# Sam and the aviator harness - pic heavy



## Katta

Haven't visited these forums in months, hopped on by and got suckered into looking at all your pictures.

I've been taking Sam outside (at least when the weather permits) and people are always curious about using harnesses. Here are some pics of my baby.










Butt shot!









Flying









Crash landing, clumsy bird hehe









Fussing with the harness. He generally forgets it's on but spends 30 seconds adjusting after flying.









Posing








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## Renae

Wow, they're great photos, he's stunning.


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## Raven2322

That is so cool and he is a cutie. Where did you get the harness?


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## Katta

http://theparrotuniversity.com/aviator_harness.php

Kind of pricey, but at least shipping is free.

It's the best harness out there and the only one I would use. I don't trust velcro in flight suits, especially since I don't clip wings. And the other ones are fully of metal clasps and hooks that are distracting for a tiel (they could probably unhook them) and also much too heavy to be comfortable.

I've been using it for a few months with success. Just gotta keep an eye out for those sneaky outdoor cats. Sam loves exploring and because we've been using it for so long now, he sits and raises his wings when he sees the harness and wants to go out .
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## r2pn23

those are awesome photos!! 

how does the harness work exactly, they arent able to fly at all? or are the attached to you so they can fly but not get loose?
is there any chance a gust of wind could pick them up while they are outside and allow them to "fly" when they shouldnt be able to?


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## Cheryl

How are you able to get the harness on them? I'm sure it has to do with a lot of patience and trust, but I had one a few years ago (long lost now) and I never had a chance to use it. Every time I attempted to put it on the bird would throw a fit. I'm also curious about the questions r2pn23 asked as well


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## sweetrsue

Unless my eyes deceive me Sam is a girl. I'm not sure of her exact age but if it'd over 6 months I would say Sam is Samantha!


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## Katta

sweetrsue said:


> Unless my eyes deceive me Sam is a girl. I'm not sure of her exact age but if it'd over 6 months I would say Sam is Samantha!


Breeder said boy, DNA test said boy, and Sam spends all day wolf whistling and chattering with my keet, but it doesn't really matter all that much to me  I've had lots of people say that because s/he hasn't lost all the pearls. Happy ball of feathers either way. I picked the name Sam because it could go either way. My next bird is going to be Ryley, which works for both sexes as well hehe.

As for the harness, treats and cuddles while putting it on makes it loads easier. The hardest bit at first was getting his neck through, I practiced getting him used to things around his neck by putting a black hair band over his head. As long as you associate putting the harness on with sunshine and outdoors, there shouldn't be a problem. The harness comes off as soon as we step inside. As the bird store clerk said, cockatiels are the whiniest babies ever so there's going to be a tussle regardless. 

The harness is attached to an elastic lead that you loop around your wrist. That way the bird can fly to the end and not get abruptly jerked back. Instead it lets the bird start curving in a circle to either keep flying or land gently. We practice flying outside by going in clockwise circles and he knows recall so will aim for my head when I tell him.
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## xxxSpikexxx

What a good bird Sam is


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## Bea

Wow!! I would love to get one but i think i'm looking at $70 here in Australia which is ridiculous.  Sam looks so happy!

Just looked at that website you got your harness from at it's free shipping worldwide!!  I know what i'm ordering this afternoon. The exchange rate is terrible at the moment, but dad said it's expected to go up not down, and the harness still works out lots cheaper than buying it here.


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## r2pn23

thanks for the information Katta, it looks like Sam has a ball with you and the harness!
i would love to be able to take BJ outside but i dont think i could get the harness on him, i had a look at the instructions on the site,lol

how long did it take you between buying it and actually putting it on him the first time?
i read the tips about needing to slowly introduce it etc

George, my other cockatiel that got out, once flicked my hair band up over his head of his own accord and scared the heck out of himself AND me! he didnt like having it around his neck at all!
he ended up getting his foot under it as well which was the only way he let me get it off, because he couldnt fly properly.


