Training treats?

[Aquila]

Sydney seems to take forever to eat whatever I give him, and will often fumble around with it in his mouth before he eats it, so I try to use a seed mix like the honey treat one, or pumpkin/sunflower/safflower seeds (he doesn't get them in his regular diet.)

I've also tried the cockatiel size fruit blend pellets for treats, and they're okay, but he doesn't go crazy for them.

Any suggestions for something else I could use, since I don't want to overdo it on the seeds.

 

[MonicaMc]

Use whatever he loves!

Seeds, dried fruits, fresh fruits, nuts, popcorn, cheerio, cheese, praise, toys, etc. A training treat doesn't have to be just food related. Better yet, it's best to have a variety of rewards.

 

[Aquila]

Specifically I'm clicker training him right now, I've done it with dogs (I'm a dog trainer by profession) but he just takes so long to eat anything! I'm just trying to think of things that he can eat quickly and not make a huge mess with.

Even a sunflower seed he'll twirl around his mouth before he decides to break it open to eat it. I've resorted to spoonfuls of baby food or yogurt where I can just give him a quick lick, since there's not anything for him to keep fussing over.

He'll hoard seeds in his bottom mandible, and just tilt his head and look at me, as if to say, "More?" He's such a glutton!

 

[MonicaMc]

Then you are using treats that are too large.

If using a sunflower seed for example, you want to break it up into 4-6 pieces... in other words, get hulled sunflower seeds and break them up even tinier.


There is also millet. Or maybe using parakeet/budgie sized pellets?

 

[Kiwibird]

That is too funny (and familiar). Honestly, while it sounds counterproductive, use treats he likes less. He'll still get the picture, but won't take forever to eat it. Or, simply switch training with treats to training with verbal praise or if he likes being touched, petting ad rewards instead. We never used treats for training, because we didn't want our bird getting too used to a treat every time he did good (since we may not always be in the position to provide him a treat). We used verbal cues instead, because we can always take a moment to say "good boy". He picked up very fast on verbal cues, and he was 10 y/o and unhandled/no prior training when we took him in.

On the subject of food, our guy eats like a ravenous beast when he gets his seed and fruit in the morning and evening (neither of which I think he particularly cares for, their just food to him). But give him something off the table he REALLY likes (a tiny piece of a chip, a noodle, a tiny bit of buttered bread ect...) and he eats it in the most delicate and time consuming manner. He makes sure not a microscopic crumb goes to waste when he gets foods he loves. For that matter, zons are notorious pigs, so training them with food may not be very effective to begin with. They'll run out of energy before they get full