Breaking the bedtime routine

As previously posted, Dalai left his quarantine cage on May 11th.  That evening, when it came to bedtime, there was a bit of chaos.  Dalai did not want to go into his own home so settled on a perch on the outside of the Silver Villa, where Bezukhov & Phineas were already inside sleeping.

Both cages covered over

Dalai chatting with Bezukhov

He showed no signs of going into any cage – bear in mind he had a choice of his own quarantine cage, the Silver Villa & the Manor.  As a last resort, I had to catch him in order to get him to a place of safety for bed.  He is not finger tame so the simple act of putting my finger in front of him freaked him out, so we ended up having a mad chase around the room.  I eventually caught him (boy, can he screech like he is being murdered!) & popped him back into his own cage.

The following evening (12th May), Bezukhov & Phineas retired to bed as usual, in the Silver Villa.  Dalai fell asleep on a perch on the Manor.  As it got late, I gave him a little nudge & to get away from me he flew into the Villa.  So, that was their first night all sleeping together.

Naturally, I set the alarm extra early to check on them the next morning.  All was well but I let them out early anyway.  Interestingly, Dalai went straight to his own cage & had a long chat with his red mirror.

Dalai chatting with Phineas on the platform perch

Morning after the night before

The following evenings Dalai decided to sleep in his own cage.  It is worth noting that his cage is alongside the Villa & at night I put the cover across both cages so they can see each other.  There is a perch in the Villa that lines up nicely with where Dalai sleeps in his cage & either Bezukhov or Phineas will sleep there if Dalai is not in with them.

Since then, Dalai has gradually increased his overnight stays with Bezukhov & Phineas, & we are now at a point where he sleeps with them every night.  In fact, he rarely even goes into his own cage any more so I am considering removing it.  I still try to get them out early the next morning as I find that Bezukhov gives me the hint by quietly waiting on the platform perch (where the small door opens) to be let out.  Dalai is less subtle & when he wants to come out he has a tantrum & sometimes pushes past Bezukhov on the platform perch in order to be out first!