a few questions and concerns along the way.
Ok. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since I brought Ziggy home. He's still very skittish. He will let me get my finger up to him and pet his belly if I move EXTREMELY slow. So I pet him a little then just hold my finger against his belly for a bit then pet him some more..talking to him saying what a pretty bird, such a goood boy the whole time. I try to remove my hand BEFORE he gets tired of it. If i move just the slightest bit too fast he spazes out and clings to side of cage.Is it normal for him to STILL be so scared of us? I'm assuming yes but IDK. He's actually escaped out the cage door a few times and I just calmly but quickly scooped him up and put him back in. Boy can he bite HARD!! LOL I know he's scared so he bit me So, when he DOES escape should I give him time outside or scoop him up an put him back right away? I swear when I am doing something in Zig's cage you can tell by the look in his eyes he looking to escape! He's a wildman! LOL At this point I'm not sure how well he can fly-I'll explain that in a minute.
He mostly still just sits there doing nothing UNTIL Levi does a flyby (they're in separate rooms but since there's a big archway between room Levi flies in and immediately turns and goes back to the living room. At first Ziggy didn't respond at all. NOW when he see/hears Levi fly by or hears him in the other room he chirps up a storm and hops all over his cage almost like he's franticly calling Levi to HELLLLP I'm over here!!!! Levi pretty much ignores it and has never even come close to checking out the strange bird in the other room. He'll chirp to Ziggy every now and then but otherwise he could care less( I think Levi thinks he's a human! LOL)
So my next question is should I move Ziggy's cage in to the livingroom with Levi so he can at least SEE him and watch how he interacts with us?? Or will it make it even harder on Ziggy not being able to get out and fly with Levi yet?? I feel sooo darn bad for Ziggy cause I know he used to being with other birds and he sounds so darn pathetic trying to get Levi's attention. Ziggy still doesn't play with any toys and if I try to show him what they are he freaks out, so I don't do it any more.

Ok, on to the IDK how well he can fly...Ziggy's flight feathers went from this



To THIS!!


in just what...TEN days??!!! What the heck???? HOW did they grow sooo fast?! I think they grew an inch in the past 5 days! I swear I haven't used any Miracle Gro!! LOL
I know his flight feathers are uneven but I really don't want to clip him again. I want him to be able to fly. Probably be harder to train him if he can fly but..And not only that but obviously if they are growing that means they're blood feathers right? So can't clip anyway?

I know I just wrote a darn book for yall to read but I'm really so confused as to what to do with Ziggy. Any suggestions? Has anyone ever introduced a wildman to a very tame almost human birdy before? Will Ziggy possibly learn from Levi, or doesn't it work that way? I just wish Ziggy would realize we're really NOT going to hurt him. I'm afraid if I let Zig out at all before he's at least a little bit tame,I won't be able to get him back in his cage or he'll freak out and hurt himself. AHHHHH I'm sooo confused!!!

You lost me at the first sentence, but I know others will answer your questions. I have the attention span of a 2 year old.
Ziggy is soooo adorable.

LOL

Hugs

That's ok lmb,I think I lost myself too!! LOL

Sorry I can't be of much help, but I just wanted to say how pretty Ziggy is! I really like his coloring.
I thought I read somewhere that it does help for a new bird to see how the original one acts and interacts with you, that sometimes they learn faster via another bird than a person.
Good luck!

I think all is still normal. Ziggy sounds like I said, just like Pirate and Riley. I had to grab Riley out today for a bath, cause again she had some poop stuck to her bottom.

When I stick my hand in their cage to get stuff, they flip out unless I move super slow. Though if Riley gets out she'll let me scoop her up with out biting and move her back to the cage, unlike Pirate that bites HARD. Ouch!

They don't play with toys yet, though sometimes will get on the swing together. They pretty much eat, sleep, poop and preen one another, and do some chitter chatter.

hey kk...would you be able to get Levi and take him INTO the room, not in his cage, and let him SEE Ziggy and see what they do? instead of taking Ziggy to an unfamiliar room. like you have stated before, you don't know what to do if Levi landed on Ziggy's cage. how about you find out, but IN the room Ziggy is in? just a suggestion. that way Ziggy doesn't completely freak out in a new room and with a new bird friend. since Levi is pretty familiar with the rooms already, he shouldn't be phased by you taking him on your hand/shoulder and introducing them with Ziggy in his own cage.
of course i have not introduced my birds formally yet. LOL. but they already see each other from their own cages. sometimes they chirp back and forth in a frantic like they want to be together. i feel so bad and want to move Topaz already, but i know i have to wait. she is coming along with training, very slowly. it took her over a month to even TOUCH or play with her toys. LOL.
oh and how weird for his wings to grow like that. i am wondering if it has to do with the type/breed of keet that he his? i mean due to his coloring, a mutation of some sort maybe? IDK....
good luck with what you choose to do. keep us updated.

