A Helping Hand

Perry’s lack of flying (partly physical & partly, I suspect, laziness!) means he appreciates a helping hand to get around.  Since Moriarty’s arrival, Perry has been increasingly keen to be out & about.  To aid in this, I resurrected the Hand Navigation System (HNS), originally developed by Atilla.

There is a glaring difference in their ways of using the HNS.  Atilla was firm & decisive, whereas Perry is less so.  With Perry, there is a lot of changing of mind/direction & a lot of me asking, “Where do you want to go, Perry? Here? There? Nowhere?”  Despite the different styles, the system still works well.

The major route is out of Moriarty’s cage to Moriarty’s old cage (Ferplast Canto) & locations in the vicinity, like the curtains & the back of the chair.  Sometimes, Perry may even set foot on the window perch. He will also join Moriarty on top of the cages.

I have thought of setting up a perch system to get Perry from Moriarty’s cage to these areas but this would mean more perches to remove whenever I need to close up the cage quickly, particularly in an emergency, or need to move it for cleaning purposes.  For now, I will continue to give Perry a helping hand.

Perry & Moriarty

Moriarty & Perry

Lennie, Perry & Moriarty

Perry & Moriarty

Perry

 

 

Remembering Raspy: One year on

This day, last year, was a very, very sad day indeed.  Our Raspy left us.  At the time it felt far too soon for her to go & 12 months later it still feels that she was with us for too short a time.

She is often in my thoughts.  Recently I have been remembering how, when I sat on the (popular) poang chair, she used to spend ages chewing my sleeve, my jumper, my trouser leg, or the chair itself.  Many times I would sit for longer than I intended as I did not want to distract her from her obviously very important mission. 🙂

How I miss that girl.

Orange patch

A few days ago, I noticed a strange orange-coloured patch on Atilla’s lump.  It did not look right so I dropped an email to Mr Avian Vet, with a photo, asking if it was something I should be concerned about.  Here was his response:

This is a localised area of infection – possibly because she has scratched or rubbed the surface. Initially I would treat it with some antiseptic cream such as Savlon, E45 or similar.

So, not only does she have a horrible hernia/lump, there is now an area of infection on it. 😦  I already had a tube of Savlon so I have been applying this twice a day.  It has been a relatively easy task as Atilla still likes going inside the tea towel at the back of the chair & her lump is very conveniently positioned for me to gently smear some cream on.  So far, the orange patch seems contained.  Atilla is still fine in herself & does not appear troubled by the infection.

Orange patch lump

Curling round to preen lump

Busy behind the chair

After being too poorly to chew the back of the Poang chair, Atilla has gradually got back into the swing of chewing it again & is now spending quite some time working hard, moulding the chair to her specific requirements.  She is also back to using the HNS (Hand Navigation System) & pinches the pads of my fingers to let me know which direction she wants to go in & can still pack in a nasty nip if I do not obey.

Atilla rearranging the tea towel:

Sometimes she just likes to sit & rest underneath the tea towel:

Where’s Atilla?

Long time no see!

Atilla was well enough to visit the Poang chair today!  I’m sure the chair gave a sigh of relief to feel her chewing it.

The last couple of days Atilla has been quite lively, in her non-sleeping moments.  She tentatively made her way over to the chair, via a pathway of my palms (bit like a sideways one-potato-two-potato with palms, not clenched fist).  Once there, she rested & got her bearings. 

Since then, she has managed to fly there herself, thundering across from the manor.  It was a pleasure to hear the heavy beating of her wings & feel the turbulence in the air where it was displaced as she bombed her way over.  There was no time for exchanging any pleasantries or long-time-no-see’s, as she immediately commenced her chewing.  “Welcome back Atilla!” the chair seemed to say. 🙂

Video proof:

Tea Towel Tunnel

Atilla’s outside-Manor time is exclusively spent at the Poang Chairground Resort.  Although she is very busy, I felt it was time to introduce another Chair Challenge to keep her mentally as well as physically active.  This new “ride” has taken the shape of The Tea Towel Tunnel.

Basically, I pegged (another) tea towel up in loops at the back of the chair so she could enter it from the ladder & exit at various points either upwards to the top of the chair or to the far end, the side of the chair.

It did not take her long to investigate, in fact it was a matter of minutes!  Since then, it has been a firm favourite as you can see by these videos:

Once she emerges, she usually immediately returns to the ladder to go through the tunnel again, however in this video you will see that she decides to go back in the way she came out…. she has such a creative mind!