Lisa's Journal

[squirt09]

I have recently received Squirt as a birthday present and am totally clueless.

I have had her for 3 days. The first day she was really quiet, not doing anything (cause she was new)

The second day she was chirping a little bit. still pretty much stayed in the same spot.

last night, i bought her a bigger cage. i got all the new things for the new cage. the only problem that i made was trying to get her from the smaller to the bigger. since she wasnt going onto my finger, i was advised to grab her from the back. i did but she was scared the whole time, it took me 20 min to get her from one to the other. i wish i didn't do this b.c i think she is starting over with the trust.

today, she was eating the millet from my hand which i think was good. i sprayed her with water for her bath (idk if she liked that) but she has been verbal lately and she did let me pet her with my hand...

am i making progress?

[MsBudgie]

That's good.
But NEVER grab her.
You should have had an large cage already.
But maybe she'll get over it :)
Just keep offering millet.
And if she seems to enjoy it ( Gets closer to the water and preens )
Then you can spray her.
But she is probably scared for now.
Always be calm with her :)
Make sure to put pictures :D

[squirt09]

ok, so next time i should never grab her, she should be comfortable enough to get on my finger. i wont transfer her again!....

what are preens? is that the usual food. i dont know if she's eating that (i can't tell) is it ok that its in the slots on the cage?

[Xealot]

what are preens?

Preens aren't things, it's an action. Preening is when the budgie (or any other bird) runs its feathers through its beak to clean them.

[squirt09]

oh lol. ok. so i should leave her be next time. for now shes ok. last night she was sleeping then randomly started flying around her cage....

this morning i tried to feed her plain peas and corn and she didn't take it, i put a piece of corn on the millet (as well with the pea) and she knocked it off and just ate the millet. i don't know how to get to to eat anything but her millet.

[ParrotletsRock]

By millet do you mean bird seed mix or just millet? Millet is a great treat but does not have the nutritiuon required by birds. Try getting a quality mix from your petstore ( or online) Pellets are also a good choice. I feed a mix of budgie seed and pellets to my 2 budgies and parrotlet. I also give them cooked pastas , rice, wild rice, barley, lentils, split green peas , cous cous, etc.. I mix that with fresh minced veggies and sprouted seeds and grains. In the evening at bedtime remove all her food from the cage. 1st thing in the morning place minced veggies or cooked minced food mixed with a small amount of seed ( make sure seed is visible ) in her food dish...leave that there for 2 hours and then replace with regular food. After a while she will begin to eat the veggies as well as the seeds. Do not wait more than 2 hours to replace her regular food as you do not want her to go hungry if she refuses the new food. The idea is for her to pick thru the veggies for the seeds and in the process taste and eat a few of the veggies and cooked food and realize it is good food too.Good luck.

[squirt09]

just the millet spray. i havent seen her eat anything else. so im going to start over with this.... the food that i have is called Fusion its got seeds and pellets. i just put that and nothing else in a food tray how long do i keep that in there. and do i put it on the floor or the sliding door slot thats there.... and then a fresh thing of water every day.

i have canned peas and corn in a tray and mixed it with millet spray so that she would at least notice it, but nothing.

[squirt09]

i also had crushed nuts like almonds and cashews and sunflower seeds (kinda like trail mix) and i put that at the bottom of her cage....

[louara]

Better to have frozen or fresh veggies instead of canned ones. Canned goods are packed with sodium and really don't taste very good either.
My budgie will eat the frozen corn and peas. You can cook them up or just give them to Squirt as is. They defrost fairly quickly.
Good luck

[ParrotletsRock]

Hmm ...you have only had her for 3 days....right? I would leave the millet spary for a few more days... just to make sure she knows where the food is. Then I would remove it and keep it as a training tool. I would have 2-3 dishes of the fusion mix all around the cage... in a dish on the floor as well as in hanging dishes. This mix has a few different kinds of millet in it as well as other seeds and things. After you are sure she is eating then I would start removing the seed at night and move on to the cooked foods and or veggies as I described above.

I missed the fact the veggies were canned. Fresh is best but if you have to use them try to get frozen with nothing added ... no sodium or sugar. If using canned ( I don't recommend that either ) then go with no sodium added. I also would remove the " trail mix " and use it as a treat only in very small amounts. I sometimes mix a bit of minced nuts in with my cooked foods for my birds.

[squirt09]

alright, so i removed the ''trail mix'' cause i realized it had salt in it.

i also removed the millet cause i had way too much. i bought a new seed mix and another veggie/fruit mix in the form of seeds and when i hung that from her cage and by the time i washed out her other dishes and came back she was chomping down, and when i came from work today there was a lot of shells which makes me happy!

today, she keeps staring at me! she is preening (cleaning her feathers) and i put a bowl of water at the bottom of her cage, how do i make her realize that? cause i dont wanna pray her with water cause i think that'd be mean.

[ShellyBird]

Bird's are pretty smart, she seen you put the water down there, she will get to it if she is thirsty. You should just let her get settled in now. Talk to her calmly as often as you can with out getting too close to the cage, just enough so she can associate your voice and your body together. She is in a new SCARY place and needs to settle in and get used to her surroundings. Try not to put your hands in the cage too often, until s/he looks like they are fine with you and her new surroundings. Then you can start SLOWLY trying to put your hand in the cage..... I was doing it all wrong, found this site and within like a week I have made so much progress with my little one... just let her show you when she is ready, that really is the best way.
As far as food, have a treat dish as well as her seed and water dishes. In the treat dish (maybe one in the sliding part so you aren't sticking your hand in quite as often) put the fresh fruits or veggies, she will come around eventually and eat them. Do not let the veggies or fruit set for longer than a few hours though.