When I got Coco, he was nine months old and had been abandoned on a door step. He does not really play with toys, so the suspicion is that he isn't used to having any. He has a nice big cage with plenty of toys now and is doing well.
When I got Coco, he was likely to bite you if you put yoiur finger near him. He was likely to bite you - and then step up and then run to your shoulder - and then bite your face. I learned quickly to read his body language and not approach him when he didn't want to step up. I was bitten about 4 times; 3 times it drew blood. That was all the first 2 days - after that, we avoided biting.
When I first got Coco, I started target training and a simple spin trick and worked hard on rewarding EVERY good step up and step down. In a few days, I could handle him pretty comfortably and there was little fear of bites. He was a little snuggle bunny. He loves to be held and petted.
When I first got Coco, the rest of the family couldn't handle him at all! I did not want them to experience a bite and become shy of him so we made a rule that only I took him in and out of the cage or handled him - but that the rest of the family would start by talking to him and playing games from a distance. Then they worked up to being able to feed him treats through the cage bars - every time they approached the cage, he got a treat! Every day at noon, they gave him his lunch, much of it by hand. At first he might bite at them, but soon learned that they were not going to eat him and he started approaching them for treats and games. At dinner time, he sits at the table with us (to the amazement of the dog) and gets fed by hand by all of us.
When I first got Coco, my wife was afraid of him. Last night though, after several weeks of them getting used to each other, I said, "stick out your hand and tell him to step up. He wants you to pick him up." And, she did - and Coco gently steped onto her hand and sat there quietly. "Go ahead and see if he will let you pet him." And, he did - he snuggled into the palm of her hand and had a great time. My wife then put him in and out of the cage a few times and they were great friends! She has always liked Coco and now she can handle him without fear.
When I first got Coco, my son really wanted to handle and train him, but Coco wasn't ready. This morning, it was time - my son put out his hand and Coco stepped up and let my son pet him and move around the room and put him in and out of the cage. My son is very excited - he does a great job training the dogs and can now be much more involved with the birds as well (our second parrot joined the flock last night).
When I first got Coco, I was just a little afraid that even though I believe that just about any parrot can be tamed with abundant positive reinforcement that I might not be able to pull it off - but we have. Coco has accepted all of us as part of his trusted flock. From here on out training should go better and better.
