# Flight Training



## Em&Me (Jul 31, 2011)

How can I teach my Emily to be able to fly around the room for exercise yet not fly away? I want her to be able to be trusted to not have clipped wings but I don't want to risk losing her, she's my baby and I'm really really cautious as far as her getting out, except to go play in her outside play-cage (it's almost all toys and swings  ) Oh and she is turning 7 this month  so I think it might be a good idea to teach her while she's young but maybe she might have to get a bit bigger


----------



## Renye (Mar 12, 2011)

You don´t have to clip her wings. It isn´t necessary. But first, do you have the cage into your house or autside, in a garden...? If you have it into your house, it´s easy. You can close the door and the window and take her out. She can fly, etc. And she can´t scape.:blink:


----------



## Em&Me (Jul 31, 2011)

Her main cage is inside in my room but on nice days I let her go out and play in her outside cage, I'm worried that if I let her start flying around my room then if she gets spooked while I'm taking her outside she might fly away (that's what happened with one of my birds, Tom  ) and I don't want to risk losing her that way too but I want her to at least feel like she can kinda be free in her own way  any ideas on how I can maybe train her to know that my room is the only "safe flight" room or something?


----------



## Em&Me (Jul 31, 2011)

Also because she won't be allowed to fly anywhere else around the house because my step dad doesn't really like her but he let me keep her  and I don't think he will like her flying around and landing on him :/ (really REALLY not a bird person lol  ) but I feel like it would make her happier and I know her flying away will always be a risk that is kinda impossible to eliminate if I want her to go without clipped wings, I just don't know if I'm ready to take it. But I'm just asking what a good way to train her to only fly/excersise in my room and not the whole house is


----------



## Melgann (Jun 5, 2011)

Why don't you harness train her? I don't know much about them but I thought they had a long lead so they can fly. I know a couple of people on here have harness trained birds and may be able to shed some light.


----------



## Em&Me (Jul 31, 2011)

Ok I'll look into it, i haven't ever seen a bird harness so I don't really know how or what to do


----------



## minischn (Jun 5, 2011)

It kind of depends on where you live. Personally, when taking birds outside, I wouldn`t let them outside of a cage or harness unless they have been free flight trained (trained to fly outdoors) with a professional. But I`ve let my bird fly around inside. And he isn`t even tame, but I manage to get him back in... somehow. I would just stick to the single room. Also, if you want her to fly outside on the harness, be VARY wary of your surroundings. I know I`ll never be able to do that where I am because we have a lot of hawks and falcons around here and the harness is a weight. It will prevent him from flying his best or whatever, should I let the leash go or if he`s stuck in a chase, it would only hinder him. Anyways, just not a risk I can take, since I have YET to see a day in the 9 years of living here where I don`t see or hear a bird that could hurt him. So just be careful.

And just a tidbit, clipped birds (especially cockatiels apparently) can fly. Especially outdoors. So a clipped bird does not mean a bird that can`t fly away.


----------



## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

I'm not sure I understand, so correct me if I'm wrong... are you moving Emily from her indoor cage to her outdoor cage on your hand? If so, this isn't safe. It isn't a matter of training or trust; a frightened bird's reflex is to fly. If she is startled by anything, she could take flight. It isn't safe to have an uncaged or unharnessed bird outside for even a moment.
I found my Doodle flying around outside. He had a hard clip on one wing and could still fly _very_ well. Cockatiels are such fantastic flyers that you just can't take a chance with them.
Could you move the outside cage indoors while you put Emily into it? If that's not possible, you can get a very small cage, even a little clear-sided rodent cage since she'll only be in it for a few moments, and use that to move her from indoors to setting her loose inside her outside cage.


----------



## Em&Me (Jul 31, 2011)

I know that letting her out by hand is very risky (my bird Tom flew off one day while I was taking them out) I'm so extremely cautious I'm only planning on letting her fly in my room but I just need to know how to get her to not fly all around the house,I heard many people on here have their birds do laps around a room, this is sorta the idea I want to use but how do I get her to know that my room is the only room to fly in. 

I use a small carrier cage to get her to her outside cage, and actually a couple of my friends tell me I'm way too cautious because the cage is only about a foot from the doorway but I don't want to risk losing her I'm a very protective mom :blush:


----------



## minischn (Jun 5, 2011)

Parrots are creatures of prey, so they startle at anything... so being cautious is a given. Honestly, close the door and you're good. If you wanted, you could flight train her to come to you when you call, that way if she would get out for whatever reason you could call her back. It's almost like a 'come' command. 

Bird, my baby, is not really 'tame' yet (he's a bit nervous of fingers) so I do let him out and haven't had problems (despite the half hour planning I need to get him back in). Be wary, in my experience, he spooks easier outside his cage because he just hasn't spent a lot of time there, so he gets vocal and very flighty. Your's may do the same. But honestly, closed door usually works. If you want extra security just train him to come to you. Clicker and target training will help  Good luck


----------



## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

Em&Me said:


> I use a small carrier cage to get her to her outside cage


Oh, excellent! That's the way to keep her safe!
I think there's no such thing as being too cautious when it comes to safety


----------



## Em&Me (Jul 31, 2011)

Thank you thats what I have been looking for kinda (I just haven't been able to find the right words I guess) I'll look into how to train her to come to me, I really hope it works


----------

