Bad biting budgie

[Yogagirl17]

Anyone with experience of budgies here? We got a budgie in August - think it's a boy and think it was about 3-4 months at the time. It seemed friendly at first, let us put a hand near it, started training it to sit on a finger. He seems quite happy, chirps & sings, eats well etc. Only problem was that when we let him out he won't come back voluntarily so we have to literally catch him and pop him back in his cage. We do it really quickly but I do think it makes him a bit cross. Anyway, in recent weeks all he wants to do is bite us. We can't put a hand in his cage anymore because he will just go for us, even when I change his food he tries to attack my hand. We have to wear gloves to handle him. I keep hoping it's just some kind of "teenage" strop (he's molting & losing the stripes on his head ATM) and he will settle down but would be very grateful for any tips! TIA.

OK.
Well i don't mean to be harsh but you are doing the wrong thing by catching him like that. Its going to upset him and make him loose trust in you. No wonder he bites.
I only occasionally do it to mine and i am used to his personality and i know he finds it more irritating than upsetting/unpleasant like most other birds. Mines a bit of a weirdo to be honest.

Can you train him to sit on a stick then put him in his cage so you are away from his beak ? Also don't hesitate to bribe him with some millet or greens to persuade/trick him into going in. (Mine is wise to this now and has quite a tantrum if i catch him out but he is so tame i mostly just leave him til he puts himself in when hes tired.)

If you really cant get him in it might be best to turn out the lights and draw the curtains then have him sit on a stick or finger and pop him in that way as he is less likely to fly off in the dark. As a last resort drop a towel over him and pick him up like that so he doesn't see your hands and think they are going to grab him.

You need to keep up the training when he is out the cage , keep bribing him with something he wants to come to you and sit on your finger.

Secondly if he is moulting he probably feels terrible and this could well be why he is biting. My old one used to be a nippy bugger when she was moulting. Try not to handle him if you can help it. You can buy special moulting treat bars which seem to help a bit. Like these. They usually love these too.

Also if he is moulting now and loosing his stripes or baby bars then he was probably very very young when you first got him , probably around 6-8 weeks. (this is fine just younger than you might have thought). I can probably tell you if he is a boy or not if you would like to put up a photo ?

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

I know catching him isn't the best way but he simply won't go back in otherwise. He will sit on a stick but flies off if I try to put him back in his cage. He will not be tempted back in by treats. He will not go back in of his accord. He was once out all day and I thought it should be easy to tempt/bribe him because he would be really tired & hungry after so many hours but even then I had absolutely no luck. The only way I can even manage to catch him is by putting the lights off so he can't see me coming - I do it very, very quickly though to try and minimize his distress.

I'm trying to do what I did at the very beginning which is just put my hand in the cage for a while (but just out of biting distance) to let him get used to me and he does seem to be biting slightly less. It is very frustrating though. :(

I think going back to the beginning is a good idea :)

Sorry none of my tips are of any use. As long as hes held as possible under the circumstances i think its the best thing. You might have some luck with the re training.
I think the moulting will be partly causing the biting. Im actually surprised that mine doesnt bite more when he moults ! They just get so grumpy.

Thanks, appreciate the advice anyway.

Are you sure it's a male? Females can get quite pecky when they are broody, and sometimes, depending on the colour of the bird the cere can be hard to tell which sex they are on a young one.