Bout Time

[MacawGuy]

so i been trying to get Roscoe to start flying wit the harness.. how do i even start from there. but first i been trying n the house. ill put his on the perch then walk a few feet away then how would i get him to come to me.

 

[Alisana]

Does he walk or does he actually flap to reach destinations?

 

[MaraWentz]

What I did was practice flappies fora few weeks, and then I made the mistake of launching my bird :?- don't always listen to the internet. Well, that didn't work. then I realized that oftentimes when walking by her stand she would lean to go towards it. SO ta-da a grand idea sparked! She wants to go to her stand and she isn't on it and I'm not just going to put her there (that'd be no fun lol), so I stood a couple inches away so she had to reach and when she reach I gave her a treat, and slowly I got father and father, so she had jump and flap,and when she did I would say fly. Then she'd get a treat. Then I got farther apart, so that she had to do a flutter, said fly and she fluttered to the stand and gave her a treat, picked her up and stood even farther away so she had to fly a foot. I had to tap the stand to let her know it was okay and then I gave the command fly and she did and I gave her a treat. Now she can fly about 6 ft away

 

[MacawGuy]

he always flaps his wings.. he was clipped at one time. but now he fully flight it (well very very close). but hes been on my arm when i drop my arm a little he flaps a way but stays on my arm with a death grip. but no i dont not try to launch him or anything. i know he wants to fly i can just see it that he wants to. but i will try that n see how that works thank you MaraWentz. do you have any vids of yours flying

 

[lene1949]

He's used to the harness? He can fly?

Then all you need to do is take him outside..

 

[MacawGuy]

He's use to it n fly a lilttle bit

 

[MaraWentz]

Yea, I wouldn't launch either, but I saw that online an I tried and that resulted in a flying, but very scared bird. Not my brightest idea. No videos yet- I have to get a camera, I have an old fashion flip phone that doesnt video. I will have one up ASAP

 

[MacawGuy]

yea that would be great. i want to see a vid on training with indoor flight in see how it works so i can try doing it. when i first got him he was clipped but lil clip so he could fly about 5 to 10 yards. so i know he likes to fly. so just now im at the point where we both have trust n i want him to do it. if he wants to

 

[Mare Miller]

Sounds like he's just not quite ready to believe in himself. Once he figures out that he can, get ready, as long as he doesn't get hurt or too scared in the process, his progress should move quickly!

 

[lene1949]

I will mainly use the harness to make sure my birds don't take off, when outside... (and if they do, they can't fly away)

 

[MacawGuy]

yea i will have one when hes outside but inside im not going to use one

 

[Molcan2]

I would use the harness inside if you are planning on using one outside. He can get used to how it feels inside and the weight of it. Plus he will get used to being trained in it and will hopefully cut down on the amount of distractions when you do progress to outside. How food motivated is he? With Rocco, the bird LOVES food, he is highly food motivated. What I've been doing with him is putting him on his stand. Then I walk close to his stand and I give him the command to come, when he steps onto my shoulder I give him a treat (I've been using pine nuts, they are small and soft so they eat them pretty quick). I have increased the distance between the stand and I. Now he jumps to me and has started flapping his wings on his own when he does it. He hasn't recovered from his horrible clip from the previous home yet so I haven't been able to increase the distance further. I've also noticed since we have been doing these exercises that he has been stretching and exercising his wings on his own.

 

[MaraWentz]

the pinenuts work great dont they? You can get them at super walmart for $4 unshelled and it comes with maybe 200 or so in it, which is way cheaper and less messier tan the shells.

 

[MaraWentz]

yea that would be great. i want to see a vid on training with indoor flight in see how it works so i can try doing it. when i first got him he was clipped but lil clip so he could fly about 5 to 10 yards. so i know he likes to fly. so just now im at the point where we both have trust n i want him to do it. if he wants to

I will only have video or outdoor flight- I trained her to fly only outdoors. I try to discourage indoors that way she isn't knocking things over. she does fly up the stairs once in a while, but I prefer to climb i walk to exercise those legs- she sits on her sand like a bump on a log. On the bright side she can make it up 23 stairs in about 35 seconds Speed racer Erin!!!
Plus I rent apartments and lofts, so inside there really is no room to fly.

 

[Molcan2]

Yep pine nuts are pretty much awesome . I even break them in half for training so that they don't get as full.

Oh, good tip when using a treat you find that they love for training. Only give them that treat during training and at no other time. This will cut down on the confusion plus they'll work harder for something that they rarely get.

 

[MaraWentz]

Thats what i do

 

[MacawGuy]

Yea he likes pine nuts I never knew where to her them. Bit once I start the training n.everything I will let everyone knows how it goes. His wings still need to grow a little more

 

[MaraWentz]

Good luck with the training. Erin's wings aren't grown all the way out yet, she has maybe 1.5 inches left to grow. We had a storm yesterday and she flew in the pre storm winds and was seemingly proud. They werent horrible winds, but enough to fly a kite in. And yep the pine nuts at the Super Walmart are 3.99, but at a reg. walmart or shopping center its $10 at least for a tiny container. At the super walmart its sold around the nuts and veggies/fruits section. At reg. stores in the baking section near the cocoa and chopped walnuts, etc.