Training Two at Once

User Question
A tenant abandoned a very vocal and hyper green/yellow 'keet we named "Sexy". After switching him to budgie feed for 2 weeks (previously outdoor bird food) his colorless cere turned blue so it seems he's a he. After the first week we got him a blue 'keet "Buddie' (we're thinking a female so far). Buddie was the most active healthy looking bird in the store (we were afraid that sexy would be too dominant). Now she's is very calm and mostly sits and eats. I didn't know to keep them apart at the time.

We've had them for 3 months now and are wondering whether or not to separate them for a while to facilitate easier "training".. They were both Bin O'Birds. they can Both be lured to finger or arm using millet sprays or seed and preen my arm hair. Buddy calmly climbs away from my hand in the cage, Sexy either lashes out with quick beak jabs of bites hard but not so hard that I feel the need to move my hand away. I'm wondering if leaving Buddy alone in the large cage for a while would help or hinder the process of bonding, training and develop a more active bird. sexy often "herds" sexy but i'm now seeing buddy chase sexy off more and more... booting sexy off of whatever perch over and over and round and around the cage..

their large cage is 13dx17Wx30H inches (other 11x14x16)

any idea how to determine age (which is older )

thanx for any answers you have... also Sexy's old family had a child who threw temper tantrums all the time. Sexy screams alot but quickly covering the cage with a towel seems to be working to get him under control. I remove it as soon as he stops (he stops almost immediatly)

Lisa's Answer
Now that they are flockmates I really wouldn't try to separate them out, that would make them feel very lonely. You can definitely train two birds at once, just follow the instructions here -

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

often when one bird sees the other on your finger, they'll want to be on it too :)

There really is no way to tell a bird's age easily once their stripes grow out. They are all just "adults". If you took your keets to a vet, the vet might be able to make a general guess ...

Yes, covering the cage with a towel is a great way to quiet a keet - it makes them dark and alone. Hopefully you can get the keet over her tantrum tendencies soon!

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