Finger Training new Parakeet.

[ilikepigeons]

It's good that you are feeding pellets, but my opinion is they should not be 100% of the diet of any bird. The concern with pellets is they are formulated for parrots in general and include a lot of calcium. Budgies don't need as much calcium as other parrots, and the excess calcium from too many pellets puts their kidneys under pressure and in extreme cases can cause kidney failure through calcification. That's why I use a speicies specific pellet, made for finches and budgies specifically, I use that for my diamond doves and canaries too. Also, budgies are granivores and need a good portion of seed in the diet.
I don't get the thing about seeds being high in fat, my seed mix is actually lower in fat than my pellets. Of course there are seeds that are high in fat, such as sunflower seeds, but when portion control is practiced with seed mix (they eat everything in the bowl) the fat percentage overall is much less.
My seed mix fat percentage : 6.1% (Topflite budgie mix, ingredients: NZ Canary Seed, White French Millet, Hulled Oats, Panicum. )
My Pellets fat percentage : 8.0% (Vetafarm finch and budgie crumbles)
For my birds, they get all the pellets they can eat all day, and then at night they get as much seed mix as is gone in the morning.
Pellets are essential for birds though, it's difficult to get all the nutrients a bird needs in their diet, let alone completely balanced, pellets do that job for us.
The best pellet is the one your bird will eat. Try different varieties, s/he may just not like zupreem. Mine hated vetafarm at first, then hated roudybush, then loved harrisons but it was too expensive for me, and when I tried vetafarm again, they decided they like it, so I will stick with that.
Sprouts are a good food, often more easily accepted by 'seed junkies' than veggies. They are higher in certain nutrients and they bring down the fat percentage even more, using that energy to grow. Try just letting the seed grow till you can see the tiniest tip of the sprout, so it is less likely your bird will notice. You can let them grow a little more as your birds get used to them.
Try get he/r eating fruit and vegetables if you can. Carrot, apple (that has been a gateway food for my lovebirds), romaine/cos lettuce (a favourite with my budgie), cucumber, dandelion, chickweed, sow thistle, and many more.
My budgie also LOVES green grass heads if you can get ones that are safe (no chemicals). I hang them in the cage with a peg and he goes bats getting the immature seed out. It's a natural food for them in the wild. Prairie grass is the favourite, but orchard grass is a close second. (some picture examples)

S/he's a gorgeous little budgie! Congratulations on getting her. Looks like you are doing an awesome job of taming the little fella

 

[asokatonu]

It's good that you are feeding pellets, but my opinion is they should not be 100% of the diet of any bird. The concern with pellets is they are formulated for parrots in general and include a lot of calcium. Budgies don't need as much calcium as other parrots, and the excess calcium from too many pellets puts their kidneys under pressure and in extreme cases can cause kidney failure through calcification. That's why I use a speicies specific pellet, made for finches and budgies specifically, I use that for my diamond doves and canaries too. Also, budgies are granivores and need a good portion of seed in the diet.
I don't get the thing about seeds being high in fat, my seed mix is actually lower in fat than my pellets. Of course there are seeds that are high in fat, such as sunflower seeds, but when portion control is practiced with seed mix (they eat everything in the bowl) the fat percentage overall is much less.
My seed mix fat percentage : 6.1% (Topflite budgie mix, ingredients: NZ Canary Seed, White French Millet, Hulled Oats, Panicum. )
My Pellets fat percentage : 8.0% (Vetafarm finch and budgie crumbles)
For my birds, they get all the pellets they can eat all day, and then at night they get as much seed mix as is gone in the morning.
Pellets are essential for birds though, it's difficult to get all the nutrients a bird needs in their diet, let alone completely balanced, pellets do that job for us.
The best pellet is the one your bird will eat. Try different varieties, s/he may just not like zupreem. Mine hated vetafarm at first, then hated roudybush, then loved harrisons but it was too expensive for me, and when I tried vetafarm again, they decided they like it, so I will stick with that.
Sprouts are a good food, often more easily accepted by 'seed junkies' than veggies. They are higher in certain nutrients and they bring down the fat percentage even more, using that energy to grow. Try just letting the seed grow till you can see the tiniest tip of the sprout, so it is less likely your bird will notice. You can let them grow a little more as your birds get used to them.
Try get he/r eating fruit and vegetables if you can. Carrot, apple (that has been a gateway food for my lovebirds), romaine/cos lettuce (a favourite with my budgie), cucumber, dandelion, chickweed, sow thistle, and many more.
My budgie also LOVES green grass heads if you can get ones that are safe (no chemicals). I hang them in the cage with a peg and he goes bats getting the immature seed out. It's a natural food for them in the wild. Prairie grass is the favourite, but orchard grass is a close second. (some picture examples) View attachment 2989083View attachment 2989085

