Gabe Leashed
Aug. 28th, 2007 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asterrocMy first cockatiel was a runt, weighing in at 75g, and she could wear the Feather Tether Petite harness relatively well. My current cockatiel Gabe is more normal in weight, ranging from 88g-94g normally (yes, 'tiels vary that much, I don't know if all birds do). Gabe was too large for the Petite (there was no space between the harness and her body at all, and she squawked in pain when it was on, even loosened all the way), so I bought a Small. That was so loose it was dangerous - if she didn't escape, she was going to get a foot caught and injure herself.
So I sprung for the Aviator Harness - I got it for $32 at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
daniland's Squawk Store (where every purchase comes with some random toys) - link here. The included video demonstrates how to put it on a large bird, which can be extrapolated to a small bird, the key point being the long part of the neck loop goes in the back.
While on large birds you're supposed to keep it a finger width loose, on small birds you really want to cinch it up tight as any slack at all will allow your bird to get a foot in. I tightened it until it was clear she was in discomfort, then backed off a little, and then memorized where on the leash the keeper was at (on the "O" in Aviator) so I'd know to put it at the same spot the next time. Even a slight bit looser and she inevitably hooks a foot into it. Unlike on large birds, the leash does *not* slide easily from front to back as she moves, probably because it has to be so snug on her body, so I picked to put the leash in the back so it seemed a little harder for her to get to it to pick at. (If anyone else has tried the Aviator on a small bird and gotten it to slide around, feel free to let me know what I'm doing wrong.)
She *does* unfortunately pick at it a bunch, today I distracted her by pinning a poop towel to my shirt, and she picked at the pin a bunch instead. She's also still nervous about going outside (when not obsessed about picking at it), but I expect that to wane with time. The good news is Gabe's getting *much* better about letting me take it off of her - she's so obsessed with beaking it, that I can easily slip both her wings out without her caring. Now we just need to work more on the putting on, and on the head loop.
And here's the photos you actually want to see.
Harness from the front.
Notice how it settles in between her feathers for the most part, and you can't even see it. Doesn't mean she forgot it's there though...
Harness from the back.
According to the literature, the leash should just slide around to the bottom/front when she's standing, but it doesn't happen. I'd have to tug on it to make it happen.
From the side.
Note the loop around my wrist. It goes on my wrist even before the harness goes on her while I'm still inside. I'm paranoid I'll forget that crucial step, so it happens before everything. And it goes on my left wrist so my right one (I'm a righty) is free to react if she flies into danger and I need to scoop her up.
And a final cute shot of her on my shoulder.
Pecking at the harness as she tries to do continually... Hopefully with time she will get used to it, and she'll get more curious about the things going on around her instead of nervous about them. You'll also note in this shot that she's not fully flighted - I'm slowly growing out one feather at a time, haven't done a big clip since a year ago, working on a balance where she has a little flight but not a lot. She still lands awkwardly at times, but is getting better.
x-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
parrot_lovers, cockatiels, and my own journal
So I sprung for the Aviator Harness - I got it for $32 at
daniland's Squawk Store (where every purchase comes with some random toys) - link here. The included video demonstrates how to put it on a large bird, which can be extrapolated to a small bird, the key point being the long part of the neck loop goes in the back. While on large birds you're supposed to keep it a finger width loose, on small birds you really want to cinch it up tight as any slack at all will allow your bird to get a foot in. I tightened it until it was clear she was in discomfort, then backed off a little, and then memorized where on the leash the keeper was at (on the "O" in Aviator) so I'd know to put it at the same spot the next time. Even a slight bit looser and she inevitably hooks a foot into it. Unlike on large birds, the leash does *not* slide easily from front to back as she moves, probably because it has to be so snug on her body, so I picked to put the leash in the back so it seemed a little harder for her to get to it to pick at. (If anyone else has tried the Aviator on a small bird and gotten it to slide around, feel free to let me know what I'm doing wrong.)
She *does* unfortunately pick at it a bunch, today I distracted her by pinning a poop towel to my shirt, and she picked at the pin a bunch instead. She's also still nervous about going outside (when not obsessed about picking at it), but I expect that to wane with time. The good news is Gabe's getting *much* better about letting me take it off of her - she's so obsessed with beaking it, that I can easily slip both her wings out without her caring. Now we just need to work more on the putting on, and on the head loop.
And here's the photos you actually want to see.
Harness from the front.
Notice how it settles in between her feathers for the most part, and you can't even see it. Doesn't mean she forgot it's there though...
Harness from the back.
According to the literature, the leash should just slide around to the bottom/front when she's standing, but it doesn't happen. I'd have to tug on it to make it happen.
From the side.
Note the loop around my wrist. It goes on my wrist even before the harness goes on her while I'm still inside. I'm paranoid I'll forget that crucial step, so it happens before everything. And it goes on my left wrist so my right one (I'm a righty) is free to react if she flies into danger and I need to scoop her up.
And a final cute shot of her on my shoulder.
Pecking at the harness as she tries to do continually... Hopefully with time she will get used to it, and she'll get more curious about the things going on around her instead of nervous about them. You'll also note in this shot that she's not fully flighted - I'm slowly growing out one feather at a time, haven't done a big clip since a year ago, working on a balance where she has a little flight but not a lot. She still lands awkwardly at times, but is getting better.
x-posted to
parrot_lovers, cockatiels, and my own journal
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-28 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-28 11:27 pm (UTC)that is deadly cute!
no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 01:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 03:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 03:17 am (UTC)Our interweb is being teh stupid right, it won't let me visit half the sites I want too...but if you Google "budgie flight suit" or similar, you should get a few links...I think the people that make parrot flight suits also make budgie ones. I think...was it Ollie or Shanks in the budgie group that would one.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 05:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 03:15 am (UTC)If any of your beebs let you handle them, I expect it will be a lot easier for you to get them comfortable with it. The Aviator comes w/ a video about how to get a big bird used to it. I also expect if I had more patience I could get Gabe comfy w/ it, but I know my own limits. And I also know how to tell when a bird is starting to get phobic about something, and how to change things - for example, when Gabe gets nervous about blue towels, I switch to white.
I didn't explicitly mention all this on the cross-posts of this b/c I'm pretty certain I'd be chewed out as a horrible birdmom, and I've had enough of that sort of drama for the week already (and it's only Tuesday!).
no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 11:39 pm (UTC)