Hi again, i apologise if this is in the wrong topic but still finding my way around. After my last post about our sick budgie i should say that i did take him to the vets and he was diagnosed with canker but unfortunately we lost him. I have now got another baby budgie for my daughter. He is taming up very quickly and really are pleased with his progress but i now have a different problem. He came from a pet shop. He was eating hulled oats and mixed seed in the shop. Saw him eating this myself, food was on the bottom of the cage. I have the same food in his cage at home but he wont go near it. I then tried the seed sprays in the raw form and he strips these very quickly but that is all i can get him to touch. I am trying fruit and vegies and realise this is a gradual process but just wish i could get him to touch the other seed as well. Any suggestions? Thanks Lisa

Edited October 16, 200816 yr by Neat

Try finch mix. The seeds are smaller and they take to it very well

Are you sure he is not eating it? He has to be eating something budgies go down hill pretty quick if they are not. Blow the top of the food and see if there are empty husks that fly out. Budgies hull their seed which means they remove the outer covering and if you don't blow them it looks like they have not eaten.

 

Check the poops if they are firm and black/dark brown with white then he is eating. Black is the food and the White is the Urine.

 

Look forward to seeing pictures.

 

P.S. in the FAQ there is a whole section on Food and Nutrition along with an article on how to introduce new foods.

Are you sure he is not eating it? He has to be eating something budgies go down hill pretty quick if they are not. Blow the top of the food and see if there are empty husks that fly out. Budgies hull their seed which means they remove the outer covering and if you don't blow them it looks like they have not eaten. Check the poops if they are firm and black/dark brown with white then he is eating. Black is the food and the White is the Urine.Look forward to seeing pictures.P.S. in the FAQ there is a whole section on Food and Nutrition along with an article on how to introduce new foods.

Hi Elly, yes im sure he is not touching the mixed seed or hulled oats. The only seed he is touching is the millet sprays. I would love to be able to blow the husks off of the top of his seed but he hasnt touched it since we brought him home which is a few days ago. He strips the millet sprays very quickly though. I am trying carrot and apple and getting him to nibble only a tiny bit. That is okay i know that comes with time but at the moment is the millet sprays enough?Oh by the way if your wondering why i am replying at 2am in the morning, its cos i just got home from work and thought i would have a quick look at any suggestions before bed....yawwwwwn. Hmmm will check tomorrow. Thanks guys Lisa

Edited October 16, 200816 yr by Neat
CHANGED Thanx to Thanks

Do this, I had a bird on strike just about 4 weeks ago. Take all food out at night because they don't eat at night anyways, when you uncover him only offer seed & veggies for the first 4 hours of him being up after 4 hours crumble up the millet spray on a dish and mix with seed this will keep him from starving but it will initate him to eat, it make take a couple of days but you should get results. Budgies eat the most right when they wake up and right before bed this is when the millet should not be in his cage.

Do this, I had a bird on strike just about 4 weeks ago. Take all food out at night because they don't eat at night anyways, when you uncover him only offer seed & veggies for the first 4 hours of him being up after 4 hours crumble up the millet spray on a dish and mix with seed this will keep him from starving but it will initiate him to eat, it make take a couple of days but you should get results. Budgies eat the most right when they wake up and right before bed this is when the millet should not be in his cage.

 

Thanks Ellly, i will try this as of tonight, but i do see one little hiccup. This little fellow has not even ventured to the bottom of his cage to where i have seed in a dish for him and also he has seed in a feeder which he has not moved to either, infact he tends to stick to the top perch and hasnt moved to the lower perch or bottom of the cage. So the millet sprays are hanging from the top of the cage directly within his reach. I have put him on the bottom of the cage to show him the other seed but he immediately jumps back up to the top perch. Also i have placed him on the seed feeder and he jumps back up to the perch. Hes a good jumper...lol. The only time he is off this perch is when we take him out of his cage..but then maybe i should remove the perch high up to encourage him to be lower in the cage? Would that be an option do you think? Thanks Lisa

Edited October 16, 200816 yr by Neat
CHANGED THANX TO THANKS

Do this, I had a bird on strike just about 4 weeks ago. Take all food out at night because they don't eat at night anyways, when you uncover him only offer seed & veggies for the first 4 hours of him being up after 4 hours crumble up the millet spray on a dish and mix with seed this will keep him from starving but it will initate him to eat, it make take a couple of days but you should get results. Budgies eat the most right when they wake up and right before bed this is when the millet should not be in his cage.

thanks Ellly, i will try this as of tonight, but i do see one little hiccup. This little fellow has not even ventured to the bottom of his cage to where i have seed in a dish for him and also he has seed in a feeder which he has not moved to either, infact he tends to stick to the top perch and hasnt moved to the lower perch or bottom of the cage. So the millet sprays are hanging from the top of the cage directly within his reach. I have put him on the bottom of the cage to show him the other seed but he immediately jumps back up to the top perch. Also i have placed him on the seed feeder and he jumps back up to the perch. Hes a good jumper...lol. The only time he is off this perch is when we take him out of his cage..but then maybe i should remove the perch high up to encourage him to be lower in the cage? Would that be an option do you think? Thankx Lisa

 

Where do you have your food/water dishes. You could try having them hang right next to his top perch. That way all he has to do is reach over and try his food. As to trying new things...sometimes they can take forever. You just have to keep offering it to him. In time he will try it and then you can start to figure out what he does and does not like. Good luck and please keep us updated!