S/he's a gorgeous little budgie! Congratulations on getting her. Looks like you are doing an awesome job of taming the little fella

Thank you for all of that info! I’ll look into some different brands and I’ll keep working on convincing him to eat some veggies! Cielo is definitely a seed junky! Do you have any tips that I could try to get him off seeds and on to pellets? I am going to try soaking them on Friday see if he’ll eat them that way, but he doesn’t seem interested in anything accept seeds. And I really Just want to help him have a healthy diet! Also any suggestions on getting him to eat veggies are extremely welcome.

 

[ilikepigeons]

Thank you for all of that info! I’ll look into some different brands and I’ll keep working on convincing him to eat some veggies! Cielo is definitely a seed junky! Do you have any tips that I could try to get him off seeds and on to pellets? I am going to try soaking them on Friday see if he’ll eat them that way, but he doesn’t seem interested in anything accept seeds. And I really Just want to help him have a healthy diet! Also any suggestions on getting him to eat veggies are extremely welcome.

What I did with mine was in the morning when he was hungriest, rather than filling the bowl with seed I filled it with pellets, nothing out of the ordinary, just pellets instead of seed. S/he may not try it immediately, you can leave the pellets in for one or two hours and then offer regular food/seed. That's what I did with mine, but really just try anything, as all birds are different. If you have any other small birds that are eating pellets/or veggies, you can try letting him watch, most birds will get that it is food once another bird eats it, when I introduced my new zebra finches to the aviary they immediately took to the pellets and veggies, most likely because of watching the other birds.
Yes, birds, especially parrots and budgies, can be stubborn little fellas to get them eating healthy, but I haven't had or come across a single bird that wasn't able to be converted eventually, hang in there!
For the veggies, my birds learned to eat them by just hanging them up on the cage, they will usually get curious and nibble at it, then realize it tastes good. My budgies favourite is probably a crisp, wet cos/romaine lettuce leaf, but I have other birds who prefer apple, carrot, ect, they have their own unique tastes so you can experiment with different types. Sometimes they will just play with it, one of mine just loves to destroy slices of apple, bite it and fling it all over the floor, lol! But eventually mine have eaten it. You can offer pellets and veggies first thing in the morning, being a tad hungry can also help them try veggies out.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

What I did with mine was in the morning when he was hungriest, rather than filling the bowl with seed I filled it with pellets, nothing out of the ordinary, just pellets instead of seed. S/he may not try it immediately, you can leave the pellets in for one or two hours and then offer regular food/seed. That's what I did with mine, but really just try anything, as all birds are different. If you have any other small birds that are eating pellets/or veggies, you can try letting him watch, most birds will get that it is food once another bird eats it, when I introduced my new zebra finches to the aviary they immediately took to the pellets and veggies, most likely because of watching the other birds.
Yes, birds, especially parrots and budgies, can be stubborn little fellas to get them eating healthy, but I haven't had or come across a single bird that wasn't able to be converted eventually, hang in there!
For the veggies, my birds learned to eat them by just hanging them up on the cage, they will usually get curious and nibble at it, then realize it tastes good. My budgies favourite is probably a crisp, wet cos/romaine lettuce leaf, but I have other birds who prefer apple, carrot, ect, they have their own unique tastes so you can experiment with different types. Sometimes they will just play with it, one of mine just loves to destroy slices of apple, bite it and fling it all over the floor, lol! But eventually mine have eaten it. You can offer pellets and veggies first thing in the morning, being a tad hungry can also help them try veggies out.

No bird should be a tad hungry to force them to eat something they dont like

 

[HappyClucker7]

An all pellet diet is bad for budgies. They absolutely need seeds in their diet. But, the most important part of their diet is vegetables. I feed my budgies about 25% seeds (an organic seed mix that I make myself), 25% pellets (Harrison's Super Fine), and 50% fresh vegetables.
What I usually do is give them seeds in the morning (right after they wake up) and then they get pellets and vegetables for the rest of the day, until right before bed time, where I give them seeds again.
If your budgie refuses to touch the pellets (although remember, it can take a while) you might want to try some other brands. Some budgies are very, very picky, and will only eat one brand of pellets.
What I did to get my budgies to eat vegetables, is I sprinkled some millet seeds over the top. When they went to eat the millet, they accidentally ate some vegetables, and realized that it tasted good. Also they cutting the vegetables in different sizes. Most people feed their birds chop, but mine hate that. They only eat slightly bigger pieces, and it needs to be absolutely fresh, lol. Other birds prefer big pieces that they can chew on. Also, try lots of different types of vegetables. Broccoli is a favorite, because the top is like a seed. My budgies also love carrot tops, celery (don't give too much), and swiss chard.
You can try to sprinkle seeds on the pellets too, but it's very easy for them to just pick out the seeds. I actually pretended to eat the pellets (and acted as if they were delicious), and then I just offered the pellets in my hand and they started eating them, lol.
For taming, what you're doing with the millet is very good. You just have to be really patient, and don't push her too much. Let her decide when she wants to be with you and when not. Don't force her to do anything.
When she's finally eating vegetables, you can bring the bowl and hold it while she eats out of it. That really helped my budgies get comfortable with being near my hands.
You can also try some simple training. A great one to start with is target training. Just take a chopstick and teach her to touch the end of it. Start by putting it close to her, and wait until she moves towards it, or reaches for it, then quickly reward her with millet. She'll learn that she needs to go near the stick, and then she'll start touching it. When she touches it for the first time, give her a big reward to show that that's what you want. Eventually, she'll start following the stick everywhere.

 

[ButtonHoarder]

The pellets that I have are zupreem brand which seems to be a pretty good brand (as far as I can tel). He refuses to touch them though. @Poultrybonkers mentioned that they soak their pellets? Maybe he would give them a try if they were moist? This morning I gave him just pellets for a couple hours and he went down multiple times to peak at it he even pulled a couple out. He might have tasted one or two it is hard to tell. In the long run though he was not impressed.

Let me know how the soaking goes! If it doesn't work, you might just have to e patient and try different things
Zupreem is a good brand as far as I know, I don't use it because it has added sugar.

 

[ilikepigeons]

No bird should be a tad hungry to force them to eat something they dont like

It's not forcing, it's encouraging. And the hopes are, they will realize they do like it once they try a single pellet or a nibble or vegetable. If I always offered my birds free feed seeds and pellets are the same time (letting them choose what they like, never making them the tiniest bit hungry whatsoever) I can almost guarantee you that they would pick out their favourite 1 seed and not eat anything else, and that's not good for them at all.
It's like refusing to give a small child food just before dinner, because if you do it will spoil their appetite and they won't eat (the usually healthier) dinner.
Much worse for a bird to be on an all seed diet, if being hungry is what gets them onto a healthier diet that's fine.
For extremely difficult birds, it is even recommended by many experts as a last resort to do 'Controlled Cold Turkey'. They don’t recommend cold turkey, they recommend controlled cold turkey which is different and used when birds are either in desperate need of conversion or simply don’t take to anything else. Cold turkey is dumping out all their seed and never giving them anything until they starve to death, controlled cold turkey is offering the pellets without seeds present, weighing them regularly to track their health in the hopes that the belief of no other food source will make them try it. As soon as the birds start dropping weight you return them to their normal diet and try again at a later time, small levels of weight fluctuation (0-5%) are safe and happens regularly in the wild between available food sources and seasonal changes. Obviously not the preferred method of conversion, a very last resort type thing, but for some birds it is necessary, and if they didn't do this, they would likely die of health problems caused by inappropriate diet.

 

[asokatonu]

Ok! Wow thanks for all of those posts guys! I am going to try to soak the pellets tomorrow and see if he will eat them. If not I think I'll give what @ilikepigeons said a try. Give the pellets in the morning and then provide seeds a little later. He normally gets up around 6:00 with me so if I just fill his food dish with pellets at night right as he is going to bed and then switch it to his normal seed blend around 7:30ish would that be ok?
I know that It can take consistency I guess I'll just have to be more stubborn than he is and outlast him.

I was hoping that since he was younger he would take to the pellets better.
I'll get some broccoli and kale or something from the store maybe he will be more interested in something green? I tried floating some corn in his bathwater yesterday, but he didn't touch it. He definitely eyeballed it, but that was all. I think I will also try floating some corn or carrots in his bathwater again because I think he was interested just not enough to check them out.

Thank you for all of the help and support! As always any other information is very welcome.

 

[asokatonu]

Let me know how the soaking goes! If it doesn't work, you might just have to e patient and try different things
Zupreem is a good brand as far as I know, I don't use it because it has added sugar

You said that you used Harrisons brand right? I looked that up yesterday it was pretty expensive, but that is to be expected with a high-quality brand. I couldn't find which one of their products was specifically for budgies. Which product do you use?

 

[Serin]

I use Roudybush Nibles for my parrots.