Budgie indifferent to millet

[allirho]

The title says it all,
and I know it sounds crazy, but my budgie could care less about his millet!
I've been trying to clicker train my budgie for about a week now.
Either he completely does not understand that the click means he's getting a treat or he's just really, really unenthusiastic about the treats he's getting and so does not show any anticipation over hearing the click.
To be honest, I'm not sure which it is, but I kind of think maybe Tamago just doesn't really care for his millet because sometimes when I click and treat him he just sits there with the millet by his face and doesn't even go for it.
Maybe this is because the seeds I feed him have millet mixed in? (the ingredients just say 'seeds' so I can't be 100% sure there's millet there although I'm pretty certain some of those seeds are millet)

What are some good alternative treats for a budgie?
and how long did it take for your budgie to catch onto clicker training?

[Michael]

1) Use millet spray for training (the kind on a stick)
2) Make sure the millet is fresh and good quality (refusal could mean it's spoiled)
3) Introduce to spray millet in the cage for a few days to familiarize
4) Remove cage food for 3-6 hours prior to training or train first thing in the morning before any food has been placed in cage. Try fewer hours without food at first but go longer if needed but not more than 6 hours.

[Zooey]

That happened to me with Perry, too! Then Lemonlime moved in, and she modeled millet eating, and now Perry loves it too. If possible, find a budgie that loves millet. That's how I got Perry to eat millet and whole wheat bread.

[GlassOnion]

Get spray millet, the long sticks you find at any pet shop. They shoud look like this:

[allirho]

Thanks, all, for the replies.
I probably should have been more specific, but it was spray millet that I was referring to.
It's strange 'cause Tamago already does eat spray millet and I am using spray millet for training.
It's just that he doesn't seem too crazy about it!
For the first few bites he seems a bit excited but then on the third or fourth bite he will often ignore it.
He's already on a training food schedule so I feed him in the morning and evenings and remove food after an hour. I always do training BEFORE he gets his breakfast and dinner, so I know he must be hungry...
Maybe he just gets bored of the spray millet?

He does seem excited over tiny bits of walnut, but he really just chews the bits up and lets the crumbs fall out of his mouth- I don't ever really see him eat it lol!

I will try buying a brand new pack of spray millet and trying it to see if he prefers the taste of fresh millet, although the spray millet I'm using now isn't that old.

[Shelby]

He does seem excited over tiny bits of walnut, but he really just chews the bits up and lets the crumbs fall out of his mouth- I don't ever really see him eat it lol!

I've never heard of a budgie getting bored of millet before, but if walnut is what he really loves, try using that for a while and then see if he's interested in millet later. Sometimes birds' tastes change.

[mtaylor1021]

Do you give him the millit in his cage? My bird LOVES millet, but he only gets it during training sessions as a reward. In his cage he only gets pellets/seeds otherwise the millet wouldn't be much of a reward.

[Acka]

I'm having the same problem with my budgie but I think it's because the seed I feed him has milleT in if already, ?

[allirho]

Do you give him the millit in his cage? My bird LOVES millet, but he only gets it during training sessions as a reward. In his cage he only gets pellets/seeds otherwise the millet wouldn't be much of a reward.

I don't give him spray millet in his cage, but I do think that his seed mix has some millet in it.
I've been getting a lot of progress lately though, because I threw out the millet I was using and bought a brand new package. He seems to like it better, so I guess the other one I was using wasn't that fresh... although it was also new when I was using it.

[allirho]

I'm having the same problem with my budgie but I think it's because the seed I feed him has milleT in if already, ?

Acka,
The seed my budgie was eating has millet in it too.
I now sprout those seeds, so I think he likes his spray millet at training a lot more because it's not sprouted like the millet in his meals are.
You could try sprouting, it's a lot healthier for the bird as well. That way the un-sprouted spray millet will be an extra tasty treat!