budgie or lovebird ?

[kaylayuh]

i see , well i'll keep the millet seeds as treats , i dont know what a pellet diet is realy ? , i will take a picture for the seeds they are eating know so you can get to know what this is and tell me if its good or not ..i also have the cuttlefish bone for them in the cage but they dont seem to have touched it since they got here and i also gave them half an apple today and they didnt eat from it too i think .. is all that happening because they are still new to the place ? , also while i was target training them then giving them this millet seeds on a spoon because the still scared from my hand , one budgie was eating then when the other came close to eat the first one kinda bite it so it dosent eat ! , is that normal or should i seperate them ? ,and can you please explain more about sticking the millet seeds with honey ?

A pellet diet is a special diet made up of pelleted food. Since you're in Egypt, I'm not sure where you could find them there, but popular brands are Harrisons, Roudybush, or Zupreem. It has a more complete set of nutrients for the birds than just plain seeds do.

They probably won't touch the cuttlebone or new foods for a while. They're in a new environment and are still scared. Once they get used to being in their new cage, they will start exploring everything you give them. Most budgies are really picky about what fresh foods they eat, too, so they might not go for the apple right away. Also, make sure not to give them apple seeds. You can try cutting up the fruit in different shapes to see if they'll try it.

To make your own seed sticks, you can use a bird safe stick. Once you have the bird safe stick, use a butter knife or brush to cover the stick with honey. When the stick is completely covered in honey, put your seed mix all over the stick. You can use millet seed, flax seed, oat groats, a combination of the three, or a store bought seed mix. Refrigerate the seed stick until it hardens. Once hard, you can give it to your birds.

And my budgies will chase eachother away from their food, too. It's normal. As long as the bird isn't being hurt, you should be okay. To make training easier, though, you can try separating the birds. I got my birds used to my hands by sitting with my hand in their cage for 10 - 15 minutes at a time about 3 times a day. When they stop running from your hand, you can move it closer to them. Eventually, they'll realize your hand won't hurt them.

You should be able to find millet sprays in Egypt. A quick Google search says that it is commonly used to make a kind of flat bread in the Middle East and also used in warm cereals. Fermented millet is also used to make beer in Egypt. If you use Ebay, you can search for "millet spray" and you will get a lot of results. Most of it is pretty cheap, but shipping and handling charges may be expensive.

[coolhady13]

i see now i got all the info i need thanks a looooot kaylah you realy helped me from the begining ,thanks again the pics coming soon ,good luck with your birds

[kaylayuh]

i see now i got all the info i need thanks a looooot kaylah you realy helped me from the begining ,thanks again the pics coming soon ,good luck with your birds

You're welcome. Just let us know if you need anything else.

[GlassOnion]

There are many ways of converting birds from seeds to pellets. You can find many resources with a quick google search. Uncolored pellets are the best, as they are much healthier. I will tell you that it may take months before they finally accept the new foods. ALWAYS check their droppings to see if they're eating or not! Budgies can die in 2-3 days due to starvation.

Offer a wet mush of pellets/fruits/veggies mixed with seed. This always seems to get them to at least taste the other foods- and chances are they'll peck at the pieces to give it a try.

[coolhady13]

You're welcome. Just let us know if you need anything else.

well there is only one problem that im facing now , im getting very good results with the male in target training and its almost fully target trained but the only problem is that the seed sticks i made didnt work out they are to sold that he cant even eat it so instead i put some millet seeds in a spoon and give to them , now to train my budgie to step up i need to hold the stick,treat and the clicker( im using an Electric Cigarette Lighter to click with because i didnt find a clicker in any petstore) so any idea of a treat that can be hold with my palm and forefinger except millet spray because i couldnt find them in the pet store near me , a friend of mine told me that he will look for them in a petstore near him but now i need somthing else to use as treat help please

[coolhady13]

There are many ways of converting birds from seeds to pellets. You can find many resources with a quick google search. Uncolored pellets are the best, as they are much healthier. I will tell you that it may take months before they finally accept the new foods. ALWAYS check their droppings to see if they're eating or not! Budgies can die in 2-3 days due to starvation.

Offer a wet mush of pellets/fruits/veggies mixed with seed. This always seems to get them to at least taste the other foods- and chances are they'll peck at the pieces to give it a try.

ok i will look for pellets here and do as u said thanks for help

[kaylayuh]

In the U.S., pet shops sell a ton of different treats for birds. I'm not sure what's available in Egypt, but you can buy a ton of different treats online as well. My budgies only really like the spray millet, so that's generally what I use. I've also tried dried papaya, dried mango, dried banana chips, and dried pepper strips.

