Would a parakeet put up with a harness?

[ct92404]

I've seen harnesses and leashes on bird websites before. I never knew there was such a thing as a leash for a bird! Anyway, I was just curious what kind of reaction people had from their birds when they put a harness on them. I've kind of thought about getting one for my parakeet Chipper, so I could take her out with me more often. But I just have this feeling she would get really mad about it!

What do you guys think? Would a parakeet put up with a harness and leash? And are they safe? I know you're not supposed to put pressure on a bird's chest.

 

[Kalidasa]

Well, there's just one way to find out. How bonded with you and tame is your budgie? The smallest size in the aviator harness is a petite, which I believe might be too large for a budgie, but you could always try

 

[Kiryon]

Well... It didn't go so well for Oz, but I plan to try again next summer. I think that with patience, and lots of treats, any tame bird could learn to accept it.

 

[halogen]

The petite size I have lists large budgies. It is adjustable to be much smaller, so it would probably fit. As long as your budgie is tame and accepts the harness well, me don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

[ct92404]

Chipper is completely tame, and she is bonded very close with me. She's my best friend. She's very friendly and affectionate. But man, she gets an attitude sometimes and she'll let you know if she doesn't want to do something! If she gets mad about something, she makes this noise like "dee dee dee!" and might try to bite you. (Although she never bites hard anymore). It's just her way of protesting.

I'm still not sure about the harness. It was just an idea. I might try it sometime, but Chipper can be so stubborn sometimes that I don't know if she'll go along with it! I was just curious about what kind of reaction other people got from their birds, and especially budgies.

 

[Nakiska]

I bought 2 flight suits...1 for my little green cheek conure and one for my pigeon...I LOVE THEM! Instead of using the lanyard that it comes with, we attached a fabric ribbon several feet long and our pigeon drags it around...the flight suit keeps his poo's contained...really awesome product!

Our Conure is soo adorable in his flight suit, he's tiny...it's tiny...but they do make them in petite for little parakeets Franklin took a bit of work to adjust to it, but it was worth it! I have a couple pictures of him in it, but they are on my home computer...I will upload them later. Anyway, here is the link for the place I ordered my flight suits from... FlightSuits? Bird Diapers - Avian Fashions

At first I ordered the wrong size for my pigeon...they didn't have a pigeon size listed back then...they were soo helpful and super fast shipping!

I like the flight suit, 1 they seem a little less bulky (no clips) and 2 they keep poopies contained...which is nice when you are out and about with your bird, you can stay clean

Toni

 

[cassiepengo]

ive been looking for a harness for my budgie too..... i thought i cud make one. but since he is molting, i'll have to wait. i dont think its gonna be that bad!! you cud try and see what your birds gotta say about it

 

[Nathan1]

I've seen harnesses and leashes on bird websites before. I never knew there was such a thing as a leash for a bird! Anyway, I was just curious what kind of reaction people had from their birds when they put a harness on them. I've kind of thought about getting one for my parakeet Chipper, so I could take her out with me more often. But I just have this feeling she would get really mad about it!

What do you guys think? Would a parakeet put up with a harness and leash? And are they safe? I know you're not supposed to put pressure on a bird's chest.

Aviator harnesses are the safest to use, and yes I believe the petite size would fit a budgie. However, most birds don't take to the harness right away...Your budgie will likely be terrified of it at first. It will take time to get your bird use to it, first you could just lay your harness into a circle and place treats inside. Once your bird eats the treats from inside the circle comfortably, take it to the next step and try to touch your bird with the harness. Reward with a treat, when he's comfortable take it a step further and put part of the harness on, reward with a treat, etc.

You can find some videos on youtube that should help you with getting the harness on your bird.

Good luck.

 

[riddick07]

I've tried this with a couple birds. Our cockatoo acted like we were going to hang her with it. My gcc didn't like the idea. My sun let me put one on him and spent the next 10 minutes rolling around chewing on it. The cockatiel I tried let me put it on her but looked at me like she wanted to slit my throat in the end...

So I say take it slow and give it a try! You never know what the reaction will be.