Georgie's taming progress - help needed!

[andyjh64]

Hi everyone.   I have had Georgie (8-10wks)  for about about a week and he has settled in really well,  Chirping happily throughout the day,  exploring his cage,  having fun with toys,  eating in front of me etc.  For this reason, I decided to make a start with taming but I have hit a bit of a road block.  He will let me put my hand in the cage and get quite close,  with food in my hand, and he doesn't run away,  but the problem I have is that he seems completely disinterested in the food, other than seed, so won't approach.  I've been using Millet which supposedly is irresistable to Budgies but he has no interest in it whatsoever. I even tried putting a small piece in the cage and left it,  hoping he might recognise it as food and try it out, but  he has completely ignored it and left it to rot! I've also tried with Broccolli and got the same result. When I put my hand in holding it,  he just stands there and looks like he's starting to fall asleep! I tried also with some seed but obviously that's available in his food bowl so doesn't represent much of a treat. Has anyone got any ideas how I can get to the next stage and find something interesting enough to make him want to eat from my hand and eventually get on it? Or maybe I've just jumped the gun.  Any advice appreciated.  Thanks!

[mona]

Mine didn't recognize millet at first too. I think I left that in their cage for more than a month.. Mine were used to leafy green veggies, so I used to hang leafy green close to the millet spray.. after a month, they started to check it out..out of curiosity.. once they were crazy about it, i removed that from the cage and started giving it from my hand..

Initially, even their favorite leafy greens also helped.. they took to coriander and spinach instantly from my hand.. sometimes when introducing new food.. also eating it in front of them helps them see that it's edible.

[Deleted]

andyjh64 I had this problem at first.

Peg a millet spray/small section of millet spray inside the cage and leave it. He might eventually start to take an interest in it.
Edit: Just saw that you did this. I'm surprised that it rotted in such a short time. That does not sound like good millet.

You can do the same with veggies, just obviously change them every day. You may need to offer them in different forms too, like chunks, finely chopped, etc.

With my guys I started by offering them seed from the palm of my hand first thing in the morning when they hadn't yet eaten, before putting the bowl in.

If I was then going to be home and freely available all day I might keep the bowl out and just keep offering some seed by hand every so often, providing that he was willing to eat the first time, and then put the bowl in midafternoon to make sure he could have enough food by bedtime.

If he didn't eat, put the bowl in, let him have breakfast, then perhaps remove it and try again later.

[Hezz]

If he has ignored the millet while it has been hanging in the cage separately, try taking off small bobbles of the millet and dropping them in his seed dish, enough so that he has to push past them to get to his regular seed. Once Georgie is eating these bobbles, that’s the time to stop and only offer him millet from your hand or fingers.
I agree with the above that millet shouldn’t rot and especially in that time. If that really is happening I’d toss what you have and buy some more - it sounds like it hasn’t been stored correctly and moisture and/or mould has gotten into it. Get some with a resealable bag, an even better way to store it is in the freezer. The millet itself doesn’t freeze but anything nasty on it will! It is a good idea to do this with your seed as well - every new lot that I get I freeze for several days (mostly because I forget to take it out, rather than that’s how long it needs), make sure the container it is in is completely dry before putting it into an air-tight container.

I’d like to offer you a little bit of advice regarding the tassels on the ends of some of the toys. If Georgie decides to be a chewer (most budgies are) you might find that he will start chewing on the rope perches and the tassels. This can cause him serious health problems, specifically crop impaction, possibly even death. even simply playing with the tassels can find him tangled up and hanging by either his feet/toes or worse, by his neck. Budgies have lost feet and toes from this sort of thing, some have even died because they have hung themselves ... on their “toy”. The safest and easiest way to get around this is to put a cable tie around the tassels up as close to the knot as possible, pull as tight as you can and then cut the tassels off close to the cable tie.

Cotton, while a natural fibre, is a long fibre and been treated to not be easily frayed which is why the crop impaction occurs - the fibres do not break down in the crop. Natural fibre ropes such as sisal (untreated) and seagrass, hemp etc have a much shorter fibre ad are more easily broken than cotton so do not pose the same safety problem to our birds that cotton does.

[andyjh64]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. My statement about the millet was a bit of an exaggeration and merely a comment on the lack of interest.
Advice noted about the tassles. Have now dealt with it.