Thanks guys So i guess there's hope for taming Ziggy,it's just going to take time for him to figure out we're not monsters! LOL

SB,Oh yeah, I COULD take Levi to see Zig at his cage no problem I'm sure, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for the outcome! LOL What if it makes Ziggy totally spaz out and want to be with Levi all the more?
Like you with Topaz, I'd really like to try to get Ziggy at least somewhat tame before I introduce them. It's just hard what with Levi being out alot and Ziggy being too much of a wildman right now for me to even dare let him out to get aquainted.

IDK if it would be better or harder on Ziggy if I put him in the same room with Levi but kept him in his own cage. Wouldn't it be kind of unfair him seeing Levi out flying and playing ALL the time and him not being able too?

Still confused! ahhhhhh

that made me think of something...
i play with Sky, with her toys all the time. so does the Hubby and Kid. Topaz can see us playing with Sky. i am wondering if that may be why she doesn't want me to pick her up on my finger. JEALOUSY? hmmm... got me thinking now. LOL. altho, Topaz doesn't have a platform in her cage. i wonder what would happen if i put toys in the bottom of the cage for Topaz. i am going to get some when i go to the store later and see what happens. Topaz IS starting to play with the hanging toys more and more. she LOVES BELLS.

good luck kk.

I see your point but I wonder if he would see (and learn from) Levi doing step-up, giving you kisses, and whatever else he might do that is trusting interaction with you. I agree with this:

On the other hand, he might just focus exclusively on wanting to be with Levi, and not observe anything helpful. So many people say that it's much more difficult to train a second bird because it's distracted by the other bird...

I feel for you -- two weeks of one-on-one training with little progress is VERY frustrating.

RE: when he escapes should you leave him out or scoop him ---- my gut sense is to scoop him and put him back in the cage, because ultimately he will have to "learn the ropes" or "protocol" about when he's allowed out & when he's not, what the normal pattern is (out for x amount of time, then back in & rewarded), etc. ...

hmmm This is kind of like being on a see saw LOL Ziggy might learn from Levi that we humans are cool if he sees him interacting with us-which I think makes sense OR he might just decide to heck with humans I'll just hang with the bird dude!

Does anyone have experience introducing an untame keet to a tame one? Does bird 2 learn from bird 1? Or should I just be patient a couple more weeks if Ziggy doesn't start spazing even more when he hears Levi? Or of course if Levi decides to check out the new guy up close and personal! LOL

Any ideas WHY Levi hasn't been curious enough to check Ziggy out closer?
Or what the heck is up with the quick growin flight feathers?

I think you need to just get those 2 birdies together and let them work it out, unless there is blood drawn they will be fine. Try not to write too much into it, just let them be birds. Have you tried stick training either of them? It saves time trying to coral them, as they know the stick is safe. Best wishes on figuring it out!

Although mmy baby was hand fed training was going well. When I introduced him/her to Cookie the birdie did start copying (some of the bad charactyeristics too LOL!) Both of them sit on my shoulder and when I take the baby out he hops on my shoulder. Levi can help with training him and getting used to being handled. Good luck!

Thanks all,
I think I'll try to keep them separate for at least a few more days unless it drives Ziggy too crazy. Then once I introduce them I'll keep my fingers crossed that Ziggy will learn a thing or 2 from Levi.
Luvanimalsdearly, it's good to hear that your 2nd bird did learn from your 1st! Thanks, I needed that! LOL

Hmmmm, I think that this time I can give a you advice, in exchange for all the help you've given me Kelley, myself being a 2 bird owner. Although my case is extremely different since my birds aren't trained, I certainly do have some experience with 2 birdies behavior and introductions since I got my 2nd bird after a week of owning the first. From the same store so I didn't do quarantine (hopefully nothing bad happened).

