That thing above the nostril is called a cere . A male's cere is blue and a female's cere is brown when they are adults, when they are babies (up to 3-6months old) the male's cere is pink whereas the females is purpley white with white rings around the nostrils.

 

Glad to help :budgiedance:

You shouldn't put your hand in the cage until they trust you.

You know they trust you when you are next to the cage & they don't run away when you talk to them. They will then come up to you when you are next to the bars. Next step is they will nibble your finger when you put it in the bars.

I never open the cage (other than food & cleaning) before the above happens.

This simple process can take up to 2 weeks or so. You can't force a bird to like you.

now that was some really practicle advice. very much appreciated!

If you are going to scrub and bake or leave in the sun then the only issue from branches not from our yard is if they have been sprayed or not. Still better safe than sorry. If the branches have a small gum nut type thing then it is proably a bottle brush of some sort. I have some trees with them on it by birds love it.