A blog about my beautiful budgies.
Here is a video of Atilla chewing my jumper, from about 8 years ago. Her boyfriend, Cagney, makes an appearance.
Always in our thoughts.
xxx
Always in our thoughts.
xxx
Three years ago I posted on the joys of curly paper (click here). The latest recruit is Dalai. He loves curly paper!
He quickly makes short work of what I peg up for him. The floor underneath him is littered with chewed up bits. I thought that curly paper may be the thing that helps with taming. (I say ‘taming’ but I really mean getting Dalai to not be scared of my hand.)
As soon as my hand goes into the cage, Dalai usually retreats to behind a mirror, whether it is his red mirror or the mirror on the swing. Food did not seem to entice him out. Curly paper has. I hold up a strip & let it wave & wobble & gradually his curiosity gets the better of him & he stretches out to chew it. As he tears off the paper, he has to get nearer my fingers. After a few days of doing this, he got to within about 3 inches of my fingers which was a breakthrough, given that he would usually hide. With a little more patience, he tentatively touched the tip of my finger with his beak!
We are now at the stage where he nibbles the tips of my two fingers that are holding what is left of the curly paper. He still does this from the safety of the swing.
I want him to associate nice things with my hand/fingers. I did not think that curly paper would be my ally in this task!
The chewy toy is still the favoured toy to sleep behind.
When Cagney hurt his leg before Christmas I removed the round swing from the Manor loft area to encourage him to rest his foot more. In its place I put a short but wide perch. I left the older, more threadbare chewy toy in its original place but moved the newer one across to the new perch.
When it came to bedtime & Cagney & Bezukhov made their way to the loft area to sleep, they each positioned themselves directly behind a chewy toy, as can be evidenced in these photos:
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The chewy toy is also an ideal place to hide behind:
Bezukhov hiding behind chewy toy
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Strangely, they do not appear to be chewing either of the chewy toys much. Perhaps they understand that once chewed the toys will be gone forever? (They do not know that I have spare one!) Or perhaps they realise that the more they chew the less effective the toy is as a hiding place?
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New chewy toys
Not so long ago, I wrote about Cagney & Bezukhov’s favourite chewy toy that has become threadbare. I have been adjusting the remaining stringy bits to provide maximum illusion of bulk but it was starting to look rather ridiculous when one or other of them attempted to “hide” behind it. I decided it was time to upgrade! Unfortunately, I could not remember where I bought the original one so I had a major internet search ahead of me.
The new one had to be the same as the existing one, albeit in its original form. There are many chewy toys around, made out of similar materials but I inspected the photo of each contender closely as I knew the slightest deviation from the original could mean yet another toy to go in the Rejected Toys box.
Fortunately, I found them! I was so pleased, I bought two! One for current chew & one for future chew.
The new chewy toy has been placed where the threadbare one usually is & the threadbare one has been moved along the perch a bit. I thought that if they were quite close together, Cagney & Bezukhov could each sleep behind one, even if one would be more hidden than the other.
I should perhaps add that the preferred bedtime sleeping spot is ‘behind the chewy toy’ & there is still a rota of sorts on whose turn it is. (Cagney probably sleeps behind it an average of 7 out of 10 times). Having two chewy toys may reduce the nightly bedtime faffing routine.
Bezukhov & Cagney sleeping behind chewy toys
Phineas modelling chewy toys
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You can see in the last photo that a section of the new chewy toy has already been chewed off, exposing the knot & the first in-between piece of red string.
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Since the passing of my girls, my sleeves have seen no action. Until a few days ago.
Can I have a sleeve?
I was tending to Phineas & my arm was near the plant pot stand. Suddenly, I felt a gentle tugging on my sleeve. When I turned, I saw Bezukhov on the plant pot stand & he was chewing my sleeve.
To feel that tugging on my sleeve took me right back to those pudding days.
Bezukhov jumped on my arm to have a proper chew. Cagney joined him. Naturally, Phineas had to be involved & landed on my arm, in the middle of Cagney & Bezukhov, instantly dispersing them!
Previously, Bezukhov & Cagney only chewed my sleeve when the girls did. Atilla & Raspy could spend hours chewing my sleeves so Cagney & Bezukhov, being devoted partners, would join them at some point. The girls would have a crook of elbow each & the toyboys would have the length of my arms to play with.
As a reminder, here is Raspy having a good chew:
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Incidentally, in the video I am wearing the same jumper that Bezukhov was pulling at this week. 🙂
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Cagney & Bezukhov’s favourite chewy toy is now a bit threadbare. It has faithfully been a place to sleep & snooze behind for some time. The toyboys take turns to sleep behind it of a night, although the rota, to my eye, is somewhat random.
Sadly, the chewy toy is now not so good for hiding behind. Not that this stops them. I think they think it has magical qualities & the position behind it is a safe one, regardless of the state of the toy itself.
Compare the above photos to this photo on a previous post from around 6 months ago.
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Cagney preening behind the chewy toy.
There are usually positions in the cage that are favourites.
Atilla always claimed the spot with the best vantage point for overseeing all that was going on in the room.
The toyboys current favourite spot is behind a chewy toy on the rope perch in the loft area.
During the day one or other of them will often be found sat behind it. During the night, one or other is usually behind it. Cagney is behind it about 9 times out of 10, but sometimes he shifts over & allows Bezukhov to sleep there.
It is a chewy toy so does get chewed. It fell down the other week as they had chewed through the stringy bit holding it up. I gave it a quick repair & popped it back. It is slightly shorter than before, but still warrants best position in the Manor.
Who knew that simple wooden lollipop sticks would be so popular? Both Atilla & Raspy were great fans of them. For most of their lives they would be happy to chew away until just a tiny splinter remained. Forget about expensive toys…. just give them a wooden stick! It could keep them quiet for ages.
They were introduced to the sticks when young but used to play with them more than chew. Hours would go by with them just hanging on them, doing the splits, grabbing one away from the other & of course having a nibble.
Here are some videos of them:
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The chick-like nibble would soon turn into full blown adult hen destruction & the sticks would not last long. No matter… I always made sure I had them in stock. 🙂
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.
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