I agree just b patient and he'll come around

That's a pretty informative site. Thanks for letting me know about it. I'm gonna try putting him in the bathroom and training him there. I'm alittle confused about what he says in this paragraph though: Wouldn't he be really scared if I caught him in a towel?


"How do you get the bird from its cage to the training room? One method is to capture the bird in a towel, being careful to avoid letting him get his beak around your fingers, and carry him to the room swaddled in the towel. But I prefer to take his food and water bowls out of the cage, unclip the top wire part from the bottom, and carry the top, with the bird in it, to the training room. Once there, you can slowly turn the cage upside down and when the bird climbs up (to get away from you) he will come out of the open end of the cage, and then probably fly down onto the floor. Then you can take the cage top, turn it right-side up, set it just outside the room and close the door."

I just have to say that those methods listed are pretty drastic and i think that is a mistake. The way to get a bird to like you is to spend time with him. I am having trouble getting past the avatar and perhaps that is really biasing me - but you will never win the love and trust of a bird through fear and coercion.
Many owners in general make a big mistake of rushing to "Finger train" the parakeet. The owner needs to win the trust and friendship of the bird - then the bird will automatically want to be with you. THe bird who trusts you will not have to be "trained", that bird will automatically hop on because he is bonded. The key is to spend time with the bird - and by that I mean physically stick your hand in the cage for as long as you can stand it - at least 10-15 minutes at a time, even longer if you can. But without chasing the bird around with your finger. Just let him think you are another bird in the flock resting on a perch. Don't approach him, or else you will perpetuate his fear. Then after a few days you can put some millet in your hand and let him COME TO YOU. He will have to unlearn all the fear he associates with your hand. I don't see any way around this if you want a happy trusting keet. The ultimate goal is not a keet who will go on your finger because you stick your finger out. The goal is a happy trusting keet who chooses to be with you out of bonding and fridnship. There is a big difference and I think many people set the wrong goal and thus get disappointing results. Try to set your goal at friendship and trust - and give it time and see if that works. You must "Be the Bird." Good luck.

The only reason I grabbed him like that was because he flew out of the cage. He was only in my hand for a second like that until I put him back into his cage.
He was fine in the my hand. He didn't bite me or anything and he was actually very calm and happy. He seemed to trust me for a while, until a couple days ago.

I guess I've been on the phone a lot and maybe he got a little jealous because I wasn't paying that much attention to him when he wanted me to. He seems to be alittle bit better today, but I'm alittle afraid to put my hand in the cage because I'm worried he might bite me.

Thank you for changing the Avatar - I'm getting better vibes already
Like I said - I would basically start from scratch. I would just talk to him, let him see your hands outside the cage, perhaps rest your fingers between the bars for a while. But not close to him , just somewhere he can see them. You may even try to offer some millet through the bars. Next I would put your hand in the cage but DO NOT approach him. My guess is that he is a little fearful or just sick of having a finger following him around in the cage. I would just leave your hand - in a fist or straight hand palm side down - resting on a perch that is lower than his. You will have to do this for a while - like a week or so - and the longer duration the better. If you are doing work at a desk, you can put the cage on the desk and then just rest your hand in the cage while you do your work. I have found that is a great way for him to learn to trust your hand. Then you can start putting millet in your hand. Incidentally I would take out millet - so that he only gets his millet through you.
Don't even think about approaching him with a finger - i think you will have to change that strategy entirely. The nice thing about the human hand is that you can make different shapes - and since he is already fearful of your finger, I would avoid that shape. Hands flat or a fist are both good -even a thumb up is good too - they are different and he has not learned to be afraid of those shapes.
After a while if you keep it up with the millet, he will approach you and ultimately get on your hand. then you will have trust and finger training all in one. good luck.

Hey, I have an update,

I tried putting my hands in the cage today resting them on the perch, and making different shapes with my hands. It seems to be working. He's now taking food from my finger through the outside of the cage. He never used to. He also takes food from my hand. Do you think it's any day now that he'll be hopping on my finger?

Also, I'm kinda afraid he might bite my hand again like he did last time when I put my finger by his feet. If he does, what should I do to teach him not to bite. I'm sorry about all the questions, I'm very new to all of this. I never owned a bird before. If you guys have any questions about RES turtle ask me. I know a lot about them.

It sounds like you are making real progress.
Make sure that he is only allowed to have millet from your hand - not hanging in the cage or anywhere else.
You now want to make it so he can only get millet by getting on your hand.
I suggest taking a small spray of millet and putting int between your fingers so that it sticks out from the back side of your hand. Then rest your hand on a perch - palms down, so that the millet is sticking up between your fingers. Put it in a way that if he wants millet, he has to get on the back of your hand. Do not approach him. Let him come to you. If you do this several times every day I predict he will hop on within the week. When he does, do not move, just let him enjoy the millet and feel comfortable. Now you will have established trust. There is no need to chase him around in the cage with your finger or even with millet. Let him come to you. Good luck.

Yeah, I think I made some progress.

The thing is that he always comes to me when I give him food. I don't have to follow him around. He just walks right up to my hand and takes it. It doesn't have to be millet, it could be carrots, lettice, seeds...etc. Do you think it's possible that he doesn't understand the hand thing? Maybe I have a slow bird because he seems to trust me a lot. He never runs away, he lets me change his food, water, and paper without a problem. He doesn't fly away. He really likes biting things so maybe he thinks my finger is a toy and he doesn't know that I want him to hop on my finger? Do you think that could be a possibility?

Thanks

Just try to do what i described - entire hand flat out, palm side down - with the millet stuck up in the middle.
i think that a single finger looks like more fun to bite than an entire hand.

parakeets bite for a number of reasons - fear, dominance, play, excitement, sometimes by mistake, and just to test the situation. its hard to know without seeing it.

My keet will bite just when he is having a good time and I do have to correct him on that - but I think you still have to get the point where he is very comfortable on the back of your hand. I think encouraging him to go on the back of your hand is a better strategy than having him hop on your finger for a number of reasons - biting being one of them. keep me posted.

Thanks Victor, I really appreciate your help. I'm gonna try that hand thing first thing tomorrow.