BirdChannel Forum / BirdChannel Community / Misc. Bird Talk

Gonna finely do it

Kito&TupisMom&Dad — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:14:04 GMT

K&T Dad... Thought some of the old timers here would be interested. Did my research and will be selling a cookable Parrot food in the near future through my main website. Many here remember all the research I do for nutrition and the experimenting/cooking I do for my Parrots, and that I enjoy doing it so! I decided to give it a shot and maybe it will be profitable and maybe not. All I know is that I will enjoy it no matter. There are 27 different ingredients ranging from veggies, fruits, grains, pastas, beans, nuts, greens, seeds, and spices. Can't tell you exactly what right now or I would have to kill ya Everything is dehydrated, freeze dried or dried. Even the Beans and Rice are pre cooked and dried so no need to soak. Just a quick cook and serve! Also there is no preservatives, added sugars, or Sodium. All natural. Here is my label and wish me luck!!

food for thought

steptoe91 — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:11:13 GMT

as i've said before, i'm an information jukie. i have 6 books on birds and just ordered 5 more. (found them cheap used ). some were published in 92 and they range up to 2007. some are just about one species, some are about parrots in general. i find it very interesting that the guide to a well behaved parrot and guide to companion parrot behavior are pretty consistent in info which are both published in the 90"s. but the others are wide ranging and directly contridict each other at times. then the info i've gotten on the web adds another school of thought. even some of the more recently written ones are not what i would consider "with the times". i have only found two that consistently promote an equal and positive relationship based on trust and positive reinforcement - versus domination techniques. no wonder new birdkeepers are so confused. as someone who has only kept birds for 2 years or so, i'm still unsure of what to think at times. i think my experience as a parent and a manager has helped, the knowledge that each person must be handled differently, and birds are people too! anyway, just one of those things that make you go "hmmmm..." no real moral to my post.

Ever Wonder....

birdlover76 — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:36:33 GMT

Well, my husband set up a night vision camera in the top of Opal & Gus's nest box. We do not have the software yet to put the video online or I would definately have a link.

We caught some very interesting video of what they do in there. First, we saw them moving the wood chips, then moving the wood chips, then moving the wood chips, and so-on. Next, we saw mutual preening and Gus feeding Opal. That was very cute to see but I have seen them do that outside the box before. The most interesting thing we witnessed was Opal on her back playing with Gus. They were "beaking" each other and foot fighting all while she was laying on her back. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen!!! I can't wait until we get to see what happens when there are eggs or chicks in the box.

Oh, The Abuse

Monica — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:15:11 GMT

Someone else stumbled across this article and I thought I'd share it. It's an interesting read and may help us think about things more from our birds perspective rather than ours alone.

Oh, The Abuse

a new rescue

Lorek — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:16:14 GMT

well, today i have agreed to take on a new bird and work with him for a little while until we can find him a good home. he is nearly 3 years old, is going to unfortunately be separated from his best buddy, and was born with only one wing and therefore is unable to fly. he is a peach fronted conure (or so i am told) and i will be bringing him into Q at my house more than likely tomorrow night. i hear he is not very hand tame, though he was hand fed, and he is a screamer... and a loud one. i will update you all more tomorrow.

amea gari

Lorek — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:16:41 GMT

I have been wondering how Taka and Fuji are doing lately. It has been awhile since we have heard from you and them. I hope they are doing well.

A very smelly baby parrot

murph_87 — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:27:03 GMT

Hi!
I have had "Tucker" for a week now, he is a brown headed poicephalus parrot. When I first got him he had a faint baby powder scent that I thought was cute, and I knew parrots could be kind of dusty. But the scent has slowly gotten to the point where he smells like sour milk.

He is eating Hagen pellets for baby parrots that the breeder gave me, a variety of fresh veggies (broccolli, sweet potatoe, carrots, etc) and fresh fruit (mango, apples, banana) and the occasional Nutra Berry or dried apricot.

I gave him a bath in some shallow, lukewarm water a few days ago and even got him a shower perch today and tried giving him a shower but he is still really stinky!! Has this happened to anyone? Is there anything I can do?

Bird Talk Magazine

Flock Moderator — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:12:58 GMT

We're just curious to see how many people subscribe to Bird Talk magazine.

