millet

[robbyf]

seems kinda strange but my little guy doesn't crave it. he is Tamed.. but not bonded 100% yet.. I hold the millet in the cage near him.. he wont even flinch. I put it in his food dish and he knocked it on the ground...

seems wierd.

when I take him outta my cage.. he gets a little nervious and wants to hop back on his branch. if i take him very slowly he is comfortable and not as worried.. he will perch my finger for half hour maybe longer.. but whats wierd is.. when I stand up or just out of the blue he will jump of and try to fly around.. he wont let me catch him and wont listen.

thats why I want to lure him with millet.. meh..

any ideas?

[my budgie billy]

hi robbyf,
that is strange?but then again my first budgie jake didnt like millet but all my current birds go crazy for it!!!!

[redgirl]

Your budgie will eat it, just hang it up in the cage thats what I do xxx

[JBird]

She will eat it if it is avalible. Just leave it in the cage and she will start to munch on it.

[softie]

Hello,

It could be the condition of the millet. As I've learned here, some millet can be really old and some budgies only like their treats fresh.

[JBird]

I never thought of it getting old. Good Idea Softie.

[robbyf]

hmmm stale? hmm guess i will just hang it. I need something to 'trick' him lol

[Susie T]

I have a special millet holder, and my Willy goes crazy for it. This holder is great because they can't knock it off, and it dosen't fall to the bottom of the cage while he is eating it. They are very cheap to buy, and when you see it getting very skinny and kind of bare, then change it again for them.:) :budgie:

[parakeetluverr]

Some birds don't like to eat treats/millet out of their owners hands, especially if they're new. My budgies don't, so just hang it in a millet holder, like me and Susie T do, and I'm sure a lot of other people do it, too. Good luck sweetiee. xxxx

[Donna]

Hello robbyf,

There is nothing wrong with your Budgie. He is doing exactly what MOST Budgies do. The fact that he is staying on your finger (a half hour) is great! Most people don't get those results the first 3 weeks. Try not to rush your Budgie- expecting too much, too soon.

I have a baby Budgie in quarantine right now, and I haven't spent as much time with him as I would like. He has been in quarantine almost a month, and he is still very jumpy and nervous. I feel that just in the past day or so, he has finally begun to trust me more. When I tried to offer him millet from my hand at first, he wouldn't touch it. I just decided to wait a little longer and try it again. Tonight I took a piece of millet between my fingers and held it to his beak as he stood on top of his cage. He started to nibble on it. Then I moved the millet slowly towards me. (Just an inch or so.) He walked to the millet and began to nibble some more. Finally I slowly moved my finger towards his belly and said, "Step Up." I pushed up on his belly (above his feet) and he stepped up. I said, "Good Baby." And I rewarded him with millet and let him nibble a large amount of it. I found that if I put my Budgie on top of his cage (after feeding him small nibbles of millet) and then repeat the steps with the millet, (by making him step up again) he is much quicker to tame because he is looking forward to that next bite of millet. Once Budgies have had a good taste of millet, they can't wait to get back to it. It only took me a couple of times of times of saying "Step Up" (with the millet) and my Budgie was automatically jumping on my finger without coaxing.

If this doesn't work for you, you may just want to try hanging the millet (or placing it in your Budgie's cage) for now. Let him adjust slowly by seeing the millet in his cage for a while. (It won't be long and he'll go nuts over it). Right now he may still be scared enough that he's still trying to adjust to you and the noises around him. If that's the case, he won't be that interested in the millet, because he's too scared to eat it. If you leave the millet in his cage so he can become comfortable with it, he'll probably start eating it on his own and find that he loves it. Once you see that he's loving it, then you might try bringing the millet outside the cage to lure him towards you. He won't be able to resist temptation after having that first taste! :D

My Budgie will sit on my finger for a short time, but he flies off quickly, too. I have found that if I sit by his cage and hold him over it while trying to tame him (using millet) he responds better because he knows that he can retreat to the cage easily. I have found that he feels more comforted by being near his cage - his haven of rest. I always keep the door closed on the cage while trying to tame him. That way he can't just begin jumping in, every time he becomes scared. I usually start out with the cage door open so he feels he can go back in at first, but then after I've let him go in a time or two, I close the door. By letting him retreat in the beginning (and enter the cage) he now seems much calmer and trusting and doesn't feel that need to quickly escape through what was once, the open door.

Let me know how things go. And don't feel bad, my newest Budgie has been with me almost a month now and he still doesn't have a name. Some things just take time. :)

Donna

[Bea]

Could just be that he doesn't recognise it as food in the form of a millet spray. He does like millet though - because a HUGE % of most seed mixes is one type of millet or another. ;)

[robbyf]

thanks for the fast response. I will try some of the suggestions