You could try making bird bread. There are some recipes in the food section of this forum, and there's a wealth of recipes online. I've never made any, but a lot of birds seem to love it.

Also, seed sticks will dry hard. Most birds have no problem eating them as they regularly use their beak to break apart hard food objects. If your bird is trying to eat the stick and genuinely can't break off some of the seeds, you could try breaking it apart into smaller pieces which should be more managable for the bird to get its beak around. If they aren't touching the seed sticks at all, they may just not be interested.

And my male budgie was much easier to work with than the female. I'm not sure if this is the case in general or just a special situation for the both of us, but don't stop trying to work with the female. My budgies don't like to be handled in general, but both with occasionally step up. I don't try to train mine because they seem particularly distressed when I do and they get a lot of time out of the cage daily, but persistance really is key.

Good luck, and I hope you find a good bird store soon. I tried to google some bird shops for you, but I didn't find much.

[Saerphe]

Many people have had negative experiences with pet supply store birds that were sold as hand tame when they actually aren't.

Almost sounds like what happened to me... My parents got my cockatiel from a Pet Paradise; they claimed that Howie was a male, hand-reared bird. We didn't realise Howie was actually female until she started laying eggs. She was quite gentle though, and quickly learned to step-up for me, so the hand-reared part may well have been true.

[kaylayuh]

Many people have had negative experiences with pet supply store birds that were sold as hand tame when they actually aren't.

Almost sounds like what happened to me... My parents got my cockatiel from a Pet Paradise; they claimed that Howie was a male, hand-reared bird. We didn't realise Howie was actually female until she started laying eggs. She was quite gentle though, and quickly learned to step-up for me, so the hand-reared part may well have been true.

I think sexing of a bird in general is a bit hard unless you have them surgically or DNA sexed. The PetCo where I got my budgies from had no idea what sex the birds were and all their signs marked the birds as "hand friendly." In reality, my budgies are distressed by human interaction and are quite happy to be in their cage with their toys, on the play gym, or walking around on the floor. I can get them to step up with a lot of persistence but they won't come to me willingly for attention. I'm convinced they'd be perfectly happy if I only cleaned their cage, gave them food and water, and made sure they had a supply of toys to destroy.

I also tend not to handle my budgies much because they seem physically distressed by it. Their breathing quickens and they get extremely jittery. Even after months of working on it, it's a perpetual problem that isn't going away. I'm fine providing them what's necessary and giving them extra toys and time out of the cage to make their life as interesting and enriched as possible, but I will admit that they aren't the birds I thought I was getting and I was sad about it for a long time. Now I'm just happy that they're healthy, happy, and seem to really enjoy interacting with eachother and their toys. If it means that I have to pack their cage with a couple extra toys or buy them a larger cage or nicer play gym, it's something that I'll do. But I really do wish they would like to hang out with me.

[coolhady13]

Many people have had negative experiences with pet supply store birds that were sold as hand tame when they actually aren't.

Almost sounds like what happened to me... My parents got my cockatiel from a Pet Paradise; they claimed that Howie was a male, hand-reared bird. We didn't realise Howie was actually female until she started laying eggs. She was quite gentle though, and quickly learned to step-up for me, so the hand-reared part may well have been true.

I think sexing of a bird in general is a bit hard unless you have them surgically or DNA sexed. The PetCo where I got my budgies from had no idea what sex the birds were and all their signs marked the birds as "hand friendly." In reality, my budgies are distressed by human interaction and are quite happy to be in their cage with their toys, on the play gym, or walking around on the floor. I can get them to step up with a lot of persistence but they won't come to me willingly for attention. I'm convinced they'd be perfectly happy if I only cleaned their cage, gave them food and water, and made sure they had a supply of toys to destroy.

I also tend not to handle my budgies much because they seem physically distressed by it. Their breathing quickens and they get extremely jittery. Even after months of working on it, it's a perpetual problem that isn't going away. I'm fine providing them what's necessary and giving them extra toys and time out of the cage to make their life as interesting and enriched as possible, but I will admit that they aren't the birds I thought I was getting and I was sad about it for a long time. Now I'm just happy that they're healthy, happy, and seem to really enjoy interacting with eachother and their toys. If it means that I have to pack their cage with a couple extra toys or buy them a larger cage or nicer play gym, it's something that I'll do. But I really do wish they would like to hang out with me.

well,hang out with the green cheek conure also you can start breeding your budgies and add a nest box for them then take one of the babies after it can eat by it self and bond with it ,btw do u teach your conure tricks ?

i think bonding with female parrots would be cool as michael and kili