Thank you! I'm still learning about chickens so may take you up on the advice. So far so good. We're up to 35 birds and definitely learning every day.
It sounds like you're doing great. My white-fronted amazon is extremely picky. You just have to learn what they like and roll with it. Generally, a good quality pellet or pellet/seed mix has most of what they need. Fruits, veggies, nuts, treats etc are mostly supplements to give them variety as if they were foraging in the wild. There's certainly nutritional value in many of the extras but they're not critical. That's why I mentioned never giving them so much fresh stuff that they ignore their pellet diet. As long as you do that, you're generally good. Just be mindful of what's toxic to them, use quality pellets, don't do super sweet fruits daily, and make sure they don't have so much extra stuff that they don't eat the pellets.
As for greens specifically, my birds aren't crazy about them either. It happens. Birds are weird and definitely individuals. As a group, parrots have very few taste buds and they're grouped on the tip of the "tongue" muscle - which is why you see them poking new foods with it to check out the taste. With relatively few taste buds, they often like food with strong flavors and/or fun textures like sweet fruits, hot peppers, crunchy nuts/seeds, etc. Mine love habaneros and jalapeños if I happen to be cooking with them. Greens aren't particularly flavorful or fun so some parrots aren't interested. You'll also notice some weird individual preferences. My amazon will not touch anything yellow, from ignoring food that color to avoiding toys with much yellow on them. My macaw will eat all the other colored pellets in her mix except the green ones, which end up still in the bottom on the bowl or on the floor where the dogs eat them. Sometimes they're just weird. Roll with what they like.
Step up training can be tough but it sounds like you're doing great if you're getting snuggles. Finding that perfect snack/treat that they love is big. Then you can use it to practice stepping up from hand to hand (or arm to arm at first if the bird is nervous like your little guy). It sounds like you're already onto that trick with using apple to lure him back in. So you're past the hard part and are developing trust. If something scares him and he regresses or you have future birds you need to train, one tip I use is to buy a couple backups of their favorite perch - as close to identical as you can get. Often times they will step up onto that as you hold it and that can be a great first step to building trust. When rehabbing shy or traumatized birds, I'd often use a long wood perch at first to get the step up training going. Less risk of being bitten and the birds more comfortable. Then gradually decrease the length of the perch until they're used to my hands being close.
Overall, don't push it. Move at his pace. If he misbehaves while on you, such as biting you or your clothing, never swat at him (even lightly) or point at him as you correct him because it reinforces the "hands are bad" thinking. Just a little shrug or drop of the arm to throw him off balance will usually redirect them and discourage the behavior. And while I say don't push it, it's worth noting that showing them no fear does help. Sometimes conures will sorta test you out. If we had one at the shop that had an attitude with hands (especially aggression), I'd often lay my hand in their space as I cleaned the cage or worked with them. Of course, this requires a willingness to get bit occasionally but that happens with birds. I'd rather it be on my terms when I can ignore it and show them that 1) they don't scare/intimidate me, 2) they're not in charge, and 3) hands aren't bad or there to hurt them.
Lastly, once he does get the step up thing you have to enforce it. If you say it and he won't step up, gently press a couple outstretched fingers against his chest until he loses balance and has no choice but to step up. Then reward him with attention or a treat. He'll gradually realize he might as well just listen because you're going to win anyway and there may be a reward - until he decides to be stubborn again and you repeat the lesson.
You're doing awesome. Just doing the research and caring so much is huge. Sorry I rambled so long. Once I get going on parrots I just keep going...
Here's a photo of my rotten pride and joy, Roxy. I couldn't find a good photo of Suzy the amazon but she's fun too.
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