Taming/Training my Amazon

Question
Hey i have a 3 year old Blue-front amazon who was originally parent-reared, but when i went to see it it was semi-tame . The shop keeper showed me how if i grabbed the bird then put it to my chest it would climb up onto my shoulder without biting. Me being naive thought it was great and bought it. Now i can stroke it through the bars of the cage without any fuss and it wont even think about biting me inside the cage . It lets me stroke ti all day long and recieves treats from my hand. However when it is out if i put my hand near it at all it backs off , it only come near when i have a give it food, i tried putting my right hand near it then my left hand behind that with a treat but it would just try and lean over as far over the right hand as possible and if it couldnt get it would back off. I have tried to perch train it but it seems to be aggressive towards the perch biting it and refuses to step onto it at any cost. I really want to tame it so it will step up onto my hand and be a great pet. Hope you can help Thanks
John

Answer
Perch training is mostly useless in my opinion. This may be a sign of the start of sexual maturity. Amazons get VERY aggressive at this time, so watch out! But don't worry, it gets better in time. Instead of really trying to TRAIN THIS BIRD (you're a guy, your "fix it!" instinct is kicking in) you just need to go at the bird's pace. He obviously isn't completely afraid of you, but he still needs that reassuring safety of the cage. When he's outside of the cage, just passively play with him. Watch him as he plays with foot toys, maybe play a little bit of "catch" or if you have a playstand, a game of "he drops it and you pick it up" (a parrot FAVORITE but your back may get sore) and soon he'll be walking up to you while you're working or watching TV and jump up to you to want to play. Once he feels comfortable with you, he'll approach you. It just takes time. The fastest transition I've ever seen was 6 weeks, so don't be discouraged if it takes some time!
Good luck and feel free to let me know if you have any other questions!