How do you train a bird that wont take treats?

Im stumped.Ive tried all his favorite foods but he wont take them from me.He wont touch them if I put them near him.But if I drop it in his food bowl he will eat it right away.
Ive tried making yummy sounds and eating it in front of him too.He watches but still wont take anything from my hand.He lets me give him scritches though, so its not a fear of hands.He steps up when he wants too as well.But not reliably so I can put him up at night.
Any ideas? Should I just give him more time, Ive had him about three weeks now.

I have the same problem with Yoshi . He will only take certain foods he knows from my hand. If I have him something he doesnt know he backs away scared . He only started expanding his diet when I brought Rosie home. Monkey see , monkey do I guess.

I think your bird needs more time. Three weeks isnt very long when you think about it. I let Yoshi decide when he felt comfortable enough to leave his cage. Once he did , he now flys to me and stays with me until I ask him to fly back. The only problem I have now is he has already tried to fly to me without me knowing it , lol.
But that's another post

I use praise and kisses and pets , that works extremely well for Yoshi. I think he rather have that then anything else .
When you train , dont give your praise so freely before you start.
This way he will want to hear you praise him or get petting.
I use a high light voice that Yoshi seems to love , it gets him very excited and he laughs and talks , lolol. I think he gets proud of himself

Pete also isn't bribable the way Rowdy and Merlin are. With him it's praise and singing to him that he loves. I know you don't like music, but you might try it. Amazons seem to be music maniacs.

I would also spend 5-10 minutes a couple of times a day working on step ups with him. You can't reward him with a treat, but try telling him what a good boy he is. I say all kinds of weird things to Pete that he likes: good boy; pretty boy; big, strong amazon boy. He likes being called "dear", too, and also calls me that.

Oh, one thing he really, really likes is peanut butter on toast.

And I learned by accident a few days ago that if I rub it on my face, he thinks it's safe and then he wants it. And today I got him to eat rice by showing him me eating it, but that's the first time that's worked with him. It took a few forkfuls before he tried it and then ate it, and I had to make a big production of it.

I have to agree that more time is the ticket. I'm going on 4 years with my bird and it's probably been just the last 3 months that he'll step up 99% of the time. Before that, unless it was his idea, I would have to peel his feet off of where ever he was at. Amigo can not be bribed, either. Don't know why it took so long, but now he thinks it's a good idea!

I didnt think of just practicing step ups with out putting him in his cage(negative reward for stepping up really)...Hmm I will try the praise thing too and see if he likes that...Thanks everyone, great suggestions.

I guess Im impatient to start getting some basic training done.I really need him to step up on a stick.But without having something the bird really wants its almost impossible.

I agree with time.

With Shelby and fruit,.... I have to eat or act like I'm eating it for her to try it. It may be a factor of trust, so try it with yours.
(I still can't get her to eat fresh veggies)

Good luck and lets us know what happens.

427HISS said:

I agree with time.

With Shelby and fruit,.... I have to eat or act like I'm eating it for her to try it. It may be a factor of trust, so try it with yours.
(I still can't get her to eat fresh veggies)

Good luck and lets us know what happens.

Click to expand...

Have you tried baby food or yams ? Find something she really likes and mix it together. The post about veggies has alot of great suggestions.