- Flock Moderator

yes I subscribe to birdtalk

tiel lover — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:38:21 GMT

searching for any members familiar with Kaytee forti-diet pro health foods & treats seen in birdtalk magazine, I have once, my tiels really dug into it and ate more than any other seed I've tried other than zupreem natural pellet food, they are NOT on a seed diet- only at night.

update on the baby finches

rockybirdlove — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:28:11 GMT

as of yesterday they are eating alone as long as there is seed on the bottom of the cage, mama was teaching them to bath today she got in and splached around and then one baby and then the other baby followed it is sooo cute the white babys beak has almost changed to red but the other baby still has a black beak which I am sort of concerned about but other then that they are great mama bird has begun laying eggs again and now I am wondering what I have I gotten my self into I love them but dont want to be over run by baby finches guess I'll have to start selling them but I would like to get more advice about that part of breeding so if any one can help share or what ever I'ld love advice

Birds and Babies?

broccoli — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:34:39 GMT

As much as we love our fids, my husband and I have started talks about having children possibly within the next year or two.

I have friends who have had kids over the past few years and obviously their children take up every waking moment of their lives...

Cin and Broc need a lot of attention as it is- and we are worried if we have kids they will lose a lot of attention.

Just curious if here can share experiences with having birds and having a child? How did you balance? What about when the baby was born- did you have the birds boarded for a few days?

Anyone know any articles or anything that can help? Hubby and I definitely want to have children and keep our fids as well! :)

I love it when . . .

Pepper's Pa — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:18:19 GMT

There are so many things that Pepper does that brings a smile to my face and pleasure to my life. I'm sure all of us have many stories about our fids that make us happy. Let's share some of our special times with our birds.

I love it when . . . Pepper is perched on my thumb and he does a somersault ending up lying on his back in my palm. He stretches his neck away and down and waits for me to scritch his neck and crop area. Once I start doing this I feel him "birdie purring" in my hand as he'll lie there for several minutes.

Who's next to share a story?

What will your next bird be?

BeeHappy — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:16:49 GMT

Towards the end of August after my Canadian vacation, Daisy my Congo African Grey will be moving in.

As soon as I have a house, my third daughter (a Blue & Gold Macaw) will move in. That is my plan. It is my dream to have these three birds: My Cockatiel, a Congo African Grey and a Blue & Gold Macaw.

I would love to have a Cockatoo and really want one as well but I've heard that they make noise all through the night. Is this true?

Bird noise are my favorite sounds in the world! Birds can be as loud as they wish morning until night and I will love it....but I just know that at night I can't sleep through alot of noise.

Temperature Range for Lovebirds

aedr — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 21:25:59 GMT

Can anyone please tell me what temperature range is suitable for lovebirds? How much heat? How much cold? Thanks.

leaving a cage uncovered for a night

bbc — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:11:13 GMT

i have to be away for a night...well...two...but i get the opportunity to come home, then must take off again for the night...should i leave baby uncovered and with light on???...will baby be "traumatized"???...how many days is it "safe" to leave a bird???...i leave in three hours...HELP

What would your dream pet bird/s be?

BeeHappy — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 10:31:48 GMT

It doesn't have to be a parrot

Mine would be a Hyacinth Macaw-the more realistic bird of choice, hehe.

And a Toucan which is a bit more unrealistic but it is a dream.

I've wanted a Macaw since a child! Then I discovered the "blueautiful" Hyacinth Macaw and dream about having one some day. Hopefully, one day I will....*fingers crossed*

My Blue and Gold hates my son and strangers- help!

christinamy1 — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:29:32 GMT

I have an almost 2 year old male blue and gold named Logan. We got Logan as a baby from a local bird store. He was still hand feeding when we purchased him so we chose to leave him there until he was weaned and made trips almost daily to visit with him. At first he loved everyone, even when we brought him home he was wonderful. After a couple of months we started to notice that he would scream every time my kids got near him. They are 18 (girl) and 11 (boy). My daughter was able to "break through" Logan's fearfulness, and he is usually pretty good with her. My son is a whole other story. If he even puts his hand near Logan, Logan screams. I have tried helping Logan to see that my son loves him and will be gentle with him, but Logan is not having it. My son so desperately wants to hold Logan and pet him but he is terrified of getting bit. I keep telling him that the bird senses his apprehension and that is why he is behaving that way. How can I help to break the ice and get these two to be friends again. Also, whenever we have company come in to the house, Logan flees to the farthest spot in his cage that he can get to. If a visiting family member or friend goes near the cage, Logan begins to scream, and if you make eye contact with him he totally flips out. I have other birds and Logan is the only one who acts this way. Please help!!!