I think you should try out a few things before taking any action (I mean moving cages together or birds together). Firstly, I think you should DO take Levi to meet the new, bird. Take Levi out of his cage. Then take him into the room Ziggy is. Make sure that Levi is WITH YOU and not just flying freely, as he should understand that YOU are introducing him to another member of the HUMAN flock (if he thinks he's a person), although this HUMAN looks more like him hehehe. You should let this introduction/interaction last for around 15 min or more depending on Levi's attention to the other bird. Be creative, take Levi's toys so he can play with them when the two birds are watching each other, Like you place Levi on top of Ziggy's cage and he plays with his ball or is eating some millet, or is taking a bath WITH YOUR aid.
After watching their interaction then you should give observations to BOTH of your birds reaction. Do this introducing several times, not just once, so you can conclude what is really happening (Levi not caring, or Ziggy just getting all excited, or both birds getting excited etc.). The next step should be, move one of the cages into the other cage room, I would choose the room they will be on after they live together to be the one you move the cage into. If you're planning on Levi's room take Ziggy's cage into that room. However this decision should be based on what were your conclusions in the previous observation.
That is for example, If everytime you took Levi, Both birds showed interest, but Ziggy was always excited to see Levi, and after YOU took Levi back to his cage how did Ziggy reacted, wanted to go with him and WITH YOU, or just stayed calmly in his cage after the fifth time Levi went back because he got used to this happening, etc.
So if Ziggy always wanted to go back to the other room with you guys, then you can definitely move his cage into Ziggy's room.
After you have move the cage to the other room. Again observe which things change, Does Levi goes more to Ziggy since he is in his room or since he knows him better etc. At this step (with both birds in same room), it is crucial that you notice if there is any change in Levi's behavior, is he more birdy like or still thinks he's human. Because here's your chance to watch Levi stepping up to your hand, watching how YOU and LEVI trust each other and will see a feathered friend trusting YOU so hopefully he'll learn to trust you a bit more. Continue your training as usual with Ziggy, especially if you have Levi out, Show Ziggy that to get to play along with Levi he should learn to trust you. Watch out with that cage door though, make sure to cover it with your body or something so he doesn't try to just sneak past you when you're training him.
At this phase, keep on observing. Does Ziggy is more crazed out than before for him wanting to be with Levi, or now that they're in the same room he's more calm? Be with the cages in the same room and separated birds as long as you need to. Hopefully at this stage it will be easy to train Ziggy. So when you train him you can give them both out time together and see how are they getting along.
Now after this it's entirely your call. If you see your birds are getting bond quickly then let them be and show Ziggy the new cage etc. I think he'll naturally will begin to move in with Levi. I don't think there's much risk of Levi going back to the old cage since he has his bigger cage and such. Also if you have trained Ziggy out, don't have any toys near the old cage. This is just some ideas that come to me that you can try before trying to move the birdies together.

I think that hand training Ziggy will prove difficult, so maybe you will have the 2 cages together for some time, always be patient.
Keep in mind that you must show Ziggy how Levi trust YOU and your kind. Keep an eye out for any "disobedience" by Levi after he's been interacting with Ziggy, and take him back to his cage for a training review .
It is expected that Levi will be giving Ziggy more attention each time, just be sure that he's always carrying out your orders. He steps up every time etc.
Have a keen eye with observing, you will know what to do when the time is right (move the cage, etc), you know your birdies .
Also when taking Ziggy into the new room cover 3 sides and top as you already know, for a day it should be fine since the rooms are connected and it isn't a complete mystery to him.
I hope this helps, if anything else comes to my mind I will let you know.

P.S. Also if you see they're interacting greatly when you take Levi to Ziggy's cage maybe try putting Levi together with Ziggy for a short time. And do make sure he listens to you when you want to take him (Levi) out.

Thanks so much Chocemilk! That definitely makes alot of sense, and I'll try it soon.I think i'll try to stick to the quarantine,such as it is, for another week if they/I can wait that long and then give it a try.

wow...i need to take note of these things. when i get Topaz trained i will need to remember some things when i want to put my 2 keets together. thnx for explaining all of that Choco.

No prob, those were just some ideas that came into my mind when I think of your cases and remember mine. My experience was a fast interaction. Both birds wanted to be together, so after a little while I put the birds in the same cage and it went smoothly, started preening each other etc. It makes the training difficult, so for you Sweetbirdies, it's good you wait till you train Topaz. If not, the advice posted isn't too good. However the observation advice is the best in any case hahaha. I still need to post on "the plague" but I will do it later if not tomorrow cause that long post wore me out.
Good luck with Ziggy and Topaz both of you. I gotta say your birdies are pretty!!!