Take the millet out ....

If you had a choice between Chocolate & weetbix . I am sure you'd go the chocolate

I know I would and that is just what your little one is doing ... It takes a few Hours - Maybe a day or 2 for a new one to settle into his new Family & Home.....

 

The others have given you great advice, Esp Maes. with putting the seed dish up higher ...

 

P.S I am sorry to hear that the other bird passed away

Yes the seed dishes need to be at least in the middle of the cage not under a perch, until a budgie is very comfortable with where they are they will not go to the ground. Do what I suggest but have the seed and water higher as maesie suggested. Keep us updated and watch the poops they tell the story if he is eating or not.

Hi again everyone, i thought i would just let you know what i have been trying as far as getting him to eat mixed seed and not just the millet sprays. Well i have no possible way of raising his seed and water containers as they are the type that fit into a large gate at the bottom of either side of the cage.

 

Why do they make cages like this? I now realise they are not really suitable...and yes it makes sense to raise his food but i have no way to do this. So this morning i lowered both his perches to seed and water level. Now, i really do understand that a budgies natural instinct is to be as high as possible and i felt really awful lowering his perches because of course he immediately started climbing and hanging off the top of the cage.

 

Oh dear! Well i figured he couldnt hang there all day so i kept placing him on the perch that is now right in front of his seed, its always been in front of his seed but the other was higher up. I lowered the higher one right down as well. Yay....he ate some mixed seed. And i actually saw him drink some water. Now it is bed time...and yes of course he wants to be up high to sleep. So I have put one perch back up high for him tonight, im guessing tomorrow i am going to have to lower it again to encourage him to be down near the food again.

 

Is it okay to do this? I dont want him stressing out by moving his perches daily but cant work out another way around this. I am still offering grated apple and carrot but he is not tempted at all but i will persevere with the fruit and veg. By the way my daughter named him Cheeky, yes the other was Cheeky as well...but she loves the name so much and it really does suit him. Would like to post pics but am afraid my camera is on the blink, but will when possible.

 

Thanks again and hope i dont sound too much like a rambling loony but its great to be able to post concerns and get opinions. Cheers Lisa

Edited October 16, 200816 yr by Neat
spelling

My suggestion would be to go out and BUY new seed and water dishes. They are quite cheap and they have the little hooks that you hang them by. This way you don't need to move the perches all the time. It's great you have seen him eat and drink. I'd keep offering the fruit and veggies and perhaps pop in some native branches to chew and rip apart. He'll love them. Just remember to wash them with warm water first.

Edited October 15, 200816 yr by maesie
Typo

I agree with maesie that was going to be my suggestion.

HI again, followed all your advice. This morning i bought Cheeky 2 new dishes, one for seed, one for water. I didnt even realise you could get dishes that clamp on the inside of the cage. How perfect. Put these in this arvo and i am so happy to see him pecking away at his seed, right near his top perch. YOu can tell i am a novice at all this cant you? I am still persevering with the fruit and vegies but still no go but its early days yet. I also got him a ladder for his cage with little round thingys on it. He actually pushed the ladder out of his way to get to his new seed dish. Can you please suggest any other toys that budgies really take to that i can put in his cage to keep him active during the day when no one is at home? There are so many to choose from and i dont want to clutter his cage too much. He lets us put our hand in the cage and give him a scratch on his neck and head but to get him out of his cage we have to hold him. Out of his cage he will walk from finger to finger and even perch on a shoulder for a very short period of time but then he takes off. One wing is clipped so he cant get far or fly into anything. I have found that he likes to sit on our small DVD book shelves which are close to where our lounges are. He will sit there very quietly for as long as you let him, sometimes tweeting away. I think he likes it because he feels sheltered there. Its only just on a week that we have had Cheeky now so i dont think he is doing too badly, and even better with his shiny new dishes..lol...will keep you up to date on his progress. Cheers...LisaOh nearly forgot, is it okay to put bottle brush twigs in the cage? And do i strip the leaves off? Not sure about this. Thx Thanks

Edited October 15, 200816 yr by birdluv
Changed Thx to Thanks, please do not use shortcuts - use only approved shortcuts found in the rules

Thats great to hear! Glad he is now enjoying his seed. hopefully soon he'll start eating his vegies.. if they arn't used to vegies it takes a little while. Mine didn't eat them straight away either. But keep persisting. A good thing to get are toys that you can hide food in... you will find they really enjoy that...

I find that my boys loved the lattice balls that come together in 3's, keep mirrors out of their cage as that promotes a frustrated budgie not a happy one, mine also like preening toys where they could preen too, and a swing.

hi, cheeky sounds like he is settling in well, however, sorry to burst your bubble but only having one wing clipped is quite dangerous as they cant control their flying and can hurt themselves, i would suggest clipping his other wing, they will grow back in the next moult :laughter:

 

good luck

l also agree that you should never have only one wing clipped, having both clipped is safer then only one.

I also agree...he needs the other wing clipped. Toys they like are swings and they like the linked rings that hang.....preferably ones without bells on or remove the bells.

 

The rings are a big hit with mine ... The balls ... Well they last all of 3 days :question: Then they are destroyed

Mine LOVE bottlebrush, especially the softer new growth :question: