Well today for the first time ever Skittles took a treat from my hand 
. About a week ago I have the poor guy a large sprig of millet. He had never had it before in his home prior to mine. In fact there is a lot of stuff he never had until he came here, but I digress.
After he found out how tasty millet is I knew it would be a important tool taming him.
Last night I used a tiny amount ton garnish finely chopped apple and carrot. And it enticed him to the bowl and after a bit of picking the millet seed off the mash, he eventually dug into his first taste of fresh food. So THAT was a milestone.
Then today I was sitting next to his cage and talking to him ect. I sat there and thought about how other than the teeny tiny bit of millet I sprinkled in his food dish last night, he hadn't had any millet since he finished off his large sprig of it days ago. So I thought this would be a good time to try to entice him into taking a treat from my fingers.
I took a tiny little sprig and got his attention with it. He was HIGHLY interested but when I placed it through the bars he shied away...Like he does when I offer any treat...So I took my hand back and said "You don't want this? Okay I'll just eat it then" and proceeded to pretend to eat it. Which made him run back to the front of the cage. Two more times he shied but the third time he got brave and started plucking/eating seeds.
I was so proud of him, I got him a second little sprig and he gobbled it down without hesitation!
So YAY thanks to millet and patience my little guy is finally trusting me enough to take a treat from my hand. YAY!
. About a week ago I have the poor guy a large sprig of millet. He had never had it before in his home prior to mine. In fact there is a lot of stuff he never had until he came here, but I digress.After he found out how tasty millet is I knew it would be a important tool taming him.
Last night I used a tiny amount ton garnish finely chopped apple and carrot. And it enticed him to the bowl and after a bit of picking the millet seed off the mash, he eventually dug into his first taste of fresh food. So THAT was a milestone.
Then today I was sitting next to his cage and talking to him ect. I sat there and thought about how other than the teeny tiny bit of millet I sprinkled in his food dish last night, he hadn't had any millet since he finished off his large sprig of it days ago. So I thought this would be a good time to try to entice him into taking a treat from my fingers.
I took a tiny little sprig and got his attention with it. He was HIGHLY interested but when I placed it through the bars he shied away...Like he does when I offer any treat...So I took my hand back and said "You don't want this? Okay I'll just eat it then" and proceeded to pretend to eat it. Which made him run back to the front of the cage. Two more times he shied but the third time he got brave and started plucking/eating seeds.
I was so proud of him, I got him a second little sprig and he gobbled it down without hesitation!
So YAY thanks to millet and patience my little guy is finally trusting me enough to take a treat from my hand. YAY!
