Taming a bonded pair of female budgies

[kiva]

Hi, I am so glad I found this wonderful forum! 
This is my first post so a little background first.
I adopted 2 female budgies from the local Petco around 6 weeks ago. They were sitting by the checkout register and were up
for adoption as they were no longer wanted/did not get along with the former owners other 2 budgies. (All 4 shared the same cage).
They came as a bonded pair not to be seperated and from what I was told they are both about 3 - 4 years old. Other than that I have no background history on them  or how they were treated.
My Dad bred budgies back in Australia years ago so I was confident I could give them a good home.
I have read a few threads on taming single budgies but does anyone have any thoughts on how to tame a timid, bonded pair of females?
For the first week I just left them alone in a quiet spot to get settled in because they were so skittish and frightened.
They eventually calmed down a bit and their little personalities are coming out, they are happy eating, preening, chortling etc (when they think no one is around or looking) but the issue I am having is as soon as
 I even try and change their water or put my hand in the cage to give them millet they go into a flap and flee to the furtherest corner of the cage, huddled together and panting through their beaks.
When they get super stressed/frightened they start to give each other kisses with their beaks.
They are starting to get used to me just cooing and talking gently to them from the side of the cage as well as squinting and blinking at them  and they no longer move away but that is about it. They are still frightened little budgies.
The reason I would like them tamed (even if its just slightly) is that all they do is sit, preen, eat, and bicker.
They are not interested in any toys or shredding or anything that would give them some mental stimulation or fun. It would be nice  if they could at least come out of their cage and play on a play gym or take interest in something similar.
I was putting them outside for a few hours a day when it was warmer and they did like to call out to the wild songbirds but now it is too cold for that and I can tell they are just bored.
Sorry for the long post....thank you for reading and any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Hezz]

You have an uphill battle there; two older timid hens would have to be an almost worst case scenario, but at least they have each other. And with time they will settle, they may not play with toys ever - some do, some don't - but make sure they always have toys available. Bells, mirrors and swings seem to be the favoured budgie toys. Make sure they have something they can use their beak on as well; mine have always got pieces of bark and bits of tree to munch into a mess.

Be prepared for this to take well over 12 months before there is any obvious difference to their behaviour. All you can do is to take it very very steady, and try to show them you are associated with good things, such as millet, but they may never get to accept you or your hand readily. I usually tell people to finger-train their budgies before they let them free in the house, but with yours you may be better to start with a stick, or spare perch, length of dowel. Get them stepping up onto the stick and down again will ensure that you have the means to get them back into the cage when they need to be. I suggest this and general acceptance of yourself is where you need to start, and give them the biggest cage you can afford in both money and space. Good luck with these two girls - hens can be a law into themselves, and not the easiest to interact with, but with time I am sure they will entertain you no end.