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Post by heatherg on Sept 4, 2024 23:02:30 GMT -5
Earlier this summer, I ordered a harness and flight leash from Avian Web. It came in a cute sparkly blue color but didn’t fit Willow very well, though it was a bit easier to get on than harnesses I’ve tried before in my birds.
So I saw a recommendation for a snap on leather bird harness (size 3 for Quakers and tiels) from Leathers4Feathers store on Etsy. It was more expensive but I’d heard this worked better for another person’s Quaker, so I wanted to try it. I left it in natural brown because Willow doesn’t like bright things.
The harness shipped today and is supposed to arrive on Saturday. I hope I can try it on Willow without upsetting him, since it’s supposed to be very easy to put on. He is fully flighted now and I’d like to take him out to get some sun this weekend. Willow honestly seems a bit clumsy with his long wing feathers.
Im hoping the harness is acceptable and I won’t have to trim Willow’s flight feathers. He doesn’t get too worked up about it, but I hear it’s better for him to have flight ability. That keeps the bird slimmer and the liver more healthy. The weather is still warm and beautiful out and we need to appreciate it before it’s gone again!
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Post by heatherg on Sept 25, 2024 20:59:47 GMT -5
I’ve been trying the new leather harness on Willow. The first couple of times went ok. But the last two times, Willow seemed very upset and droopy while he was wearing the harness. Besides that the tiny buckles are really hard to work when my hands are painful.
Willow wore the harness for about an hour today but he never perked up. He seemed miserable the whole time—just like when we tried last Friday. He Would not even hold his treat in his foot and eat it. He just wanted to be cuddled.
I’m not sure this harness is going to work. I think I may just clip Willow’s wings again because he seems so depressed wearing the harness. But I can’t have him flying around my apartment either—he won’t stay out of the kitchen and I don’t want him to end up on the hot stove. That seems to be where he flies to first.
I am ok with having a carrier for Willow to go outside, but that’s not practical inside my apartment building.
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Post by Caseysmom on Sept 25, 2024 21:30:27 GMT -5
If clipped wings are safer than clipped wings it is. You know best. The harness can be upsetting. Casey’s wings were clipped when we were away for 3 weeks this spring and he was at my daughter’s house. It was just safer in a busy house he isn’t used to. He’s never figured out perfect flying in all these years and never ends up where he wants to.
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Post by heatherg on Oct 1, 2024 12:12:40 GMT -5
We have quit trying the harness. I feel that getting Willow into that and making him wear it was harming our relationship. So for next summer, we’ll have a bird backpack. But I think we’ll be clipping wings again because that will be a momentary upset and then over. He won’t have to sit and be frightened.
I think it would be best to start harness training with a young bird and not a middle aged and somewhat timid bird.
We spent quite a while this morning just trying to repair things. Willow was skittish and actually nippy at first. So I backed off and let him decide how much cuddles he wanted. And mostly he just wanted to be up next to me, didn’t want pinfeather sheaths cracked but just to rest against my face or my hand.
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Post by heatherg on Oct 1, 2024 12:15:19 GMT -5
P.s. if you want a bit of cheeriness, look up “the goose who wore Nikes” on atlas Obscura podcasts. In the 80s or 90s some woman’s inventor grandpa helped a young goose who had only stumps of feet by fitting him with baby shoes.
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Post by cnyguy on Oct 1, 2024 19:24:42 GMT -5
It's probably for the best that you give up on the harness. Many parrots don't like them and it can really stress them out to continue trying to get them to accept the harness. The backpack should work much better and Willow is more likely to want to use it.
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Post by heatherg on Oct 1, 2024 23:55:00 GMT -5
I absolutely HATE seeing Willow droop with unhappiness when I put it on him. It seemed like he hated it more the more he wore it. I’m not going to abuse my bird friend! If it’s so upsetting then he doesn’t have to wear it.
I’ve been getting guilted about wing clipping and that makes me feel bad. Yet I know I could clip quick as quick and he’d hardly know it. And then he can ride around my building safely, and will stop flying over to the STOVE (why he always goes there, I don’t know, I suppose it’s a food place).
It’s a chunk of money to throw away but I don’t want to hurt my bird.
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Post by cnyguy on Oct 2, 2024 19:25:06 GMT -5
You gave it a good try with the harness and it just wasn't right for Willow, so of course you did the right thing and abandoned the harness. Unfortunately, sometimes it costs money to find out that something just won't work. The good news is that you'll have a happier Quaker.
Wing clipping is a controversial issue and whichever way you feel about it, somebody is going to criticize you for it. Do what you think is right and ignore the criticism.
I've never clipped Ralph's wings, only because of his year-round molting. The clip wouldn't last very long. He doesn't leave the apartment unless he's in his hated transport cage anyway. I won't take him in the halls in our building because there's a lot of in and out traffic and at least one dog who likes to chase birds who gets walked about 20 times a day. It seems like that dog is always in the hall when I'm going out or coming in.
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Post by heatherg on Oct 2, 2024 21:49:55 GMT -5
I’m thankful that we have almost no dogs any more. People didn’t take good care of them and it was just gross. Now there’s one that must be about 20 yrs old that gets pushed around in a little basket carrier.
Willow rode along to get the mail today and met a nice lady who told him how beautiful he is. I’m sure he agreed! He was busy tryin he to take my mask off. (I have a cold and don’t want to share.) People always ask, “is that a real bird?” Pretty strange.
All my packages arrived today and W. tolerated me kicking the large box down the hall to my apartment. Alas, it was the wrong day to bring the bird along. He then got his cookie and lots and lots of scratches, also some mint tea which was a BIG hit!
Willow IS weaving the zip ties. I guess the sticks in his toy basket are arranged just so and the zip tie has to be tucked in there, too. I think he’d probably like some on his back wall (horizontal bars) where he could move them back and forth to his hearts content. He still needs a Rita Hayworth poster back there.
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Post by cnyguy on Oct 3, 2024 19:19:12 GMT -5
Nice that Willow got a little outing and a compliment too. When I used to take Ralph to visit at the nursing home, he would get lots of "pretty bird" comments from the residents. The most surprising comment I got over there was from a woman who said "Oh! That's a Quaker parrot!" She explained that her daughter used to have one. Most people at least recognized that Ralph is a parrot, but some just identified him as a bird.
Good that Willow is taking an interest in the cable ties. Certainly put some on the horizontal bars. There are lots of things Willow could do with them there. When he's feeling well Ralph weaves with the ones on the horizontal bars and slides them around too.
Right now, there are four dogs in my building. The two across the hall are well behaved but I don't know how they would react to a parrot. It's the one down on the middle floor that likes to chase birds and he seems to be outside their apartment more often than he's in. Aside from the presence of dogs, the halls and vestibule in our building are pretty boring and Ralph probably wouldn't enjoy being out there very much.
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Post by heatherg on Oct 4, 2024 2:12:11 GMT -5
Our halls are boring, too, but Willow enjoys being admired. He fluffs up and looks all pleased.
He blows kisses at random people now. It’s not the best thing.
He knows he’s cute.
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Post by cnyguy on Oct 4, 2024 19:39:28 GMT -5
In all the time I've lived here (just over 20 years), there's really only been one person who was all that interested in Ralph, the woman we used to visit at the nursing home after she moved out. I think that the woman across the hall and her son would like to meet Ralph. They're both animal lovers, but they usually have one or both of their dogs with them when I see them in the hall. My other two neighbors on this floor have met Ralph and I think one meeting was enough for them. They're nice people, but not parrot people. I hardly know anyone in the other 8 apartments in the building and I doubt that they would get too excited about meeting a little green bird. I don't think Ralph would be that excited to meet them either.  |
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Post by heatherg on Oct 5, 2024 0:46:24 GMT -5
That’s pretty sad! Maybe parrots are more common on the east coast? It’s still really exciting to people in the Midwest to meet a bird. I used to take Lucy Quaker all over the city and she met SO MANY PEOPLE until she was very old. She used to go with me to the pharmacy, bookstore, and a few other stores on State Street. But now the pharmacy and the bookstore have moved because condos were put up (boo!). Willow seems cautiously welcome in some of the little stores.
Willow seems to be forgiving me (for the harness) with some very careful pets and handfeeding of Harrison’s high maintenance pepper pellets. Tiny pellet by tiny pellet, into his beak. There’s nothing that amazing about them, but I think they’re fattier than regular Harrison’s. And the devoted attention is something a Quaker parrot appreciates.
My stupid cold isn’t going away, has taken up residence in my sinuses. I empathize with Ralph. So the birds didn’t get the whole day out because I was tired. And then Jasper went for an adventure and got stuck on top of a dragon kite until I rescued her.
They are long asleep but have been very loud in the mornings! We have the weekend before us. I need to get some photos to submit for the QPS calendar
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Post by cnyguy on Oct 5, 2024 19:07:36 GMT -5
Glad that Willow is ready to forgive you for the harness. Hope that Jasper has recovered from the little adventure with the dragon kite. Parrots are good at getting into places they shouldn't be.
With my neighbors, it's more a matter of disinterest than parrots being common around here. Parrots aren't so common that most people see them every day. They do see wild birds every day though and maybe they believe that a parrot is just another bird. We know better.
Hope you get over that nasty cold.
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