by Pajarita » Fri Aug 10, 2018 10:00 am
Well, I have to tell you that I would never do what you are doing... For one thing, I don't believe in clipping. I think it's cruel [because it means that you are taking away their only mode of transportation -kind of like hobbling a horse for life], unhealthy [because the only way you can keep their respiratory system healthy is by flight as the posterior pair of airsacs only inflate and deflate properly when the bird is in flight] and potentially dangerous to the bird [a clipped bird can get a long way on a gust of wind but it's still a sitting duck to predators]. And I don't believe in taking a bird out, clipped or fully flighted, without a harness on [WAAAAAAYYYY too risky!]. I also cannot help you with any advice on getting him used to being pet or handled by strangers... People, especially trainers, say that it can be taught [and I don't doubt it for one second because Michael has done it and I am sure that there is video right on this site that teaches you how to do it] but I question the necessity of the unavoidable stress you are causing the bird in the process because any behavior that is completely the opposite of a natural behavior [and trusting a stranger and allowing familiarities is completely unnatural for a parrot] means that every time we ask it of the bird we are stressing it out and, taking into consideration that all captive birds live under chronic stress [unavoidable], I think that one should avoid any extra stress like the plague.