It's been 4 months...taming

[Turk]

It's been almost 4 months since I brought home my young parakeet.
Things he will do:
- eat millet if I'm holding it between my fingers
- will perch high while I'm cleaning his cage.
- will usually stay on his middle perch if I leave my hand in the cage.
- will contact call when I leave the room.
- If someone is talking to me he will get start chirping loudly.
-plays with his toys, chirps, head bobs.
- will play the open/close eyes game with me.
- he will open his mouth after I say something to him like he's talking back but nothing comes out.
-has started target training using millet.
- has perched on the perch on the outside of the doorway.
- will get on a perch when he ends up on the floor after accidently flying out of his cage.

When I've had to pick him up, I have tried putting him on top of his cage or on my shoulder. He just sits there like a statue and his heart beats so fast. He does not enjoy it.

He will not step up on my finger or perch while in his cage. He still seems afraid of my hand. He does not bathe and does not seem to enjoy being misted. He's not interested in fruits or veggies other than spinach/ kale and apples. He loves Latin music.

Does he just need more time or do I need to accept that I may never have a bird who wants to be out and handled? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Hezz]

Can your bird fly properly, or have its wings been clipped? How much time during the day do you spend interacting with him? If the wings haven’t been clipped, and you spend multiple lots of 10-15 minutes interacting with him each and every day, then I suggest you continue doing what you are doing, show him how to play with toys, talk to him all the time you are around him. Do what you are doing, just more of it. If the wings have been clipped, then you are starting the bonding journey well behind the starting line, with quite a large handicap. Clipping a bird’s wings can remove all their confidence, causing them great stress and anxiety. They have defence against predators if they can’t fly away. And you are a predator to a small budgie. All you can do then is go very gently, while he learns that you are not going to hurt him, and look forward to the time when he has moulted enough clipped flight feathers to be able to fly again.

[mona]

Sometimes, I still have to lure my birdies out of cage with millet seeds or anything else they are interested in. My female budgie is fond of budgie videos, so I try playing that on my phone & keep it outside the cage. She would just climb on my phone to chat with them. Every birdie has its own personality. My female is a nervous birdie.. it takes more time and patience for her..