Found a Keet & it hates me! Help!

[Stace0511]

Hey Everyone, I am new here! I am having some trouble with my new parakeet and I am looking for any advice I can get from people who know what they are talking about. The story is I was visiting a friend and just happen to look out the window and see a little yellow parakeet flying around outside.,,, So long story short I caught it and I've had it for about a week and a half now. My first issue here is I still have no name! I cant tell if it is male or female I did research online and found out u can tell by the color of the cere but the problem is my keets cere is light blue aand around the holes its sorta orangy brown so I don't know! Maybe its still a baby?? How can I figure out the sex?

Sooooo I ran out and bought all the food, toys you can imagine and my bird seems to be doing well and getting more comfortable with its cage it sings to music and flaps its wings and argues back and forth w/ me! haha Its a real joy having this new addition. However I feel horrible that he/she is in this cage all day long and i want to be able to let it out to fly around ASAP but I dont want to do that until it comes back on command. I've been trying to talk softly to it and interact with it... for a few days it was letting me touch its breast area but the last few days its stopped and it just flys around the cage like a madman everytime i go in there! I read up on how to get them trained but i just cant see this bird ever trusting me. I am totally against the clipping of its wings its cruel and there is no excuse for it so thats out of the question. (sorry some people reccomended this) So any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also it has a purple plastic band around its ankle and the bird is often trying to pick it off i am just wondering is there any website i can go to to find out the info thats tracked with his band? and what can i do about getting it removed? or is it better to just leave it? I dont want to risk the bird getting hurt.

Thanks for the help

Stacy:budgie:

[BUUZBEE]

Hi Stacy, welcome. Here come ALL my questions.... lol
What color is he, all yellow? what color are his eyes? can you see an iris ring in his eyes? does he have "baby" bars on his head, and do them come down far?

As for the training, being 1 1/2 weeks with you, I am not at all surprised he is still scared to death. Being wild caught, you have no idea how long he was free! I would give him at least a month to settle in. Keep putting your hand in his cage, slowly touching his perches etc. talk softly to him, but dont touch him. if i remember right, do this for about 10 minute "lessons" gradually get closer and start touching his feet, then move to his tummy, and gradually you should be able to get him on your finger. here is a great site on training http://budgietalk.com/
You may think that clipping is cruel, but sometime it is necessary, feathers grow back very quickly! and I would never call it cruel.
As for the band, your avian vet can easily take it off for you, and you can find out what the numbers mean. I dont have a link to a website, but hopefully someone does! If you were going to breed, then I would say keep it on, if not, take it of
ps, i like the name Sunny, since he's yellow, and was flying free in the sunshine, lol

[redgirl]

Try feeding him from your hand thats what worked with me and use a perch to gently stroke him so then once hes used to that you can try with your finger it may take a few weeks so i wouldnt let him out just yet unless you can use a perch to take him in or out his cage..good luck.