When should I let him out?

[Em&Louie]

I have had my Kakariki for about a week now, he will not eat out of my hand yet, I am trying a few times daily, sometimes he will just look at the food, other times he will move away slowly. I tried taking away his food to check whether it was because he was not hungry but it did not work. So my question is really, do I let him out or not? I have let him out of his cage twice, each time he will not go back in at all, he spent 5 hours out and would just sleep on the curtain pole, I did not want to leave him out all night so I had to catch him, which I do not like doing because I do not want to frighten him. Should I only let him out now when he's used to me? I do feel a little cruel keeping him caged up but chasing him around the room trying to get him in his cage at night could also cause harm.

[Michael]

How old is he? Did you get him from a breeder? Was he hand raised and tamed prior?

[Em&Louie]

I got him from an elderly neighbor who no longer wanted him, she told me he is 5 months old, she did not know anything about him as he was apparently a gift to her, she did not handle him, just let him fly around, I think he is scared of being touched as he probably associates it with being grabbed and put in his cage (which is what she did), so sadly I don't know whether he was hand raised or not.

[birdybea]

What food are you currently offering him from your hand, and is it freely available to him at any other time? A reinforcer (treat) will increase in value if it is available exclusively during training, so if you are using sunflower seeds, for example, you should make sure that he doesn't receive sunflower seeds at any other time.

[Em&Louie]

I have been offering him apple from my hand but I have noticed he likes sunflower seeds so I will take that out of his regular food and try that instead thankyou

[Em&Louie]

He wont take food from me yet but he seems a lot happier now, he landed on me today! And comes close to me, making progress

[Rokisha]

Hurray!!! Yay for progress!! Hope it keeps going well for you Em!

[Em&Louie]

I know, I'm so pleased, I was getting worried he may not ever like me lol. Thankyou

[Rokisha]

Your welcome!

[Em&Louie]

He finally fed from my hand so happy! But will only feed from my hand if I touch the food on his beak, is this normal? He has been coming up really close to me and sitting with me, he will not let me touch him yet though. I'm so surprised at how quick he is becoming tamer and happy.