two parakeets

Question
all right, let me try. bird A is about 4 months old and he will get on my finger if its in the cage, especially if i have millet in my hand. He will never come out of the cage on his free will.  I Often grab him and take him out to play. He will stay on my shoulder pretty well, but if i take him in the room of his cage he will fly off my finger into it.

 Bird B still has stripes on his head. He will never go on my finger if its in his cage, but he will look like he's thinking about it if i have millet. On the occasion that i take him out of the cage, he will often bite. Lately i have gotten him to go on my finger when he is out of his cage, but he will often fly off. i have had both birds for about a month and i don't have any pets that bother them. I was wondering if you could me how to get them to come feely out of the cage because i desperately want to spend time with them.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
I have two parakeets who are both about half tamed. The problem is that I can never get them to come out of their cage. It's a battle every time. If they would come out on their own, I could do lots more with them. They are both less than a year old and come from the pet store. Any advice you could give me would be much appreciated!

-----Answer-----
Hi, Lydia.  Thanks for posting!

Let me know what you've tried with these birds to get them to come out of their cage (do you leave the cage door open, do you remove them, do you have other animals, etc., etc).  When you say they are half-tame, how tame are they exactly?  How long have you had them?

The more details you can provide, the better I can help you.

Chrys

Answer
Hi again Lydia.

What you need to realize about birds is that their cage is their safety zone, their personal territory, their space, and birds defend this area.  Most don't like "intruders" invading their territory.  In addition, when you put your hand/finders inside their cage, you are in fact cornering them inside their cage.  Birds (in fact, all animals) will defend their territory and themselves in situations where they are cornered or territory "invaded."  This is one reason you are having trouble getting them to come outside their cage and why they are biting.  Grabbing them doesn't help, as this makes them afraid of your fingers/hands, and they will mistrust you (predators grab birds the same as you would grab them to take them out of their cage).  In order for your birds to be friendly with you, you need to build a mutually trusting relationship.

When you have your birds outside their cage, and they can see their cage, they will most always try to get back to their cage.  This is their safety zone, where they feel the most secure.  When you want to work with your birds, you need to either take them into a room where they can't access their cage or remove the cage from the room you are in.  Also, it helps to keep the birds' wing flight feathers clipped so they can't fly away from you every time you want to work with them.

If you've only owned these birds for a month, they might not be settled yet in their new environment in your home and they might not yet be familiar enough with you and your family.  Perhaps they need some more time to settle down in their new environment?  

My website offers information on taming/retraining, etc., if you want to visit:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Come back with any additional questions.

Chrys