Combating Birdie Bias

Tomsde — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:30:30 GMT

A friend of ours called tonight who is facing a serious illness; fortunately our friend's prognosis is looking good. He said that the first thing the specialist asked was if he had pet birds. We have two pet birds. He told us that the doctor told him that birds spread diseases. I've heard this before. After doing a little research because I was sure that this was an overstatement was that such transmissions were rare; the people at highest risk being the very young, the very old, and immunocompromised people. Even having said that, the article said that proper hygiene could prevent the spread of such diseases, most were spread from ingesting feces. Poultry farmers would face a higher risk, just by virtue of being exposes to much larger number of birds. I would go one farther than that, that if one keeps check ups on your birds; then making sure they were healthy would insure that the whole household was. We just had our birds checked by an avian vet and they are perfectly healthy; their tests for avian disease were all negative.

I get very tired of people saying birds are dirty and that they spread diseases. Other types of pets can also carry diseases that can be spread to humans--I thinik birds are particularly maligned for that. I've had birds a bird in the house for 20 years and they've been healthy and I've never contracted a single thing from them. Many elderly people have pet birds and have never got a single ailment from them.

I love my birds, I'd never consider giving them up. If I were ill, I'd just be more careful and make sure things were extra clean. I work in healthcare, and I think it far more likely me contracting things from my patients--but in all the years I've done it I've rarely gotten anything from work because I'm very careful with hand hygeine. I think my friend runs more of a risk of catching something from another person. He's a school bus driver and kids are always spreading things around.

What do you all think? How have you handled such issues in the past?

Question: Do other people understand what your pet bird is saying?

Flock Moderator — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:11:35 GMT

Do other people understand what your pet bird is saying?

Sun Conure's Leg Band

Joey's Mom — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:32:19 GMT

I am the proud Mom of a Sun Conure, but know nothing about his background. I'm hoping someone will be able to help. His leg band has the AFA marking and the letters PBP (breeder?), CA (California?) and the number 76 (is this the year of his birth?). If you have any information, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

Could he be getting Territorial?

ParaCheek_Conure — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:59:42 GMT

My Green Cheek conure is four months old.

Despite what many people say about green Cheeks, he isn't shy or quiet-

He is naughty, bold, and loud! He is very entertaining.

However, very recently, a problem is coming out.

When he comes out of his cage, I often sit on the chair next to his cage and stroke him. Nowadays, however, he bites at my hands and makes aggresive shrieks, and runs right up to my shoulder, and holds his ground up there.

However, what I found out was that if I take him to another room, he immediately settles down, and runs onto my hand, and snuggles up against me, fluffed up, and half-closes his eyes as I stroke him. After that, I can take him back to his caging area, and he won't get aggresive.

In the end, the problem is always solved, but I'm afraid he's getting territorial, and don't want this to get worse.

Ideas, anyone?

Preening Toy Almost Strangled Gracie!!

Conure Conniption — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:12:28 GMT

The preening toy below was highly recommended by PetCo and she has always had one in her cage. Well, today she somehow managed to get strings of rope wrapped all the way around her neck and it somehow knotted together. She was trapped by the toy and looked frantic. I got scissors to try to cut the string but she wasnt aquainted with the scissors and was trying to freak out. I cut the strings as fast as i could as she was biting the scissors and pulling away. I was sooo scared. I finally cut the string and pulled her out of the cage to remove the string that was around her neck and under her feathers. Does anyone else use this toy? I have removed the toy and need to replace it with something new. What safe preening toys do your birds enjoy?

Join Spring Watch Malta to fight against illegal bird hunting

Birdlife Malta — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:10:12 GMT

BirdLife Malta – Spring Watch
11th – 30th April 2010

Spring is almost upon us, and once again birds returning to breed in Europe passing over Malta will risk persecution from illegal hunters and trappers.

BirdLife Malta will this year be running the first ever 3 week long Spring Watch Camp. The camp will monitor bird migration, maintain a strong presence in the countryside to deter the illegal killing and trapping of wild birds, and report illegalities to the police.

The European Court of Justice this year ruled that Malta breached the Birds Directive by opening a spring hunting season from 2004 to 2007. However the Maltese government, succumbing to pressure from the hunting lobby, has declared that it is considering derogating on the Birds Directive to continue allowing spring hunting.