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## sweetrsue

I guess Sam is one of those rare birds! You're lucky! Not many Pearl males keep those pearls!


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## Katta

Bea said:


> Wow!! I would love to get one but i think i'm looking at $70 here in Australia which is ridiculous.  Sam looks so happy!
> 
> Just looked at that website you got your harness from at it's free shipping worldwide!!  I know what i'm ordering this afternoon. The exchange rate is terrible at the moment, but dad said it's expected to go up not down, and the harness still works out lots cheaper than buying it here.



The site is by the people who invented and make the Aviator harnesses themselves, so you can't get any more reliable than that. It comes with an instructional DVD too with all the answers people are asking in this topic, and also a demonstration of how to put it on.

It took Sam about 2 weeks to not freak out and nip. I'd consider that pretty early, I subject him to crazy stuff like putting a cape on him...so he's used to me doing strange things. Now he still squirms a bit but it's because of instinct and ruffled feathers; most birds don't like the feeling of foreign objects on their body. He doesn't try to run off or bite like he used to.

I'll see if I can get a youtube vid next time I take him out. It's much easier to show than watch 
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## atvchick95

What ever you do don't use a Teather Harness - those are pure junk , the clasp is like a nylon dog collar it just clicks into its other piece (sort of like a infant car seat belt) my Quaker had it unsnapped and off of him 30 seconds after we finally got it on Luckily we never made it out side or off the living room floor. 

I use the flight suit on the one and only tiel who is tame and she loves it. We put it on her the 3rd day we had her, she never had one before, and she never gave us a bit of trouble But then again she's always been a good girl  - that helps a lot too is a good matured bird who doesn't mind being handled/touched


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## llama86

I think I'm going to have to jump on the bandwagon and get one too. Summer here is only 2 or 3 months long, so I've got plenty of time to get him adjusted before then


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## Renae

I doubt they have them now, especially since they were on special, but they are very expensive here, I went to the Pet Barn, and they had one for $40 on special, but were originally $85. 

They look really good though, I doubt any of mine will like me if I tried it on them.. but it'd be excellent to be able to take them outside and etc.


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## kikee

Wow really grat photos. What a happy tiel Sam is


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## Katta

Solace. said:


> I doubt they have them now, especially since they were on special, but they are very expensive here, I went to the Pet Barn, and they had one for $40 on special, but were originally $85.
> 
> They look really good though, I doubt any of mine will like me if I tried it on them.. but it'd be excellent to be able to take them outside and etc.


If you order from the link I posted earlier, it's $35 with free worldwide shipping and always as been. It's direct from the people who make the harness, so there aren't middle man fees associated with buying through a store.
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## superluvrgurl

Katta said:


> My next bird is going to be Ryley, which works for both sexes as well hehe.


 I have a Ryley bird  Glad im not the only one that likes her name 
ADORABLE pictures by the way


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## Bea

Katta said:


> If you order from the link I posted earlier, it's $35 with free worldwide shipping and always as been. It's direct from the people who make the harness, so there aren't middle man fees associated with buying through a store.


I just want to point out that $35US is about $55AU at the moment, so it's not quite the bargain it sounds like, but still much cheaper than i've seen from the online shop that stocks them here in Aust.


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## Katta

Bea said:


> I just want to point out that $35US is about $55AU at the moment, so it's not quite the bargain it sounds like, but still much cheaper than i've seen from the online shop that stocks them here in Aust.


Yeah, that exchange rate really sucks. My bf is from australia and bought his plane ticket to the states when everything crashed. Went from .80 to 1.00 USD to .60 or so 
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## Renae

Katta said:


> If you order from the link I posted earlier, it's $35 with free worldwide shipping and always as been. It's direct from the people who make the harness, so there aren't middle man fees associated with buying through a store.


I'm going to get one, even though like Bea said they'll still be about $55 it's still cheaper to get it that way then pay a lot more when you get one from a pet store.  

Thanks for posting that link too, there's been people coming on here asking about the harness' and where they can get them, so your link will help a ton.


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