Best way to put harness on

[Jewelz]

Ok....so my aviator harness arrived last week and it is the petite harness cuz Felix is a black cap conure....

We have been practising scritching and holding the wings....scritching all over his head and around his eyes no problem....

I have had him play with the harness....he is not afraid of it and will take treats from the loop that goes over his head...he almost gets fully into it but the hole for the front of it is so small I am not sure the best way to get it over his head. He willl back up out of it when he feels the pressure...

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting the harness over their head????

 

[Manyblessingsfarm]

Slowly, patiently. Break it into steps? Then master, redo that step until he is really comfortable with each step before moving on. Treats can help sometimes. my bird wasnt interested in them though. just take one step at a time. Soothing voice. He will scream, fluff up try to fly away. just be calm, keep going until you have successfully gotten him to accept the step in the process you are working on. Don't stop until you do. Don't force it but don't give up either. Just keep attempting each step until the bird accepts that step wont hurt him and then move on to the next. Don't force. You may have to use it to rub him. It may take a couple of days. Make sure it is comfortable.
After you get it on, I have no solution to keep him from chewing it up and stepping out of it. lOL

 

[Calace]

I know that some members here have suggested using a hair tie to practise with as it will not be quite as tight a fit but will get him used to having something put over his head.

 

[Jewelz]

Awesome suggestion Calace!!!! Thanks!!!!!

 

[Matilda]

I have heard from more than one person that using a harness caused their parrot to start plucking, so be careful....

 

[Jewelz]

Oh my Matilda!!!!! Okay.....well that opens up a whole new set of questions....

 

[ruffledfeathers]

It sounds like you are on the right path. If you are doing the 'cover the head/eyes' and then 'spread the wings' exercises, and your bird is ok with it, you are definitely making progress already. If needed, keep at it a little more and then move forward with the harness itself.
When i first put it on Gilbert, i popped it over his head no problem, but what i had a problem with up front was getting it off without upsetting him. (It is tight like you said, and i just popped it on his head quickly, but pulling it off, he resisted.) Once you get the technique down from doing it a few times, i think you will be able to do it quickly and much less stress on your bird. I pull the front of the head loop up a bit, around the beak a little and then hold it while pulling the part on the back of the head over. Relate it to LOTS of rewards too. Gilbert now sees that harness and gets excited and flies into the kitchen (where we put it on).

 

[Jewelz]

Awesome rufflledfeathers!!! Thanks for weighing in.... I saw your potm photo! Gibert looked amazing flying on his harness & I want Felix to be able to do that! We have all winter to practice.... I will slow down a bit and make sure he is relaxed when proceeding to next step!!!

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Maybe since it is winter and you can't really take Felix outside as his reward, you can do something like always put it on in a certain place in your house and always give a really high value reward that he only gets when he wears the harness, or at least, rarely gets but really likes a lot.