If the government opens a spring hunting season, this year’s Spring Watch camp will be vital in documenting and revealing the extent and impact of hunting in spring.

Find out how you can help - please click">http://www.birdlifemalta.org/conservation/springwatch2010/"]click here or contact springwatch@birdlifemalta.org

I posted this in a different section but they were ignored.

HereKittyKitty — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:07:06 GMT

Question #1 I bought a "pair" of GrChConures and the guy told me they were un related. If they were related and they bred do you run into risks as you do in other animals (dogs, snakes, ect)

Question #2 Has anyone heard of a Camomile Peach Faced Lovebird? She is beautiful I just can't find it as a mutation online.

Also if someone has heard of it I was wondering what would be a good mutation to put with her as a mate?

Thanks

I will take pictures today!

Bird Icons

Monica — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:33:20 GMT

Sometimes occasionally known as "cartoon" birds... but here's a variety of parrot and bird icons! I combined two lists and got this!

Parrots from Africa
- Congo African Grey
- Timneh African Grey

- Black Masked Lovebird
- Blue Masked Lovebird
- Fischer's Lovebird
- Peachface Lovebird
- White Face / Turquoise Peachface Lovebird (in there twice)
- Lutino Peachface Lovebird
- Dutch Blue Peachface Lovebird
- Seagreen Peachface Lovebird
- Slate Peachface Lovebird

- Meyer's Parrot
- Red Bellied Parrot
- Senegal Parrot

- Jardine's Parrot

Parrots from Southwest Asia, Indonesia and Northern Australia
- Female Eclectus
- Male Eclectus

- Green Naped Lorikeet

- Moustached Parakeet

Parrots from Australia
- Rosy Bourke
- Bourke Parakeet

- Dilute Skyblue Budgie
- Albino Budgie
- Skyblue Budgie
- Green Budgie

- Cockatiel (in there twice)
- Cinnamon Cockatiel
- Pearl Cockatiel
- Whiteface Cockatiel
- Pied Cockatiel
- Lutino Cockatiel
- Lutino Cockatiel 2

- Major Mitchell's / Leadbeaters Cockatoo
- Moluccan / Salmon Crested Cockatoo
- Galah / Rose Breasted Cockatoo
- Blue Eyed Cockatoo
- Sulphur Crested *OR* Triton Cockatoo
- Umbrella Cockatoo

- Crimson Rosella
- Yellow Rosella
- Golden Mantled Rosella

Parrots from Central and South America
- White-Fronted / Spectacled Amazon
- Blue Fronted Amazon
- Yellow-Naped *OR* Mealy Amazon
- Double Yellow-Headed Amazon
- Red-Lored Amazon
- Yellow-Fronted Amazon

- White Bellied Caique
- Black Headed Caique

- Green Cheek Conure
- Black Capped Conure
- Gold Capped Conure
- Dusky Conure
- Nanday Conure
- Sun Conure
- Peach Front Conure
- Peach Front Conure 2
- Cherry Headed / Red Masked Conure
- St. Thomas / Brown-Throated Conure
- Golden / Queen of Bavaria Conure

- Hawk Headed Parrot

- Blue & Gold Macaw
- Greenwing Macaw
- Military *OR* Buffon's Macaw
- Severe / Chestnut Fronted Macaw
- Hahns / Red Shouldered Macaw
- Hyacinth Macaw

- Parrotlet
- Blue Parrotlet

- Blue Headed Pionus
- Dusky Pionus
- White Capped Pionus

- Quaker
- Blue Quaker

Soft Bills
- Red Factor Canary

- Gouldian Finch
- Java Finch
- Java Finch
- Society Finch
- Zebra Finch

what do you do with old feathers

steptoe91 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:50:22 GMT

I was at our local midieval fair last weekend and after talking to one of the vendors as we sat out the rain, she expressed an interest in skittles' old feathers. i have kept them for the last year. well, the bigger ones: wings, tail, some of the longer body feathers. idk why. i'm just weird that way. and when she pointed out how hard feathers are to come by i started wondering if i'm the only pack rat that keeps them. i even keep some of the bigger ones marley and twiggy looses.

Building a bird room/aviary/flight cage

Bird Staff — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:52:20 GMT

Hello Bird Staff here!

