Budgie doesn't like treats?

[Birdtraineewhat]

Working with taming our budgie Andy and we're getting to the hand feeding stage. He will occasionally take normal food from our hands but he'd much rather just get it from his food dish. We've tried millet and other treats but he isn't interested. How do we entice him to eat millet or any treat for that matter if he has never had it? We try putting small amount in his dishes but he just moves them.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

Its always a problem finding out what your bird wants on the menu. Fruit has to be just right, but not necessarily the same just right as last week. Just recently Casper decided he didn't want Harrisons pellets in his food bowl any more. Ping clang dong they hit the bars of the cage as they got thrown out. So we tried soaking them in water before giving them to him and he scoffed the lot and put on ten grams last week.
A clever bird (like an African grey) would have carried the dry pellets across the cage and dunked them in the water bowl. Maybe he is just lazy :)
Try a bit of what you are having for supper, Casper loves cooked stuff as a treat, carrot, pasta or especially a small piece of fish. Just make sure there is no onion, garlic or other stuff that birds can't have.
If unsure, just google "can parrots eat xxx"

[Quakerella]

You are so right Jean-Pierre, finicky little things. My husband has Rice Krispies with Yoshi. I purchased the no name ones once and Yoshi actually walked away from them. I was shocked he could tell the difference. They know what they like. As you said though, try whatever is on the evening menu (as long as it is safe) most birds will devour it.

[Birdtraineewhat]

Issue is he wont sit still long enough to notice there's something in our hands.

[Mare]

Issue is he wont sit still long enough to notice there's something in our hands.


I wouldn't worry about that. I know you are anxious to have a cuddle bird but you also need to understand you can't force a bird to be what you want it to be, it is what it is and with patience, trial and error, Andy may warm up to you more..feeding them's another story :th_smile:

[Birdtraineewhat]

The treats are just meant to help him associate us in a positive light.

[Lady]

Well for me I found it best not to give our girl her bowl of food directly. I would hold the bowl with a small amount of food in it and offer it to her. If she dipped her head in to eat I knew she was hungry so I would let her have a bite then put the rest of it in my palm and offer it to her. I did this every morning. First she would have to take some of the food from me then I would put the bowl in her cage and let her eat what ever she wanted.

[Keelz]

been through the same problem. like what Mare said, don't force a Bird to be a certain type of bird. maybe try different ways of hand feeding since you are just starting. My budgie Keelie trusts me so he isn't that skeptical about hand feeding. My best advice is to keep working on trusting your bird.
:th_Budgie: