My bird is a fussy eater. How can I train him if he won't eat treats?

Thanks for reaching out about Henry Applesauce and including a photo. There is a book titled "A Guide to a Well Behaved Parrot" that is a good starting point. The mirror is perceived as a mate as budgies can not distinguish themselves in a mirror, so taking away might assist in his bonding to you. Partially converting over to a fresh vegetable and pellet mix has good health benefits that an all-seed diet lacks. Allowing to have meals with the seed then taken away for several hours. The wet food/pellets can then be offered free choice. Good luck.

Hi, and thank you for this question. If jim was not hand fed as a baby, he will likely never be truly tame. If you feed him pellets rather tnan seeds as his main diet, then things like sunflower seeds can become very effective treats.

Unfortunately, time and treats are the best ways to try and tame a bird. If he's still not comfortable with you, he likely just needs more time and practice. It's possible you are doing too much too quickly and need to step back a step for a few days or even weeks until he is comfortable with that before attempting more handling. If you can't find a treat he enjoys, then a toy can be used instead, however this is something that just takes time and patience, and each bird is going to be different in how long it takes.

I see that you posted this question a while back, and I answered it there, so I'll repost my answer here for you to be sure you get it. Patience and time! Until he's 100% on his training, be sure to always reward with a treat. However, if he's perfect at it with a treat every time, you can start to wean off them. You can try luring him with the treat to get him to perch, and then start only giving him treats intermittently. If he doesn't know when he's getting a treat and when he isn't, he may be more inclined to keep trying in the hopes he gets one sometimes. You can also use a favorite toy to play with, a gentle pet in a place he enjoys, or some of his regular food instead as a "treat" while you're phasing out the real ones.

If at first you don't succeed, try try again! Patience and retrying are your best bets. Birds can be picky eaters, and sometimes it takes several introductions of the same thing over and over before they decide to try (and like) it! You may want to try introducing those treats again at different intervals or times of day to see if they eventually start to check it out. In some cases, a bird may never be interested in it, especially if they weren't exposed to it when they were younger, and as long as they have a balanced diet otherwise, that is OK- toys or attention can work great for enrichment as well!

Thanks for reaching out about Pico and including pictures. Individual birds with respond differently to training techniques. Being the provider of treats and playful activities can gain trust. Letting Pico see you play with the other lovebird, and then want that same experience, might help also. This is a difficult one, because not all birds are tamable. Good luck. Be persistent.

The best way to work with birds is to move slow and also reward with treats. Typically I pick a treat that Meenakshi will love and only have you give it to him. I would start putting it in his cage and slowly move to hand feeding. Than you can place the treat up your arm and as he becomes more comfortable he will stand on your hand. I hope that helps