my little chicken rat pigeon poopy boy baby bird menace soul snatcher the 5th wearing a harness back in april

[Rico_Tiel]

he is a poopy menace

 

[bonitabird59]

gotta love the gold ol' chicken-rats. when i was little, and my dad had Bonita (our amazon) he always called her a rat with wings. i thought parrots were legitimately winged rodents for maybe the first 8 years of my life

 

[HeatherG]

He appears to be very calm! The harness is a great way to let him get some Sun and socializing.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

gotta love the gold ol' chicken-rats. when i was little, and my dad had Bonita (our amazon) he always called her a rat with wings. i thought parrots were legitimately winged rodents for maybe the first 8 years of my life

hah! thats gold! ive always loved birds but hoo boy my little poopy pigeon rat is actually like a feral little rat from Anchorage AK (yes, we do have rats in satan's cooler) because he feels extremely entitled to my food. tbh, i may have accidentally bought a rat with wings attached! oh well, i love rats! and i love my poopy pigeon rat poopy bird <3

 

[Rico_Tiel]

He appears to be very calm! The harness is a great way to let him get some Sun and socializing.

yeah, this was the 2nd time i took him outside! he def prefers a cage but the harness works too, especially because he can fly however he doesnt enjoy that he's not able to fly far. at all. like 6 feet. i wanna take him to pet friendly places but my mother isnt on board with the idea even though he's fairly harness trained and there is no physical way he could slip out. sadly, its too cold to take him outside as it's already cold as heck out! but thats why i call it Satan's Cooler i suppose...

 

[HeatherG]

I have taken my birds out for walks and you DO have to be really careful. Some people have poorly behaved dogs that will want to eat your bird. And some people are scared of birds. Or, a fire truck or ambulance could go past scaring your bird and causing it to panic.

So the bird harness is really great but you also need to be very careful if you have your bird outside.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I have taken my birds out for walks and you DO have to be really careful. Some people have poorly behaved dogs that will want to eat your bird. And some people are scared of birds. Or, a fire truck or ambulance could go past scaring your bird and causing it to panic.

So the bird harness is really great but you also need to be very careful if you have your bird outside.

yes, I am always super cautious and have never left my property with him.

I already have to deal with a poorly behaved dog whenever my brother and his dog come out before my bird's hour of flight in the living room is up and then I have to bring my bird back to me which is super tough because Rico is panicking, my brother's dog is trying to get him, my brother is doing absolutely nothing and being so useless, and I am panicking because my brother doesn't know or want to train his dog because he is... let's say lazy, terrible, and cruel for lack of a better statement. and his dog is chasing my bird. when Rico comes back, I gently hold him against my chest and release him in my room. then when I say "hey, you got to control your dog, or I will have to defend my bird" and he's like "oh well it's just a stupid bird" "oh it's just his nature" or "oh he's just playing!" it's so annoying. and I'm always super weary around dogs anyway,

and I'm vigilant when I take my bird out on the harness, that's how Rico avoided getting eaten by an eagle because I spotted it looking at us. same with a great grey owl. he got spooked by a small Unkindness of ravens flying overhead and he yelled at them and tried piercing my ear. they didn't even notice him hah

oh, and one time he did the flirt whistle (my mom taught him despite me asking her not to as it makes me uncomfortable, and I don't want him doing that. I'm teaching him not to do it now thankfully) at some lady walking by and she stopped and looked at me. I had to show her it was my bird and not me and she seemed chill and kept going. my poopy rat almost got me in trouble :/

 

[HeatherG]

I’m sorry to hear your brother is a pain, and not careful about your bird. My family had hunting dogs and they would’ve eaten my budgie or cockatiel. It’s nerve wracking. Could you lock the door so your brother couldn’t come in with his dog? Because that’s really dangerous for your bird.
Anyhow I know you want to keep your handsome boy (rat baby) safe and I hope you’re able to.

A neighbor had a big pit bull that tried to run up behind me and body slam me to get Willow. Luckily the neighbor noticed and grabbed his dog before it hit me and gave it a good chewing out and a spanking. Now if I see that big dog we leave.

I live in a city and there aren’t many wild animals at all. Only dogs, crows, sparrows, and squirrels. When I go home to visit my relatives, there are also eagles, hawks, owls…I would be afraid to bring Willow outside under those circumstances.

I took Willow outside in my back yard last spring; he rode on his basket and sat on my lap. Apparently there was a robin’s nest in the back yard. The robin saw Willow and flew around the yard yelling at him (in bird) until we went inside. It was kind of funny but a bit sad, too. That robin knew Willow was a BIRD and was mad as all heck that Willow was in his space.

 

[SailBoat]

FYI: Near all interior doors can be easily changed from a simple door knob to a locking door knob. If you can wheel a screw driver you could change out the knob set to a locking knob set in under an hour.

