Taming my budgie

Question
Once he is out of the cage he seems fine.  I think he quite likes sitting on me but only when his cage isn't in the room.  He'll sit on my shoulder and mess with my hair as well, but again, only when his cage isn't in the room.  If we leave the cage door open and leave him alone he doesn't come out either.  I'm not sure he even knows how to get out of his cage because he has never come out on his own, only when I pick him up and take him out.  I am quite surprised that he doesn't try and bite me when i pick him up because budgies i've had in the past have bitten and drawn blood if i've needed to pick them up.  When we get him out of his cage and move the cage outside the room, he seems more reluctant to go back when we bring the cage back.  Also, he tends to bite a bit when he is tired - not very hard but once he has bitten me once, he seems to think its ok to do it, so if he bites me now i poke him back and he stops it.  Is that a bad thing to do?

Oh and one more...last one!  he has vomited on my hand a couple of times.  I'm not sure if there is something wrong or if he is trying to feed me.  Both times he did it, i was feeding him seed from my hand.  And when he did it, he sort of bobbed his head up and down before he did it and then shook his head and it went everywhere!  he did manage to deposit some on my hand though as well...lovely!  is it ok for him to do that?  he seems to be ok generally and his behavior hadn't changed beforehand or after.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hi,

My boyfriend and I have had our male budgie, Monty for about 4 or 5 months now.  He is a lovely little budgie, always chirping and playing with his toys etc.  but he seems to be terrified of our fingers when we put our hands in the cage.  He doesn't bite or anything, even when I pick him up (he has tried to bit but i didn't react to it at all so i think he knows it's not going to do him any good..i think he had mites at the time anyway).  The only way to get him out of his cage is to pick him up and then put him on the floor or my hand or the top of his cage.  He doesn't seem to be scared of us really.  He does jump sometimes when one of us coughs or makes an unexpected noise or movement.  When he is out, he spends most of the time trying to get back to or into his cage.  He likes sitting on top of his cage but i think he just sits there because he doesn't know how to get back in! I've read an answer to another question where you said to take the budgie out of the cage, and take him to a different, neutral room and just play with him unti you lose his attention.  Would this work?  And is it a really bad idea to play in the same room as the cage is normally kept, but to remove the cage from the room?  Also, he is a bit weird and doesn't seem to eat any treats we give him.
-----Answer-----
Hi, Polly.  Thanks for posting!

Many birds are afraid of human's fingers.  Often times this comes from being poked and prodded by customers when a bird is in a pet store...they learn to hate fingers/hands.  Might your budgie have come from a pet store?  A bird's cage is it's safety zone, it's personal territory, a place where it feels safest.  This is why birds often times don't like to come out of their cages and also the reason why they like to go back into their cages when they feel insecure.  Sounds like your budgie is still a bit frightened.  This is the reason why it usually helps to either take a bird's cage out of the room or take your bird into another room where s/he can't see it's cage when you're interacting with the bird.  

Will your bird come out of it's cage on it's own if you leave it's cage door open?  

I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish with your budgie, but I recommend when you take him out of his/her cage, move it's cage into another room, and just interact with the bird.  You might want to invest in some type of play ground or play stand the bird can stand/play on when out of it's cage (instead of on it's cage).  For example, when you're watching TV in the evenings, allow your bird to sit with you on the play stand or even on your shoulder in order to gain trust with your bird.  You could use the play stand during the day also when you're doing dishes or cleaning, etc., let your bird come out.  At dinnertime, your bird could perch on the play stand and eat dinner with you and your boyfriend.  Point is to get s/he used to being comfortable outside it's cage.  During this process, your bird may start becoming more comfortable with your fingers.  I will say it's possible your bird may never be comfortable with your fingers.  I have birds I've owned for 15/18 years who still fear fingers/hands.  Try feeding your bird it's favorite foods with your fingers.  You need to teach your bird that s/he doesn't have to fear your fingers.  This is why it's best if a bird comes out of it's cage on it's own.  You don't want your bird fearing your fingers/hands as a result of you forcing s/he out of it's cage.  However, if this is the only way to get your bird out of the cage, do so as carefully as you can.  You might try seeing if s/he'll come out via a perch.  This way, it would have no reason to fear your fingers.

Try some of my recommendations and see how they work.  If you still have problems, let me know and we'll try other things.

Your bird may not be eating treats you offer because it doesn't recognize them as food.  Bird won't eat things they don't recognize as edible.  Just keep offering them until it gets curious enough to taste.  Sometimes it helps if the bird sees you eating something...birds usually want whatever they see their humans eating (you don't have to actually eat the stuff...just pretend you are and make um um noises).  Some birds are picky and just don't like some treats.  You might want to try different things, such as spray millet, Nutraberries, etc.

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Polly.

Sounds to me like you have a pretty nice bird here!  If I were you, I think I'd continue doing what you are doing.  When you take your bird out of it's cage, move the cage out of the room so s/he doesn't see it.  While your bird is out of it's cage, work with s/he to try and teach it to step up on your finger.  Once s/he learns this, you should then be able to reach in his/her cage using your finger to bring your bird out.  However, be aware that s/he may never like your fingers and you might always have to pick him/her up in order to bring him/her out of it's cage.  But if the bird doesn't bite you when you do this, then s/he must not mind being handled like this.  A lot of budgies bite when their human handles them like this.  Perhaps you need to show your budgie how to come/go from it's cage.  

Poking your bird when it bites - Depends on what you mean by poking.  You shouldn't do anything to your bird that would result in s/he distrusting you or being afraid of you/your fingers (or, of course, hurting your bird).  If your bird is already scared of your fingers, I wouldn't recommend using them to render any type of "discipline."

The regurgitation is a way parrots (your budgie is a parrot) show affection.  Your budgie is showing you that s/he loves you when it does this.  The bird has to bob up and down in order to bring the stuff up!  Perfectly normal.

Chrys