Millet addiction in prep for training

[flannel]

Hey fam! I have had my sweet budgie Moss for a week now, and was thinking that I would use millet in his training.
However, I don't think he is familiar with millet! He came from what I would call a backyard breeder, and is only familiar with a seed diet (which we're obviously working on).
I have offered millet and he is quite uninterested. So, what do we think about using it in his foraging tray and hanging in his cage until he gets comfy and curious and tries it, then all of a sudden he gets wildly addicted to it and then it becomes high value. Is my logic sound? Am I mad? (Who knows at this point)

 

[Star24]

Hey, star didn’t have millet in the cage from the place we got her but I left millet hanging in the cage for a while when I brought Star home, I took it out this afternoon and tried using it as a training treat a couple of hours later and low and behold Star is now obsessed with millet and actually came onto my finger for the first time! You’re not mad at all! Haha.
Could I ask what you put in Moss’s foraging tray? Thank you!

 

[flannel]

I have a cut down shallow carboard box with a sprig of millet at the bottom, some dried flowers from my garden (pansies, petunias, calendula, cornflower), some dried eucalyptus leaves and twigs (I have a tree in my yard), and a big dried banksia flower with seedpods still attached. He likes sitting on top of the banksia and shredding it, and I have found that he has been eating the millet so I've just made it harder by chucking some shredded paper on top for him to dig through.
I remember reading somewhere that budgies are grass foraging birds so I put his box at the bottom of his cage, and he seems to enjoy it.

 

[GreenThing]

When I brought Percy home from an outdoor aviary, he didn't recognize millet as food. He had to see Merlin eat it to know! You could try pretending to eat it!

I personally don't know any budgie for whom millet isn't high value (unless they are overfed all day), although Margo reaeeeeelly enjoys her pellets-- enough that she won't step up unless she sees I have a big piece!

 

[Zara]

what do we think about using it in his foraging tray and hanging in his cage until he gets comfy and curious and tries it, then all of a sudden he gets wildly addicted to it and then it becomes high value. Is my logic sound? Am I mad?

Not mad at all.
If your bird has never had it, they don't know what it is or how good it is. They likely don't recognise it as food, so you could even cut down some shorter pieces of the sprig and lay it in the food bowl so they make the connection that this is food.

Good luck!