 

[HeatherG]

I think telling the parents that your brother’s dog is endangering your EXPENSIVE bird might do the trick.

It’s not a small matter. If the dog catches this little bird that’s the end of the bird.

Do you have a private bedroom with lockable door ? I’m sure it’s not as big as the living room but there would be no bird-eating monsters (dogs) coming in.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I’m sorry to hear your brother is a pain, and not careful about your bird. My family had hunting dogs and they would’ve eaten my budgie or cockatiel. It’s nerve wracking. Could you lock the door so your brother couldn’t come in with his dog? Because that’s really dangerous for your bird.
Anyhow I know you want to keep your handsome boy (rat baby) safe and I hope you’re able to.

A neighbor had a big pit bull that tried to run up behind me and body slam me to get Willow. Luckily the neighbor noticed and grabbed his dog before it hit me and gave it a good chewing out and a spanking. Now if I see that big dog we leave.

I live in a city and there aren’t many wild animals at all. Only dogs, crows, sparrows, and squirrels. When I go home to visit my relatives, there are also eagles, hawks, owls…I would be afraid to bring Willow outside under those circumstances.

I took Willow outside in my back yard last spring; he rode on his basket and sat on my lap. Apparently there was a robin’s nest in the back yard. The robin saw Willow and flew around the yard yelling at him (in bird) until we went inside. It was kind of funny but a bit sad, too. That robin knew Willow was a BIRD and was mad as all heck that Willow was in his space.

unfortunately, I cannot lock his bedroom door. my mom would lose her mind if I even locked my door! whenever I chew my brother out for his irresponsibility, I always threaten him with "well since you don't care about my bird, I'm sure you wouldn't mind paying back the nearly 2 thousand that was spent on him. would you?" and he always rolls his eyes and says, "I'm not paying all that for a dumb bird." and I simply say, "well I'm not going to hesitate to defend my bird from your dog because you're lazy" and he just gets super obnoxious and starts insulting me.

I live in the suburbs of AK so naturally, there is lots of wildlife! primarily birds but moose, squirrels, shrews, mice, rats, rabbits, fish, dogs, cats, bears, frogs, salamanders, newts, bats, and lots of invertebrates are found here! however, out here in my town, bears are almost nonexistent as they tend to be found in the big city and the mountains. the only time I've had a really close call with wildlife (aside from the birds of prey) was an angry American robin hen swooping us. it got my head and was scary close to hitting Rico. the jays seem to not mind him much thankfully hah!

also, that pitbull sounds scary! if I saw a pittie or any big dog really, running at me, I would plop bricks in my pants! but I don't trust dogs at all due to getting attacked by one when i was 9 years old. im glad the pittie was dealt with though.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I think telling the parents that your brother’s dog is endangering your EXPENSIVE bird might do the trick.

It’s not a small matter. If the dog catches this little bird that’s the end of the bird.

Do you have a private bedroom with lockable door ? I’m sure it’s not as big as the living room but there would be no bird-eating monsters (dogs) coming in.

I have tried saying that, but he rolls his eyes and scoffs.

I have explained many times that my bird would not survive his dog getting it. especially since it runs when it gets something, and he bites hard.
and I do have my own room, but my mother loses her mind and screams and yells if I lock my door. my room isn't that big but it's something.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

FYI: Near all interior doors can be easily changed from a simple door knob to a locking door knob. If you can wheel a screw driver you could change out the knob set to a locking knob set in under an hour.

my mother would never let me do such a thing

 

[HeatherG]

Would she agree that you lock your door only when Rico is out?

My mom was weird about locking doors, too.

Maybe you could put a sign on your door saying something like “Bird is out—don’t open door!!”

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Would she agree that you lock your door only when Rico is out?

My mom was weird about locking doors, too.

Maybe you could put a sign on your door saying something like “Bird is out—don’t open door!!”

no, she wouldn't sadly. she is only okay with me doing that if I'm changing my clothes.

thankfully Rico doesn't fly through door frames unless he is scared enough which has happened once and it was right back into my room.

I only allow my dog into my room. she's an Italian greyhound like the other 3 and doesn't interact with my bird. she is scared of him because he bit her on the nose when he jumped off my shoulder onto my bed a few weeks after having him (he was clipped when i got him but has never been clipped since. he was okay though!) and before i could get him, he ran at her and nailed her on the nose while she looked him. i put him in the cage and looked at her nose. it was dry and hurt but aside from some pain, she was alright, no bleeding. and before him, my budgies would harass her. my sweet pea named Tea (who at the time was a rabid little green apple) and he would dive bomb her, land on her back, and would try and bite her ears and she would hide in a corner until i got them back in their cage. poor stinky girl simply existed and Tea did not take it too well. Ice (my other budgie) was cool with her after Tea flew over the rainbow bridge but at the time, he would swoop her too.