I’m having trouble putting on my Mini sized harness, what can I do?

The smaller harnesses are definitely more difficult to put on and off. In addition to the close tolerance of the collar size we have large fingers and the birds only weigh a few grams.

Take a look at the foam insert that came in the collar and you will see the outside of the foam is larger than your birds head, and the hole in the center of the foam is about the size of your bird’s neck.

Making the collar opening larger will cause the belt to hang lower on the bird’s abdomen. This will cause the belt line to fall below the hip joint on a Love Bird or Parakeet. This is not dangerous but certainly not comfortable. Another issue with the larger collar opening is it can slide off the shoulder. This is also annoying and can be dangerous.

Installing the collar on a small bird is similar to us pulling a shirt over our head. It must be a little tight or it will not stay on our shoulders. Smaller birds are a bit more difficult but with a little time and practice you will be able to work it out. We always recommend training indoors prior to taking your birds outside.

What do I do if my bird’s toe gets caught in the harness?

When first learning to wear the Aviator some birds will experience their toe or foot getting caught in the belt or collar. This is more common with smaller birds. Once your bird is used to their harness this will stop happening.

This problem is usually caused, or made worse, when toenails are not trimmed. Anytime a pet bird’s nails are sharp enough to be even a bit uncomfortable on your skin, they are too long. The sharp point can get caught in the strap material and keep the toe from sliding off.

Another cause of toes getting caught is that the harness may be the wrong size and the collar is not tight to the chest. This usually means that the bird needs a smaller size of harness.

Your bird may also be trying to push the belt away. In this case try to tighten the slide on the side of the bird so the belt is being held tighter to his chest.

Progress slowly so you can learn to tighten the belt without pushing him off balance. Big human fingers often take a bit of training to tighten a belt on a tiny 200 gram bird.

Will the Aviator harness be too heavy for my small bird?

The smaller Aviator Harnesses weigh between 6 and 10 grams. This is similar to a human wearing a 15 pound (7 kilo) back pack. It probably does feel a little heavy at first but not enough to cause your bird to be less active. The larger sizes weigh up to 25 grams which is not even noticed on the larger birds.

One of the problems with clipping wings is that it stops the development of many parts of the brain and body. The cerebellum in the back of the brain makes up 25% of the bird's brain and is responsible for coordination. In humans the cerebellum is only 10% of the brain so you can see that coordination is much more important to a bird than a human. The cerebellum can only be properly developed by flying. This is one of the primary reasons birds become more aggressive as they get older.

Your bird will get bigger and stronger, but like humans, they can only do that with exercise and experience, it is not possible for a bird to develop properly and completely without full flight. As your bird flies more and more using their Aviator harness, it will feel less heavy.

What size harness should I buy for my Pigeon or Dove?

Pigeons and Doves are unique pet birds that can also wear the Aviator Harness! Most breeds of pigeons wear a size small Aviator Harness, and most breeds of doves wear a size x-small. There are many types of breeds and species of both pigeons and doves around the world, as well as every bird being an individual with different sizing needs, so we encourage reaching out to customer support for help with sizing a harness to your bird!