# 2 taming questions.



## joegiesy (Apr 20, 2017)

So I have gotten my budgie to trust me enough to now sit on my hand, eat, and be fairly comfortable. He looks slightly suspicious but not panicked. I now move him to about 4 in's out of his cage to eat and we have done this for a good week or so now. I think we should move on to the next step, but I don't know what that step is. Should I put him on my shoulder or like put him on top of his cage? I just am afraid he is clipped and might jump off my hand and behind the dresser and have a panic attack. My other question is, he trusts me some, but he will not eat fruit's or veggies or even millet! I just can't get him to try it, do I take his seed out and kinda make him? I am not sure, Ive tried everything!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*1. Taming and Bonding

Next step - you can work on getting him to step up from one hand to the other several times.
Say "step up" as you encourage him to do so.
That will help him begin to associate the words with the action.

Take a look at the two links below:

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-training-bonding/315073-positive-reinforcement-training.html

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-training-bonding/315065-basics-clicker-training.html​
2. Eating foods other than seed

You need to ensure your budgies' receive 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons of seed each per day even when converting them to a new diet. 
You can, however, ration the seed into two servings morning and evening.
Pellets should be available in the cage 24/7 and vegetables should be offered daily.

Please take the time to read the tips on how to introduce new foods to your budgie which can be easily found in the stickies in the Diet and Nutrition section of the forum.

When I introduced pellets to my budgie, my Avian Vet recommended using Harrison's High Potency Mash and sprinkling it on the budgie's seed mix every day. This way, when the budgie hulls the seed it tastes the pellet mash and ingests bits of it as well. This helps the budgie identify the taste as a food source.

Many members seem to find the easiest pellets to use for introducing pellets to their budgies to be the CANARY sized Zupreem fruity pellets. 
Most budgies like the taste and the "Canary" sized pellets are tiny enough for them to easily eat them. 
Once they've become accustomed to the Fruity Pellets, introducing the smallest "natural" pellets is then an easy step. 
I would recommend Roudybush crumbles or minis at that point in time.

Other than when I was using the Harrison's mash, I have never mixed my birds' pellets and seed together. My birds have three separate dishes each with a different brand/flavor of pellets available to them 24/7. 
Their seed is rationed to approximately 2 teaspoons of seed per budgie each day. 
I give them seed first thing in the morning right after putting clean newspapers on the bottom grate of the cages. 
I sprinkle their morning ration on the paper so they can forage for the seeds. 
I then do the same thing in the evenings (after replacing the soiled newspaper with clean) and again allow them to forage for their seed.

All of my birds have the option to eat the available pellets whenever they like throughout the day and they all enjoy them!

Zupreen Fruity Pellets (most budgies seem to accept these quickly)
Use the smallest size - the ones labeled "canary".

Roudybush crumbles

Roudybush minis​
Good seed brands are:
Dr. Harvey's
Volkmans​
To enhance your budgies diet, you can begin introducing vegetables and fruit to them.

It can take several weeks for budgies to decide to try a new food.
Fruit is high in sugar content so vegetables are actually healthier for your budgies with fruits given only occasionally (once or maybe twice per week).

Egg food can be offered twice weekly and more often when your budgies' are molting.
When they come into condition, it is best to limit the amount of protein in their diet at that time.

The first vegetable which my budgies that had not been weaned to vegetables tried (and loved) was sweet corn kernels sprinkled with a teeny bit of garlic powder (NOT salt).

Budgies seem to love "spicy" tastes. 
They also adored fresh basil, cilantro, chickweed, zucchini and red pepper. 

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-diet-nutrition/315033-healthy-diet-your-budgie.html

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-diet-nutrition/309849-quality-seed-mix.html

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-die...ttlebones-mineral-blocks-manu-clay-roses.html​
Best wishes!*


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