Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, i have a new budgie, for 2 weeks, he is not scared of me and he sits on my finger, but only near the cage. He does not want to come out at all, twice i took him out and he jumped to the floor, run under the bed and became very scared. Also, he does not eat anything except seeds, not even millet, he does not eat from my hand, he does not eat fruts or vegetables. The only interaction we have is that he sits on my finger and lets me pet him gently, although does not trust me completely yet. He is not intrested in any toys except his mirror. And he is very quiet, sits on the same perch for hours. He was about 3 weeks old when i got him from a pet store. When he sees me he shakes his right wing only, may be he is still scared?
I would appreciate any suggestions
P.S I suspect he is a girl

I just posted some advice on teaching a healthy diet in another thread in the budgie forum. You can find it here.
http://forums.birdhobbyist.com/view.php?id=5332,5338

When you say he`s `shaking` his right wing at you... does he stretch that wing and his leg back when your approach? If that`s the behavior you`re describing, then that means `Hi!` He`s glad to see you.

I think taming would go better if you took him away from his cage. Birds tend to be very territorial about their cages. So if you have another room you could use, perhaps even a bathroom, that would be best. Bring him in, sit with him, offer him whatever treats you`ve been able to coax him into eating... if he`ll allow it, get him to step from one hand to the other with the `step-up` command. Praise him, compliment him... make it fun and exciting. Do this for about 15 minutes once or twice a day. It sounds like he`s already fairly tame, you just need to work on your relationship a little. That`ll develope over time.

As for the toys... do you have a wide variety? I find budgies love Shredders if you can get some of those. You can also try dried corn husks (you can get them in the mexican food aisle) or just plain paper woven in and out of the bars or tied around other toys. Try wooden spoons or popscicle sticks, balsa wood, preenable toys, multi-colored toys, natural colored toys, leather straps with beads and knots, bells, shiney toys, plastic toys, etc... You can also try playing with them yourself and seeing if that`ll get him interested in the toys.

Goodluck!

well if you think it is a girl try grtting a male bird or the oppisite way. if you cant tell look at cere and if it is blue it is a boy!But if you get a new bird you ahve to corntein them for 30-60 days!