A blog about my beautiful budgies.
The see-saw swing is one of the most popular toys here. There is one in Perry & Lennie’s cage & also one in Dalai’s cage. Moriarty does not have one in his so his first encounter was when he was out & about. He ignored it for a time but after a little encouragement & tapping on it he finally, tentatively climbed on. Unsurprisingly, it was an instant hit with him!
The see-swing does, of course, require another to be sat on it for it to be used to its full capacity, so I am pleased to report it is used by both Lennie & Moriarty.
Moriarty & Lennie on the swing
Moriarty puts his tour guide hat on & shows us around his quarantine cage:
Tour Itinerary
0:01: Begin on diagonal perch
0:05 Dried grass
0:08 Ladder
0:13 Platform perch
0:18 Perch where mirror is
0:24 Food bowl
0:25 Swing
0:27 Diagonal perch & platform perch (again)
0:28 Diagonal perch (again)
0:30 Middle of cage (flying area)
0:32 Conclude on perch where mirror is
Don’t give up the day job, Moriarty!
Moriarty
I have always thought that arranging the furniture in a cage is a skill. There are lots of questions to ask, like will the position of this perch/toy mean it is covered in poop? Will the toy be in an accessible yet challenging place? Is there enough space for wings to be stretched or even for a fly?
I thought I had considered all things when rearranging Moriarty’s cage yet somehow he found a glitch in the design. If he dismounts his swing in a certain way, one of the bottom bells gets caught in the Olympic rings! Despite this being a fault, it almost turns into a new toy. The swing’s bell is now in a great position to be biffed, & the swing can still be used, even at the funny angle!
Bell caught in rings
Moriarty is a fan of shiny things. This was apparent quite early on. He was often playing with the bell at the bottom of his chewy toy & the bells on the bottom of his swing.
His mirror gets a lot of attention which is probably expected for a bird that was on his own.
I suspected he would appreciate the disco ball, which he does!
I love my disco ball!
I love these shiny bells!
I love this bell!
Cor, what a handsome chappy!
Moriarty
Perry & Lennie often pop into Dalai’s cage for a change of scenery.
Lennie is the more frequent visitor & will be in & out, but Perry also visits & spends some time ‘chilling’. Initially, they were wary of moving around the cage, almost like they were uncomfortable that Dalai was not there, but over time they have become more relaxed.
That said, neither have dared to sit on Dalai’s perch at the back on the far right (a twig-like perch, diagonally across the corner). Dalai did not allow them to sit on it. Perry accepted this rule pretty quickly & did not bother to attempt to sit there. Lennie wanted to sit next to Dalai on that perch, but the nearest he could get was to cling to the cage bars near the perch & if his luck was in, Dalai would go over & chat to him. If Lennie was feeling particularly bold, he would tentatively climb onto the perch when Dalai was otherwise engaged at the seed trough, but he was on edge & never hung around there for longer than a minute.
(Incidentally, Bezukhov was allowed to sit on this perch, possibly because he lived in the cage before Dalai & it would have seemed churlish not to allow him!)
Even though Dalai is not here, Perry & Lennie still do not sit on Dalai’s perch.
Here is a rare moment when Perry sat on Dalai’s swing:
Since Bezukhov’s flight to Rainbow Bridge last July, Dalai has continued to stay in the Silver Villa, favouring bedtime on his own, rather than having to share with Perry & Lennie. Possibly a part of this is because he likes to retire to bed earlier than the others. Bezukhov was always mindful of Dalai’s preferences, whereas Perry & Lennie are a bit more ‘animated’ at a time when Dalai is less appreciative!
Perry, Dalai & Lennie
Perry, Dalai & Lennie
Perry, Dalai & Lennie
So far, there has been one exceptional bedtime, that strangely occurred at the end of Day 45 of their recent medication. I am still unsure whether that was a coincidence!
The evening of the 14th January, Dalai was already locked up but at around 20:30 he indicated he wanted to come out. Sometimes he would like a last fly before bed. But on this occasion, instead of going back into the Silver Villa, he went into Perry & Lennie’s cage! The few weeks prior, he had been spending time in their cage during the daytime (usually in the morning) but this was the first time he went in at bedtime.
Needless to say, I left their doors open for awhile, in case Dalai changed his mind. He did actually poke his head out the door a couple of times & looked at the open doors of the Silver Villa & seemed to contemplate returning, but twice turned around to go back into Perry & Lennie’s, so it was definitely a conscious decision.
Certainly he upset the apple-cart as he investigated which position he wanted to rest in, including upside down on the ceiling! Meanwhile, Lennie was still trying to kiss him every two minutes, despite Dalai jabbing him away. Perry was just trying to find a peaceful spot & actually came out on the landing platform twice, seeking calm.
Dalai finally, very astutely, came to rest on the purple swing (he has the same in his cage, though he does not sleep on it), which is not used by either Perry or Lennie at bedtime. This brought some calm. I felt confident enough to lock them in & put their cover over.
I stayed up extra late but did not hear a peep out of them, but all the same I still thought it best to get up a bit earlier in the morning! The next morning, all was well!
Despite Dalai’s overnight stay being relatively calm (after the initial surprise) he has not repeated it. It is anyone’s guess as why he has not! For now, he seems happy sleeping on his own in the Silver Villa.
Dalai’s overnight stay 14th/15th Jan ’19
This post has been a long time coming & because of that, is quite long & video heavy. Warning over!
From early on, Lennie began to wiggle & jiggle when & where he could. He has come across as experimental but it is possible he has just not been fussed & made the most of whatever was available at the required time. In the following videos you can get a flavour of his open-mindedness.
1st December 2016 – Raffia toy.
14th December 2016 – Perch, holding onto millet.
22nd December 2016 – White seed feeder.
Perry & Lennie’s first encounter with a teeter-totter-mirror-see-saw (ttmss) swing was during an exploratory visit to the Manor. They did not have one in their quarantine cage so it proved to be a good source of entertainment. They also discovered the hot pink one in the Silver Villa.
Because of the mirror & the perches on either side, photos can come out…. interesting!
In the Manor:
In the Silver Villa:
I like the way that when they fall off, they just immediately get back on again. No drama, no fuss, no analysing… they just carry on where they left off. 🙂
Sometimes, even when it is cold, the room can be filled with sunshine. On one particular day, Dalai was having a snooze in the sunshine, on Phinny’s hot pink ttmss swing. Here are some photos in a slideshow:
I have included a photo of Bezukhov who was also sitting in the sunshine. He looks like he is sleeping because his eyes are closed but he was actually having a grumble at the time. The photo looks a bit weird because he was behind the swing with the mirror that just happened to be reflecting the cage bars, giving a strange illusionary effect.
During their moult, feather dust & dander is more noticeable. Sometimes, Bezukhov & Dalai sit on the perch preening & you can see it drift down & settle below them. I have singled out Dalai in this post simply because the dander he leaves behind on the ttmss swing in the Manor is particularly noticeable because of the dark colour of the perch.
Bezukhov very rarely sits on that swing which is why I know the dander pictured is Dalai’s. Bezukhov prefers the counterpart (hot pink) swing in the Villa.
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