Two Keets Interacting

User Question
Last Christmas, my son's ex-girlfriend dropped her keet off at my house (never came back) and we've been caring for her since. "Lady," is aprox 9 - 12 months old. It was obvious she was lonely, so we recently picked out a very young companion for her, that we named, "Sunny." I kept the two cages side by side while they got used to each other. At first Lady was so excited and wanted to meet this new bird right away, but we let the little one settle in. After about a week, Sunny was coming around and getting more used to us and showed a big interest getting to know Lady. So we closed them in a room and let them out of their cages. The first meeting on top of the cage was great, Sunny would just allow Lady to do whatever preening she wanted and he/she would just sit there submissively. That night I put them back in their separate cages since I couldn't keep an eye on them. The subsequent two times I've gotten them together, Lady is all over this little bird. It's as if she is over zealous and she is constantly preening the new little one. Then when Sunny just sits there taking a break, Lady grabs him/her by the leg and starts shaking it rather violently making the poor bird loose it's balance. Sunny isn't aggressive towards her at all, nor does Lady appear to want to hurt him/her. They went back to their separate cages. The next time I get them together, Lady is all over the new little bird again and this last time it appears she is trying to mount it, although the new bird is nowhere sexually mature. Again, she doesn't seem to be mad at the new bird or visa versa, just over eager and needy. I don't know what to do, but separate them again for fear she'll hurt the other one. Will I ever be able to put these two in a cage together?

Lisa's Answer
Well first, if you've only had the new keet for a week, she probably isn't hand trained. You should never let a keet out if it's not hand trained, so focus on that part first. Once the new keet is hand trained, then yes, let them out together each day and they will choose where to sleep on their own. It might take a few weeks before they are that comfortable with each other.

Also it's really important that your new keet go in for its new keet checkup before it interact with your existing keet, in case it has any issue with mites or disease. Otherwise it'll pass that right along to your existing keet. You can find out if this new keet is a boy or a girl at that point, and if it's a boy, it might be best to keep them separate unless you are ready for the 24-hr-a-day task of caring for a pregnant bird and chicks. Are you positive "Lady" is a female? Males do the mounting ...

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