next steps for my budgie

Question
hello!
so i have had my budgie kiwi about two weeks now, and shes finally making noise and exploring her cage much more, she seems quite a lot more comfortable every day that passes. I put my hand in the cage several times every day, and i have started putting some of her favorite "treat" seed mixture in my palm when my hand is in the cage. she finally hopped on my hand to eat the other day, and now after my hand being in the cage about five minutes she will nibble on the seeds from the perch if my hand is close enough and sometimes even hop right up. she does not seem as afraid of my hand as she used to and rarely goes burserk flying around the cage. my question is do you think that she is ready for me to try having her step up on my finger? or should i continue having her eat from my palm for a while? if i do try the step up, do i just slowly push my finger up on her breast? or do i try and pet her tummy a bit first? how many times should i try to have her step up before i take a break and come back to it later? sorry about all of the questions i just don't want to rush anything or ruin what trust i have already worked so hard to gain from her.
thanks so much!
Steph

Answer
Dear Steph,
thank you for your question.
I would combine the feeding with the stepping up, gently push your palm against her belly to get her to step up on your palm and feed there. Once she does that readily, try it with your finger. If it works, repeat it four or five times, then stop. If there are problems, go back to offering seeds on your palm and stop then, it's important to end the lesson with a success if possible.
Clicker training is great for birds, basically you reward good behaviour with a specific sound and a treat. Lessons are broken down to very small steps and birds (and other animals) can be taught not only tricks, but also useful things like stepping up, spreading their wings to allow a closer look (at the vet for example ect.). This mailgroup has great information on clicker training and the people there are friendly and knowledgeable:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click/

Once Kiwi is tame, I recommend getting her a mate. A male will work well, two females often bicker. They won't breed unless you offer a nesting box, which I don't recommend. The new bird will learn from Kiwi and imitate her behaviour, especially if you get him from a good breeder where the chicks have contact with humans from an early age on. Budgies are extremely social, like all parrots, and get lonely and bored very fast. A single bird needs attention every minute of the day and will be lonely if left alone even for an hour. Two birds can always interact with each other and it's fun to watch them together.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer