Timid Parakeet - Wont try any treats!

[xforeverloved]

Hello everyone!

Im very new here but not new to owning birds. All Ive hand trained myself. This little girl has me very stumped! We bought her from the pet store, as a x-mas present. Well, my fiances daughter got a little excited - without our knowledge till recently... when we caught her - was sticking her hand in the cage chasing my poor ocean around trying to get her to sit in her hand .. Its now been explained to her that this is NOT okay and she was actually scaring the little thing.

So Im trying to restart her but she is VERY timid of hands - which I cant blame her at all! But my problem is, she wont try millet, or anything else I put in her cage besides her seeds. Ive tried apple, apple and peanut butter with seeds on it... and she has no interest. Ive taken her food away for a couple of hours, only up to 3 max, and tried giving her millet.. and she still wants nothing to do with it!

I now just sit and talk with her, whistle to her and she tilts her head, she seems loves the attention and is very curious. But I cant get any further. If anyone can give me any advice that would be great! Ive also spent many days with just resting my hand on a perch not moving... she stands on the other side of the cage staring. Lol

[Wolf]

Well, you really haven't had the bird for very long and with the child terrifying it, the bird will require some time. None of this is anything that you don't already know, but you don't know how many times this happened to the bird and no one can say for certain how terrifying it was in the birds mind. Stay with talking, whistling and perhaps even singing to the bird. As it regain some trust in you and it's own safety it will start moving closer to you in its cage. Also since it doesn't appear to know what spray type millet is or that it is foo I would put a couple of small sprigs of it in the cage with one in its food dish, while you are talking to the bird and just leave them there for the bird. Given enough time it will figure out that it is food. The whole key to this is spending several times a day of talking etc. with the bird and patience. Time and patience.

[liz]

Move the cage up so your bird can look down. Kind of like watching you from a tree. Open the door and she will eventually come out and sit on the top of the cage. Only put your hand inside the cage to change food, water and clean. When you do keep your hands palm down. Never reach above a bird. She will think you are out to get her.
Is she clipped. If she is that causes more fear. She knows she can't escape. A flighted bird has more confidence.
Respect your bird and her space. Consider getting another that has not been traumatized to keep her company and give her moral support.

[Hookturn]

I had the same issue with my baby. It was several months before he was interested in treats. Keep your little one on a low protein diet and eventually the interest in treats will come. Just be patient. And good luck with your new addition!

[xforeverloved]

Thank you for the replied. The only time Ive been able to even get her to try millet is if I take her food away for a bit and leave millet in as the only option, and eventually she will eat it. But not crazy over it obviously. With all my other birds ive used clicker training with millet which worked great.

Unfortunately we arent going to be getting a second one, as my experience with two was not a very good one. They were both from the same flock when I got them, and while I was at work the other one killed my youngest one. Not quite willing to take that chance again.

Ill keep talking with her, and whistling/signing. Im in the same room with her a lot. So my presence doesnt scare her, and I blanket/unblanket the cage every morning and night.... that doesnt seem to both her. She gives a big stretch while I talk with her.

What are some treats you guys used with your super picky eatter?

[Pajarita]

Is she getting any soft food? Because, if she is very young, she needs two kinds served fresh daily. As to treats, the only thing that budgies really enjoy are greens, they love them! Put two large, dripping wet (and I do mean dripping) leaves in her cage, one stuck between the bars and another one laying on the bottom of the cage (they like to 'bathe' on them). She knows what millet is and, most likely, the reason why she is not eating it in your presence is because she doesn't trust you so just leave it there for her to eat whenever she feels like it but be advised that millet is not the best nutrition there is for birds and normally used only for fattening weak or sick birds. I also second Liz's recommendation of putting her cage at eye level as it will not only make her feel safe, it will also prevent the little child from reaching it (I have 11 grandkids and know for a fact that explaining something to a young child doesn't always work).

I have no idea what happened with the other two birds but I've never, ever heard of a budgie killing another one unless it was by some sort of a fatal mistake. Budgies hens never fight, males do but, usually, only once in their lifetimes and when another suitor is courting their chosen hen (and this only if the hen has not chosen yet because, once they do, the males accept her decision very gracefully). These birds are HIGHLY flock oriented and never have a single problem when introduced to another one. I would strongly urge you to reconsider your position because a lone budgie is a sad, depressed little bird no matter how much company and love we give them. We don't make good budgies...

[xforeverloved]

Shes under a year old for sure. She has a silver band on her leg. No grey around her pupils. But has gone through at least 1 molt.

I will try the greens. That was going to be my next try. As well as I will figure a way to put her cage higher.

I don't know why my other two fought... but they were home alone no other pets.

Ive had budgies as single birds before and with a lot of outside cage time and attention they seemed pretty happy. Always have radios going.

[Pajarita]

Well, we used to do many things that we thought were OK and we then found out were not, One of them was keeping single parrots. Thankfully, we have learned a lot about them in the last 20 years and one thing we have learned is that parrots are not happy by themselves. They can't be because they evolved to be always surrounded by their family from birth to death. All parrot species are classified as highly social. Living with a flock is, along with flight, the way that nature kept them safe and so, been alone, to a parrot, is always stressful not only because of sheer loneliness but also because they feel completely vulnerable. This is not my personal opinion, it's Nature's opinion. She is the one that set the rules, not I. Keeping a social animal alone is never recommended - so much so that the USDA has very strict guidelines when it comes to wild animals. For example, it is illegal to keep a single dolphin, they always have to be kept in pairs. And, in Sweden, it's illegal to keep a single parrot, they have to be kept in pairs of the same species. There was a test done with African grays that showed that birds that live without another bird die younger than the ones that did. And I think that the little ones need a bird companion even more than the large ones because they are normally not handfed so they have imprinted on his parents making humans nothing but a giant scary alien to them.

[liz]

40+ years ago I had two budgies. They were so busy all the time that I never even thought about taking them out or socializing them. Even so they bonded with my father through the cage. When he started an argument they threw sunflower seeds at him.

Another thing I thought of is to cover the top and two sides of the cage to give him a safe corner.

It takes a very long time to make them feel secure. I am now working with cockatiels: Maggie, Cagney & Lacy, Lola, Flutter and Phoenix (my mutilated boy).

[Wolf]

Another possible reason that your bird is not eating the spray millet is that its seed mix also contains millet, just a different variety of it and so it may have had its fill of it. You could try knocking some of the spray type millet seeds into the regular seed mix, just in case that it doesn't recognize it as food. Try this for a week and then try offering the spay millet to it and see if it has changed its mind about it.
You could also put some of it in a saucer or paper plate along with a small variety of finely chopped vegetables. you could take the regular seed mix out and leave this veggie/ millet mix in the cage for two or three hours. I would also try this for at least a week and then remove the spray millet but continue with the veggies as the really should eat more than seeds to be healthy.