well, ivy has become more resistant to her aviator harness. she really doesn't seem to enjoy being outside for whatever reason, and has no interest in flying outside. i've been taking her outside at least once a week since she came home 2.5 months ago. i was hoping she would warm up to the outdoors, but she doesn't seem to like it at all. if anything, she seems to like it less and less each time.

when i tried putting the harness on her today, she flew away from me twice which she has never done. and she was very resistant to me putting it on her. i don't want to force her to do something she doesn't like. we are planning to get the porch screened in hopefully this year or next, so maybe she will enjoy sitting out on the porch on her play gym at that time.

should i keep it up with the harness? i don't want to stress her out, force anything on her, or make her fearful of anything. but at the same time, i don't want her missing out on the outdoors. thoughts?

I would try rewarding her with food whenever she allows you to put the harness near her, and then eventually when she accepts it put it on her and give her lots of praise and treats. You'll also want to praise her for going outside. The key to getting her to enjoy the outdoors is to get her to view it as a positive thing- she's probably just afraid now because she's away from her cage and in unfamiliar surroundings.

I think you'll have to take your cues from her, Emily. If she's getting too stressed about it, and it's just no fun for her, then my inclination would be to discontinue it. You may need to go way back to the first steps again, and work her up slowly to wearing it.

Ruby didn't care for outside much at first either. I would stand in the doorway with her, sort of half in and half out, and eventually she started leaning towards outside. Now she gets all excited when I say "want to go outside?"

thanks guys. i think i will try to keep at it, even if i have to take a few steps backwards.