religiously every time. Thats so important in training any parrot for tricks and other stuff. Doing that lets them know exactly what is expected.

5 Once you finally get the harness completely installed, take Vixen outside immediately so she learns that the harness means going out into the world!

Good Luck, Vixen seems like a very nice parrot, who clearly wants to please you, which is a big step!

Thank you for the advice!
First of all, yes, she lets me hold up her wings long enough for me to slip the harness on (haven't really tried yet though). She's fine with it as long as I don't hold it up for too long or try to stretch it out completely.

And as for your third suggestion, I really appreciate it but that's not how the harness usually comes off. Before I flimed that video I tried putting the harness on and off a couple times while she was on my knee and she was able to get her head out without getting her feathers pulled at all. That was the first time I tried to put the harness on while she was on the perch we made and Vixen can't grip it well because it's a bit too thick so I was a bit worried she would fall off and hurt herself and kinda panicked there. She's also smaller than she should be (only 63 grams) and I think that was because she was malnourished in her old home, she her head fits through really easy. But I'll remember that suggestion for Kookie, since he's a big bird.

And again, I really appreciate the tips!

ChocolateChipCookiez · Aug 18, 2020

I know it's only been a few days but, Vixen has already fully accepted the harness! I'm surprised too.

I promise I didn't force the harness onto her. I just, kept on giving her millet and gently and slowly put the harness on. She did chew on it a little but didn't seem that distressed or annoyed. I gave her some millet and she forgot that she had a harness on. When I took her out she didn't eat any of the millet I had with me and was busy looking around this new world she had never seen before. After we got back, I put her down for a bit while she still had the harness on and she kind of... groomed herself? (is that a good sign?). She let me take the harness off without any problems (she did chew on my finger a bit while trying to get some millet). I am still worried that I might have done something wrong though...

Anyways, here's the only picture I took of her:

noodles123 · Aug 18, 2020

YAY!!! congratulations!

Harness Training Vixen

ChocolateChipCookiez

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My parrot keepsbiting me

Had cockatiels for 6 months now still not willing to step up

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