We have to take care of Tango, a quad Malibu Sunset Macaw. Inca our Red Fronted Macaw, Skittles our Sun Conure, Sargent Peter Pepper (lonely Clubs Heart Band) our Caique-white tummy, and the Lemoncello brothers Itsy and Bitsy our parakeets.

Our kitchen has a sliding door to the outside and we would like to build a bird heaven for them. We want to build there so one wall will be the hand dipped cedar shakes that is our house, they are 20 years old now. Is this bird safe? We want a roof for this new room. I understand Pine is bird safe wood to build with? We want windows and screens (?) so we can go sit out with them for awhile and this would let in fresh air and they would be able to see out . We live in New Hampshire so this would be insulated but it would probably be just be a three season room for them.

We don't want them to eat the screens or wood. What can we finish the inside walls with? We don't know how to go about this. What would be safe for the birds. We have a ton of leftover tile from other projects and could use some of that for the floor and it cleans easily but what about the grouting? Would they try to pull this out with their beaks or eat it? We have enough tile to tile the whole room actually.

The room will be 10x12 Can anyone help us? We would be very grateful. Thank you.

Bird Staff

A prayer for Maxi

Lynjupiter — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:05:10 GMT

Please say a prayer for Maxi Pionus. She goes into surgery tomorrow morning to remove a large mass. The surgery is risky because Maxci has always had and always will have health problems from her horrible past. Maxi was BOTM back in 12, 2006. At that time I was trying to find a home for her. Maxi and I bonded and she did so well with me I decided I could not give her up. By staying with me I knew I could make the years she had left the best she ever had. I have spoiled her rotten. You can see Maxi's profile here http://www.birdchannel.com/blog/viewbio.aspx?apid=7533
Thank you,
Lynda

Question: Is your bird able to figure out puzzle toys?

Flock Moderator — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:06:47 GMT

Is your bird able to figure out puzzle toys?

Parrot Auction::Cute Joke

BeeHappy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:05:03 GMT

Parrot Auctions

A gentleman attends an Auction and discovers that one of the items is a large colorful Macaw and he decided he would like to own it.

When the bird comes up for sale the auctioneer asks "How much am I bid for this parrot?" and he opens the bid with £700.

"£800"......"£850".... "£950" went the next few bids.

Bidding goes this way for several minutes until the bidder finds himself the owner for £1200. He approached the auctioneer and asks "Can the bird talk?" To which the auctioneer replied "Who do you think was bidding against you?"

Parrot Sitting

Caique_Lover — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:12:01 GMT

I am going away on a mission for my church for 2 years. There is no way that i wanna sell or get rid of my caique...so i was wondering if someone would be willing to accept him ino there home for 2 years. Please understand that whoever would like to volunteer for this has to have vet records, so that i know that you take good care of your birds. I would like to talk about this more to those who are interested, please let me know.....

Caique_Lover

first baby finch is out of the nest

rockybirdlove — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:55:20 GMT

well the white finch has finally come out of the nest we still have 1 more baby to come out I had to tell everyone I have tried posting pics of her but it wont work for some reason
I need names for the white one the brown one has a white dot on the top of her head so Im naming her dotty so I need suggestions for the white one

Are you taking care of the wild birds

JustHatched — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:37:48 GMT

If your in the northern hemisphere, then it's likely to be getting cold out. What are you doing to help the wild ones? I have 3 feeders out, A large bath that has an electric coil in it to keep from freezing and about 8 bird houses.

Older birds and Harnesses

Raine — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:46:22 GMT

So with Goonie settled very nicely into our home I have been really thinking of getting him a new harness for the summer months. Last fall Goonie went out for a few hours and he really enjoyed it, but the harness that he has is a bit of a pain to get on (it's the Feather Teather) I really don't like all the clips that have to be done up, even though the past owners told me that he is used to that perticular harness. An other thing is that Goonie's wings are not clipped, and I don't want to have him jump to the end of the leash and jolt to a stop. I do have an Aviator for my cockatiels which I really like, but I've never tought an older bird to get into a harness. THink I should stick to the Feather Teather or get an Aviator?

