Advice for budgie eating only millet

[nyc_budgie]

Hello kind budgie owners. I have an English budgie named Petrusha, around 2 years old. He's always been fickle with food - never got into eating pellets and so we had to settle for giving him Zupreem Sensible Seeds from which he usually picks out only the seeds and leaves everything else. We did try the standard sneaky gradual reduction of seed ratio in a seed to pellet mixture, but he just would not touch the pellets!

About 2 weeks ago, he became sick - his stool was watery and he didn't have an appetite. As a way to get him to eat, we started to give him millet. He seems to have recovered in the past week, but the problem is that now he's not eating his seeds at all! I'm trying to sprinkle in some millet into the seeds as a way to trick him into eating them, but again, he seems to just pick what he wants out and leaves the rest.

We also tried giving him different batches of seeds, to eliminate potential that a particular batch was bad.

Taking him to a vet is logistically a big inconvenience in the next week (live in urban center and it's pretty cold here now), but I realize that this could be critical, so look forward to your advice.
Thank you!

 

[Jcas]

Keep trying! Leave the seed mix out for him all the time and only offer the millet maybe two or three times a day for only ten minutes at a time. Since he has eaten the seed mix before, he knows that it’s food so he shouldn’t starve himself. Harrison’s is one pellet brand that makes an ultra fine pellet which is very similar in size to millet seeds. Some birds take to that more readily as it looks similar to their favorite food! The best thing to do is get him eating some fresh foods! Veggies especially are important for any bird to eat. Lettuce, spinach, peas, carrots, corn, peppers are all good options. Hard- boiled egg is also something that my budgies enjoy. Offering new foods daily will usually win a bird over in time. It could take weeks, but any new birds I get who haven’t had fresh foods before will eventually start trying new things out of curiosity and begin to find new favorite healthy foods! Glad your budgie seems to be doing better and hopefully with a little patience you can get him eating healthier (budgies sure do love their millet!)

 

[nyc_budgie]

@Jcas thanks so much for your insights. Will keep trying! Should I try Harrisons' High Potentcy Super-Fine food or the regular Harrison's Adult Lifetime Super Fine Organic Pellet?

 

[Jcas]

I think Harrison’s recommends starting with the high potency and then switching to the adult lifetime pellets. Personally, I think the high potency pellets are too much protein for a little budgie and I would just go with the adult lifetime pellets. Just my opinion

 

[GivemeSeedsorgivemeFlesh]

I also have a budgie millet junkie that I inherited two months ago and it's been quite a process to convince him that anything else is food. I make the biggest progress with him in the mornings when he is most hungry. If I give him any seeds first thing he won't touch anything else all day. I ate peas in front of him very slowly and noisily out of his food dish while he was hungry. Then I would offer a pea to him in my fingers. I did this every day for a good while. Finally he tried it. I think the first taste was probably accidental and he was aiming for my fingers but missed and ended up with peas instead. That was our first breakthrough. I never let him go too long without seeds though because he would just refuse to eat and get upset.
...maybe 30 minutes? And then I would sprinkle a few seeds in his veggies. Noisily. Deliciously. Eat peas and show him mashed peas in my mouth. When he started eating peas I would always give that first and then mix seeds in later. I added finely chopped carrots and walnuts. Added broccoli and green beans and corn. Added tangerines. He ignored it. Added celery. That was a hit. He likes celery strands dipped in water! After two months of this he finally nibbled at a green bean in my fingers. Now he chows down but only when I hold it. He ate almost a whole green bean piece this morning! It takes a good half hour to an hour every morning of consistent encouragement to get him to keep trying. He does much better when I am standing there babying him. Good luck!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I agree with high potency superfine being too much. I use it mixed with formula (crunchies) when weaning babies. Otherwise adult lifetime.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hello kind budgie owners. I have an English budgie named Petrusha, around 2 years old. He's always been fickle with food - never got into eating pellets and so we had to settle for giving him Zupreem Sensible Seeds from which he usually picks out only the seeds and leaves everything else. We did try the standard sneaky gradual reduction of seed ratio in a seed to pellet mixture, but he just would not touch the pellets!

About 2 weeks ago, he became sick - his stool was watery and he didn't have an appetite. As a way to get him to eat, we started to give him millet. He seems to have recovered in the past week, but the problem is that now he's not eating his seeds at all! I'm trying to sprinkle in some millet into the seeds as a way to trick him into eating them, but again, he seems to just pick what he wants out and leaves the rest.

We also tried giving him different batches of seeds, to eliminate potential that a particular batch was bad.

Taking him to a vet is logistically a big inconvenience in the next week (live in urban center and it's pretty cold here now), but I realize that this could be critical, so look forward to your advice.
Thank you!

If your budgie is human friendly it helps to eat what you want him to eat. Veggies, cooked brown rice pasta. My budgies want to eat what I'm eating.