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View Full Version : Harness training a lovebird....yay...



lolsavannahh
01-02-2016, 03:35 AM
Hey all, so I have been trying to harness train my lovebird for quite some time now and it's just really hard to because of the rambunctious nature of lovebirds, and the fact that he is:

1) in molt
2) going through puberty most likely
3) very young

So as you can tell it's a long process. The ONLY way he lets me lift his wings is if he is eating millet, or very loveable/tired and really just wants to be pet anywhere. I am doing the 3 second method where I count to 3 and then let his wing go, so he knows every time that it will at least be over by then. He is hand tame and steps up WONDERFULLY ( unless he knows he's going into his cage and that we are out of millet LOL ) so he trusts me for sure, but it's just so hard because of the lovebird nature. Does anyone have any tips to get him used to it?

I usually wear the harness around my neck, as if to show that it is a part of me, but he will not let me touch him with it or anything of the sort. He is not flighted yet, but I only have a few months before he is maximum, so I need a game plan. How did you train your darlings?

Casper's 2nd best friend
01-02-2016, 11:23 AM
We decided we didn't have enough patience to persuade Casper that wearing a harness is a good idea. He won the willpower battle. Ho hum. It is now in the cupboard with all the other stuff we paid good money for that he refuses to have anything to do with. :th_smile:

spiritbird
01-02-2016, 02:07 PM
Sorry I do not have any experience with harnesses nor do I plan to use one. good luck with your plan

kendrafitz
01-02-2016, 05:33 PM
No really great tips. I had Rosie harness trained when she was a baby. I think the key is just to keep doing it regularly. So it becomes routine and not scary.

I stopped using the harness in the winter of her first year and when I started again in the spring, she freaked. We had an incident with it getting wrapped around her wing/foot while I was trying to remove it and she struggled. Since then, if she even sees the darned thing she starts shaking. So my only advice is just keep up with it.

lolsavannahh
01-04-2016, 04:52 AM
Thanks for the advice! I hope to work with him several days a week and all, but I just cannot seem to get him to budge about it getting too near to him. I will post some updates!

Casper's 2nd best friend
01-04-2016, 10:01 AM
Watching the "how to harness train your bird" clips there seems to be a lot of food bribery going on. :th_smile:

Mare
01-04-2016, 04:07 PM
Sorry, no tips here :(. I bought our Sassy goffins girl one a couple years ago and it sits in the cupboard, unused. Our hands just couldn't take anymore bites! Now..Amigo is a different story.. He flys outside freely on most days and had not one issue with the harness! Go figure..!..

Lady
01-05-2016, 02:03 AM
I never tried a harness with Lady as she is a perch potato. Do you have more than one? Reason I ask is that if I want Lady to get use to something I bring it closer to her cage little by little each day till she is use to seeing it. I even move it to the top of the cage for a few minutes or on the seed guard when she is out and climbing about. Once I'm sure she isn't afraid of it I keep it close to my hand when I offer her a favorite treat. So far this works for me. As far as putting something on her....uh, nope never attempted to do that.

Albert
01-05-2016, 02:48 AM
I got Salty's head thru the head thingy part with no issues, but he freaks about anything to do with is wings. I will try again come spring time, right now its too cold to try and take him out , so whats the point of wrestling him into a harness. But we will do it for sure once it warms up. Just a matter of getting them used to it, it seems. I wouldnt want to wrestle one of these macaws into one though , I'm too fond of my fingers.

lolsavannahh
01-10-2016, 02:42 AM
Well he is doing good, but we arent to the stage of letting him in it yet.

The whole Idea is to do it to a 100000% tame bird, which lets be honest isn't the case for most of us. If your bird is that tame it takes a week max, but for normal birds you may be at it for months. Nash and I are at the 2 month mark and he will let me do every action I ask except put the dang thing on him...

Mare
01-15-2016, 04:12 AM
My guesstimate is, if you can cuddle/flip on back/ roll around on floor with/ wrap in a blankie and come up smiling with your bird... You have a good candidate for a harness trainee! :)