After four weeks of quarantine, Frediano & Finkleberry were brought into the lounge to meet Moriarty (10th April).
For a few days prior, at intervals, I opened the room doors between them, so they could hear each other, in the hope the actual meet and greet would be less of a shock! Once again, Frediano & Finkleberry would be experiencing a change of surroundings. Moriarty would suddenly go from being a lone bird to having two feathery friends again.
On wheeling the new boys in, Moriarty went silent & was clearly surprised. Frediano and Finkleberry were also intrigued. After about half an hour, when the initial shock had worn off, I offered my hand to Moriarty to see if he wanted to go over to see his new friends. He tentatively accepted & I took him towards their cage. It did not take long for him to discard me (!) & focus on Frediano & Finkleberry. He mostly ran about on top of their cage, peering in, then flying off & returning with a flourish as he landed.
Frediano & Finkleberry had mixed reactions. After all, it had been just the two of them for at least a year & now here was someone else. There was a little jostling between the two of them as they tried to get prime position. I moved their cover across the back section of the cage to provide a safe area underneath where Moriarty was not prowling above. Other than that, they all seemed okay. Certainly Moriarty was delighted to have feathery company again! If I had any doubts over my decision to increase the flock then seeing Moriarty’s reaction would have eased them.
My plan was to have a few days of them getting to know each other through the bars before getting Frediano & Finkleberry out. Initially, I had to put the cover over Frediano & Finkleberry to get Moriarty back to his own cage so I could go out, but Moriarty soon realised they would still be there even if he retired to his own cage.
So, all was going well. The next phase would be the face-to-face meeting!
Here are some videos of that first meet & greet:
Morning after first night in the same room together – Moriarty is keen to go over & see his new friends:
Puddings & Toyboys 