new keets

[Sunnahgirl]

I had a two parakeets for over 6 years now and just today one of them died. My husband went out and purchased another this evening. I have a couple of questions....
1. Does it matter that one of the keets is green with a purple cere and the other is a white ( with purple stomach) and a purple cere? Does it mean that they aren't compatable or will not be compatable?

2. How long does it take to get 2 keets to stop being afraid of each other? They sit at opposite ends of the cage not moving or chirping. What should i do?

I appreciate all the help i can get .
Thanks,
Nadia

[sweetie&meli]

Well first of welcome :)

second of all u should never put a new keet with an old one as ure new keet is preety young and u dont exactly know how ure old keet will react .u should also have a spare cage if ever something happens its never sure thing that they will get along , they should be in sepret cages until they know each other well enough ..but most of all good luck with them and becarefull:)

[Sunnahgirl]

Thank you for you both replying so fast.
I have had them in the same cage for about 5 hours now. I have been watching them so very carefully. There has been no problems yet...but you never know. The keets who were together before were both males. When one male died, we got another. I asked the man at the pet store about male and female keets and he said that this one was too young to tell.He said that in a few weeks we'd know if its a male or female. ....sound right to you all?

The last two were males and they loved each other a lot. One was very dominant and the other was always the one giving in. Unfortunatly, the lenient one is the one who died. I hope he is lovey to this keet like he was with the last one. as of the last time I checked in on them, they refuse to sit on the same perch and when one does go on the same perch, the other jumps to the other one. It seems as if the new keet is trying to get close and the older keet is pushing him away. Is this normal keet behavior?
Please, i am sorry to have so many questions. I am a pretty new keet owner. I was given these keets by my friend only 2 months ago.
Thanks,
Nadia

[Monica]

6 years, 2 months??? I'm confused... which one??? Or has your friend had them for 6 years and you 2 months?????

You should go out and buy another cage for the second budgie (yes budgie, short for budgerigar, parakeet is too broad of a word to use for just one bird, I mean, you also have grass keets, and ringneck keets, among so many other types of parakeets that are in the least bit NOT related), including extra perches, food dishes, toys, etc. until the two budgies learn to get along together, you should keep them seperate in different cages near eachother. You can let them both out of the cages together to socialize but should each of their own cage.

If both have blue-ish purple/purple ceres, then they are both mature males... If one has a pinkish cere, then it is quite young... Check out these two photos...






Color should not matter or should not change the birds cere unless they are deep pied (a.k.a. hyacinths??? or recessive pieds), or inos (as in lutino or albino). If a budgie were to be one of these mutations then the males cere would remain pink and the females cere would change into what a mature females cere would look like (white or tan or even crusty brown).


It is normal for two birds who do not know eachother that well and prefer close friends to strangers.

[Vankarhi]

great pictures. Now I know what a Keet is. We call them budgies (budgerigars). If it is straight out of the nest and that is really young then the cere will be purple/pinkish almost sore looking (very light coloured) if it is a male. It will be a whitish colour if it is a female. As they get older their ceres start to change to blue for a male, then brown for a female. Oh and the bars will be down to the cere and the eyes black (with no eye ring).

[Sunnahgirl]

I probably didnt explain it right. My friend had 2 keets ( angel & sky). Sky just died. But my friend had angel for 6 years and then 2 months ago she gave them to me.
I will go out and buy another small cage for the new parakeet. My husband told me to wait a couple of days after we bought him to see if they will get along. I didnt know when I first put them in the same cage together that i wasnt supposed to do it that way. Anyways, it has been a couple of days and they still sit on seperate perches and if one is on the bottom of the cage, the other goes to the top and so on. But my question is....even though they have been in the same cage a couple of days , i should still seperate them? I still have to buy it though. I just want the parakeets to be happy. I play music for them to listen to, have a cage of toys, bells and mirrors and talk to them regurlarly. I want to mention that since they have been put into the same cage, the new keet keeps trying to follow the older one. He tries to sit with the older one, but the older one just doenst want to be bothered. They dont fight at all.
Thanks for the pics. they really helped.
Nadia[/quote]

[Vankarhi]

In my opinion as long as they are not fighting, they will get used to each other, but it usually takes more than a few days. I normally put them in separate cages side by side so they can get used to each other but not hurt each other. When I then decide to put them together I take both birds out, clean the cage and rearrange it so it looks different so the birds don't feel it is either ones territory, then try them together. You must watch for signs of distress or fighting, but I have had success that way.

[Sunnahgirl]

Thank you. Little by little they are just acting less and less jealous. The new bird is trying so hard to be with the older bird. But the older bird literaly runs from him. Do you think I should go buy seperate food dishes and water dishes for them both? It seems the older bird is just acting more jealous of " his" cage. Like he doesnt want to share his cage. I have another quick question though. Can the apartment being cold actually kill a parakeet? The older bird seems to be becoming more inactive and sleeps alot. He is all puffed up ( probably because I cant get my landlord to turn the heat on more) and sleeps. I opened the cage up today and he didnt even want to go fly.
I really thank you for your replies. I know very little about keets.
Thank you,
Nadia