Harness training.

[mrgoogls]

I got am aviator harness a little while ago for cooper. He is clipped but i WILL NOT take him outside without the harness or in his carrier. He doesn't seem afraid of the harness at all. he doesn't try to run from it when its near him. My biggest problem is that he chews it nonstop. it is almost like a combination of him thinking its a toy and wanting to chew and him just trying to get it off.(even though he chews it the same exact way when its not on him and just laying near him.) i even tried taking him right outside after i got it on(he is used to my backyard from being out there in his carrier) and he didn't even seem to notice and he kept on chewing it. how can i get him to wear it without chewing?

[mrgoogls]

i tried again this morning with the same results. can anybody help?

[Michael]

Either:

A) Grab him immediately and hold him so he can't be chewing. Pet him, play with him, etc. Then cut him loose before he's chewed

B) Put harness on when he's really hungry and immediately feed him a meal to distract him. Take it off when he's done before he can chew.

C) Buy a spare

[mrgoogls]

thanks. i have tried petting him, giving toys ect. he doesnt even notice haha. i will try taking his food for an hour or two before we put it on and give him food with it on. i might end up going through a few before he learns its not evil

[CSLFiero]

i put the harness on my baby for the first time, and yes it can be an ordeal if your parrot can't seem to resist playing every moment of the day. With a little distraction, the collar went on, but almost right away at the point it appear to be game on. before we knew it, he got his foot caught in the mess of nylon and he became distressed. there was biting and frustration, but it came off and because he's a baby, he forgave us for the incident right away.

here's a tip that i used with good success for all of a minute. have a hungry parrot and when he goes to bite the harness (or you, cause if your parrot is like mine, it's not going to just accept the harness right away) stuff his beak with a yummy yummy treat. I believe this to be a good method for harness training for two reasons, first it associates the harness with treating, so with any luck your bird will struggle less to just get the process over with. Second, it provides the bird with an incompatible behavior to biting. This should in theory also reduce the amount of biting that occurs because biting becomes an activity the bird isn't used to doing while the harness is coming on.

So why did this only work for a minute before failing for me..? My wife decided to harness train when I had all of three bits of treat! When I ran out, we were defenseless. Of course, because we were having such great success while I had treats, we actually managed to get the harness all the way on and partially tightened before Loxley decided he was freaking out. then we had to get an all-the-way on harness of a very upset and fidgety bird who isn't sure if he wants to fly off or take out his frustration on our fingers. So yeah, that was fun! =] be vigilant, be gentle, take it slow, and never force. With time and likely a few bites, I think we'll pull through this.