Best way to introduce two cockatiels?

[kristina]

We have two cockatiels, one we've had for about 6 months, the other we got a little over a month ago. We took the vet's advice when we got our newest bird and did a 30 day quarantine with the birds in separate rooms, which was a good since the newest bird had a slight illness and had to go on baytril for a week. Both birds are hand fed, my first bird is very hand tame, the newer bird is still a little timid but he's slowly trusting us more as we've been working with him every day and will now come out of the cage without much difficulty.

Anyways, the 30 day quarantine is now over (yay!) and the vet says since the newest bird is feeling better it is ok to begin the introduction process. Today I moved their cages into the same room! I plan on keeping them in separate cages for as long as it takes, but I would ultimately like them both to live in the first bird's extra large cage.

At the first introduction, my oldest bird seemed very interested in the newer bird - pacing on the perches, climbing around the bars, singing, etc. It didn't seem aggressive, he just looked like he was very excited. However, the newest bird seemed rather indifferent, he's basically just been eating and playing with his toys. So far there's been no hissing, squawking, or appearance of being frightened.

So here are my questions:
Does this sound like a good beginning or should I be worried about either bird's behavior (a lot of interest vs. not too much)?

How long should I keep them in separate cages with separate playtime before I can let them out of the cage to play together?

And at what point should I see about putting them together in the same cage? Also, should I rearrange the cage or do anything to lessen any kind of territorialism?

Any advice would be appreciated, I'm really hoping these two can be good friends!

Thanks!!