My bird doesnt like me??

Question
Ok. My bird is less than 4 months old and he is very curious, he is a budgie.I bought him somewhere in June, maybe at the beginning of the month.I had him getting use to his cage for 3 days then started putting my fingure in the cage and he would come to my hand and some times bit it! But that was ok, I let him out of the cage within the first week, I feel I screewed up so I went to a web site and it gave me instructions which worked but didn't.He shows lots of drama when going back into his cage and I feel as though it is like the first day, he goes to my hand and flys away but sometimes stays for about 5-10 minutes.When I come near his cage he goes to the back corner, thats why I don't think he trusts me. It has been a month and it is either I am impaitent or he just hasn't adjusted. Am I impaitent? The reason I e-mailed you was because I wanted to know how to get him to trust me. I have already tried everything I think I can. I give him fresh food and water everyday and yet he doesn't trust me? I can admit I don't know how to disapline a bird, all I know is to put it back into it's cage.His cage is always clean, I replace the newspaper everyday and wash it everyweek, they recomend I don't use any disinfectants and I don't. He has tons of toys but no mirror anymore because I was told that he will bond with himself. Another consern is that today when having him on my hand he started shacking bad! He started to fly and I had no control, so I quickly got him on my hand and tried to calm him down but he wouldn't so after a few attempts I got him in his cage and he was still shacking. His cage is right near the computer and when looking at him now he is calm but what happened? Again I tried everything even when I am not home I leave the radio on! Can you respond quick cause I think when it comes to this bird I am in big trouble!


                   Thanks: Mark

Ps: I have a cat but he barelly sees this bird and will probibly do nothing when seeing him. HIM? I don't even know what gender he is. You can probably tell I am a first time owner!

Answer
PS- Sorry, I forgot to inform you how to tell the gender of parakeets. Once they are sexually mature (at least 7 to 9 months old), look at their cere (the fleshy part where their nostrils are located). If the Cere is blue- they're are a boy. Females are usually a brown coloring. However, all parakeets when they are babies, usually have white or light blue colored ceres... this color changes as they get older.

Hi Mark,

I would recommend giving the bird more time to get used to you. It can take a long time for birds to trust us- we are predator animals and they are prey. Most of our behaviors and the way we are shaped (eyes in front, instead of on the sides like prey animals have), can often scare birds (without us meaning to). Budgies are also rarely hand-fed, so they have been raised by their natural birdie parents (who have taught them not to trust people!). We have to work against a lot of factors to tame the birds down. Some budgies (especially if older) will never bond very closely with people, but give him more time and I'm sure a young bird will get over his fear soon. Talk to him a lot, try to hand-feed him favorite treats (like millet sprays), etc.

Here are some other websites, with good (up-to-date) information on birds and their care:

http://www.forthebirdsdvm.com

www.wingedwisdom.com

www.parrotchronicles.com

www.mickaboo.org

I hope this all helps.

-Maggie