My Parakeet Favors One Foot

User Question
I got a a new baby parakeet yesterday. My first one. I have read everything that you put in here and i must say that it is good. But my question is. My parakeet is somewhat skittish. He/she goes crazy when the cage isn't coverd and also when i get near the cage to give it more water or food. He/she does calm down after a while but i don't know what i should do about this problem. What should i do?.

Also he doesn't put much of his weight on his left foot and he stretches it a lot. He can still scratch his and everything but he doesn't put weight on it. what is up with that.

Please try and help me!!

Lisa's Answer
On the first question, I have step by step parakeet taming instructions here -

http://www.lisashea.com/petinfo/articles/bird_hand.html

You need to follow those to tame your bird.

On the foot, it sounds like he twisted or hurt it, maybe when you were bringing him home. Birds DO sit on one foot when they sleep sometimes, but they would evenly rotate between their two feet to give each one time to rest. If your bird is always holding up the left foot it sounds like it's hurt. Usually these sorts of things heal up in a few days. If another few days pass and the bird is still not using its foot to bear weight, I'd take him to a vet.

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