Best seeds for training?

[Emi&Tlayu]

Hello I have a white fronted amazon which I am currently training to fly on command, he enjoys flying indoors a lot and the training has been great to get him out of situations he shouldnt be in and also for bonding. I have a seed mix bag from which I pull seeds out as rewards, however the seed bag is a store bought mix, which I know often is not ideal so I want to make my own. Ive been giving him mostly black sunflower seeds, I found them to be the perfect size so he doesnt take too long to eat them but he also sees them as a high value reward, however I discovered that sunflower seeds in general contain a lot of fat and not as many nutrients. Maybe he would be fine with sunflowers but if I can make the situation better and avoid a long term issue I will. Ive searched for better alternatives online like pumpkin seeds or flaxseed, but I wanted to hear some opinions on some of the best seeds you guys treat your parrots with, he is not picky so Im not worried about the change. My main concern is that I can give him up to around 15 seeds a day if we train and I occasionally want him to go or stay somewhere, and since he is the smallest amazon I just want to make sure that if he isnt eating too many fatty seeds.

Thank you!

 

[wrench13]

I use pine nuts, avalable in shelled form from any decent sized supermarket. I cut them into 3rds and use them exclusively for training treats. Salty, my Amazon, LOVES them. The advantage to them is they are readily available, ready to eat, and can be cut into pieces (so your 15 sunflower seed treats could be replaced by just 5 pine nuts, allowing you to have longer training sessions).

 

[SailBoat]

I never use seed for rewards and never, never sunflower seed as it should not be part of an Amazon's diet. Provide it to the outdoor birds!

Nuts are my choice for rewards and only tree based nuts. My good friend Wrench has long used pine nuts. We have worked with older Rehomed Amazons and will use a non-salted container of mixed tree based nuts to determine what gets their attention and target those. We never use peanuts!!

 

[Emi&Tlayu]

Thank you guys I had already heard good things about pine nuts, I'll make sure to get some on my next trip to the supermarket 😊