The foot band

racetruck — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:15:48 GMT

I would like to find out what the numbers mean on the band on my birds foot and can i track the numbers to find out the hatch date

update on baby finches

rockybirdlove — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:16:13 GMT

well they are about a week and a half old now mama is letting me look at them there are definatly 2 and they are getting so loud when they want to be fed eyes arent open yet but its so cute seeing them with their mouths wide open to be fed they look pied like the daddy I am affraid to take pics inside the nest cause mama is trusting me and I dont wanna screw that up but as soon as they start comming out of the nest I will definaly take pics for u guys
I am soo excited ~ I have been trying to have baby finches for 5 years now and this might sound stupid but I stopped smoking in the house about 6 months ago and I am thinking that is why I finally got my babies I am a hard core smoker but I do believe now that it is better not to smok around my fabies

bird talking

janene — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:32:46 GMT

hi everyone i know most of you won't remember me but i'm a owner of a military macaw, named fred, he's come along way since i got him a couple of years ago .he about 5 yrs. old now. here's the question for someone that would help me with this problem . fred talks but usually when he's in his food bowl. which is pretty funny but i'd rather him talk on command it seems he talks most when he thinks everyone is gone or in his feed,, i can be in the bedroom and we lalala each other by singing and sometime he says really great stuff things you wouldn't think he even knows. like i said before i'd rather find away to train him to talk like to greet us .or say hi when we say hi, he says it but it's after we've already left the room. anybody have any idea's? thank you for reading this and taking the time out of your day...........sincerely fred and janene

question about babies

rockybirdlove — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:46:39 GMT

I looked in the nest today and they were both looking back at me so they are getting bigger I put bedding down in the bottom of the cage so they wouldnt fall on the wires at the bottom of the cage but I was thinking I should put it down more towards the middle so when they start learning to fly they would not have a far drop what do u guys think I dont wanna move it if its gonna stress out mama but she has been really good about me having my hands on the cage except yesterday I tried taking pics and she flew out it took me forever to catch her but everything is back to normal today

I tried putting pics up of the babies but for some reason it wont let me upload

homemade toys

bbc — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:18:52 GMT

also...is the pvc piping i can get at lowes okay to use???...also...what type of wood should i use...just plain untreated stuff???

Flight Suit Update :)

broccoli — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:28:36 GMT

I just wanted to let you all know about how the flight suit has gone with Broc (and now Cin).

Now that Broc has gotten used to wearing her suits (she has many different colors) she's great about it! I think she now understands that her flight suit means she gets to go outside. When she's outside she chirps and loves to look around AND I think she loves the attention people give her also ;)

I had tried that bitter stuff at the stores to get her to stop biting the suit but she hated it- I ended up throwing out a flight suit because the bitter stuff got all over her and took forever to get out of her feathers! Don't use it! And also if you don't have good control over your bird in terms of touching them and handling them- then I don't recommend having a flight suit for your bird. My husband and I handle our birds everyday and generally have no issues touching them and handling them. You also can't be afraid of a nip or two (which WILL happen when you first start using these things).

On to what I did- after the first few bad attempts I looked into positive reinforcement and then I started training her with positive reinforcement, first by getting it on her and talking soothingly to her, and instantly giving her a treat. In the beginning she'd pick up the treat then angrily toss it, but we kept trying. We also would take her outside right away and praise her- another thing we did was to put our hands around her so she couldn't bite the suit- all the while we would praise her. If she would start to bite the suit we'd say "UH UH UH!" to get her attention and put our hand back and give her kisses and things to make her leave the suit alone. It's taken a lot of patience- but now she can get a suit on with little fuss.

Now that Broc is comfortable we've moved on to Cin- I felt bad leaving him home alone each time when I'd take Broc out.

First we kept the front door open and the outer screen door shut and put up a perch and allowed him to look outside- he'd sit there and stare outside and would also scream at the other birds he'd hear.

Then we started putting the suit on him in the house- he actually took to it a lot better than Broc did surprisingly. Then we'd put on the suit and walk with him out in the yard- which he liked- he seemed slightly scared but got comfortable eventually. Finally today we decided it was time to go out with him to a park that's 5 minutes away from our home. That way if we had issues we'd be close to home.

For some reason today he wasn't too happy when we put the suit on- but we got it on both of them and went out- Broc chewed her harness for a quick minute then stopped when I gave her a few sunflower seeds, after that she was totally fine. Cin was another story- he wasn't happy but was better when we went outside. We also gave him some seeds and water which he eventually took.

At the park he chirped now and then and did great overall- he chewed at his harness a lot more than Broc but he's still new at it. After about 45 minutes he started to get fussy so we took him home. But tomorrow we are taking him to the park again :)

Anyways- I just wanted to let you all know with patience and lots of training it is possible :) If you have questions feel free to ask :)