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He is pellet-bound!

conureboys

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Any tips for introducing specifically treats into a diet? It's interesting, I've never had this phenomenon in any bird before. Chiquito, my white-fronted amazon, will only eat his pellets and chop--won't touch his dessert, lol! I've been wanting to introduce him to training as well but he just isn't into anything I've been offering, and I have tried a wide variety of fresh and dried stuff. For context he is new to the flock and 5 months old! Thanks in advance!
 

sunnysmom

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My goffin isn't overly food motivated. Praise works much better for us for training than food. That said, have you tried any nuts? A bit of almond or cashew?
 

Mizzely

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My green cheek could care less about food rewards... She preferred foot toys :)
 

Mizzely

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Ah, makes sense! All my past fids have been very food motivated, so maybe Chiquito's just different :D Do you train with toy rewards as well/how do you go about that?

Sadly my green cheek escaped a few years ago and I never recovered her, so my experience is limited. I basically just did the same thing I would with food.... When she completed the task she got a foot toy! All my other birds have been food motivated.
 

Rain Bow

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Buddys food & praise motivated. If you can narrow in on the fav's like a cashew you can break it into pieces. Buddy :heart::heart:. Them.

I use pumpkin & sunflower seeds for him. He gets less than a tblspoon a day of seeds, sometimes more sometimes less but thats the average.

We also do " beak-5 " a bird beak to hand "high 5". I'm not sure if it's breaking all the training rules, it is what works for us.

He trains great this way so if its wrong, ya'll can scold me & I won't recommend anymore.

:hug8:
 

Leih

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My birds all love sunflower seeds. In moderation, of course. My conure would do nearly anything for food! So funny how different they all are. Another thing he really likes is those Birdie Munchies. And Nutriberries. And apples, bell peppers, millet.... Basically he's a garbage disposal. Have you tried eating something like a bell pepper and offering him a bite? This is how I get my conure to try new things, like he was afraid of strawberries until we shared one.
 

conureboys

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My birds all love sunflower seeds. In moderation, of course. My conure would do nearly anything for food! So funny how different they all are. Another thing he really likes is those Birdie Munchies. And Nutriberries. And apples, bell peppers, millet.... Basically he's a garbage disposal. Have you tried eating something like a bell pepper and offering him a bite? This is how I get my conure to try new things, like he was afraid of strawberries until we shared one.

Good Idea!! Having us share it. I think I will have to bond with him more and earn more trust before that would work...but that sounds like a great idea!
 

Monica

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We also do " beak-5 " a bird beak to hand "high 5". I'm not sure if it's breaking all the training rules, it is what works for us.
Agility trained dogs are trained in this way... they have to follow their owner's hands (both - just not at the same time) to know where to run, what to jump through, go over, etc.


Birds who are full or less likely to be food motivated... so it helps to work on training prior to eating.


As mentioned, food does not need to be the only motivator for training!
 

Rain Bow

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Buddy just serms to like knowing he's doing a good job. He was playing w/ a footie the other day. We call that work now too! I just periodically would coo & say what good work he was doing & what a good boy he was. He played forever & then napped. :lol:

Point is just by me sort of being engaged w/ him every 5 or so minutes (he was sitting on my lap) he was happily chomping away. Now imagine all the things he does w/ my full attention. He's a very smart whipper snapper & we work hard. When he goes thru the paces w/ treats, praise & beak 5's... Wow! As you work w/ them whether to eat or to train or to hang out, they will gain respect for you & w/ that comes trust.
 
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