Today Luxie woke up and chose violence. Well, as much as a grumpy-but-bonded budgie chooses such things! She greeted me in the morning with a definitely stronger-than-playing bite, and then throughout the day she’s given out strong and aggressive bites. She also climbed onto my glasses post-breakfast, scooted out in front of my vision, and proceded to bite at my EYELIDS. And then screeched at me when I proceeded to gently but firmly push her beak back and away from my eyes, like I was the one doing something wrong. 🙄
![Bird Shelf Plant Shelving Ceiling]()
This was a few days ago, in which she headed for the cage and landed instead on the lamp neck. Which is actually an improvement on her targeting! She had a habit of aiming for the lamp itself, but could never get a foothold on it. She sat here for a good half an hour after breakfast. Maybe she liked it because it was a tall perch. Maybe she just was contemplating her next move.
Luxie continues to have unpredictable play rhythms—some days, she plays her heart out all day, others she just kind of quietly sits. She has developed a love of jumping off her swing, and then turning around and attacking the bells on either side of it as it careens back and forth. Then she’ll hop around to where she can get back on the swing, and the cycle repeats. She is also figuring out finally that the rattan balls are meant for destruction.
She has also picked up a new sound: the video game menu sound. I don’t watch TV, but I grew up playing games and I still do when I have the time, so whenever possible I have a video of a game playthrough going in the background for Luxie’s ambient “flock is safe” noise. We’ve been “watching” some PlayStation Final Fantasy games, the kind you can spend a lot of time moving around in menus making selections, healing party members, equipping new items, that kind of stuff. And then a few days ago, I hear this adorable synth-y squeak from her, like a menu selection but live. It is DELIGHTFUL.
![Food Tableware Ingredient Green Wood]()
Luxie on an earlier post-breakfast morning as I am working on her veggies. It sort of turned into a play-explore moment.
I have been noticing that while Luxie eats many good things—seeds, pellets, lettuce, now broccoli, maybe carrot greens?—she also will occasionally go for her birdie poop. It doesn‘t seem like it’s a priority or that she is compulsory about it, but every once in awhile, she just casually has a nibble of her poops, and I don’t exactly know how to explain to her that it’s not for eating. I did get a mineral block into the cage to make sure she wasn’t doing it due to some kind of deficiency. She does also nibble bits of bark she’s pulled off perches that have fallen down, or other bits of toys, so I’m thinking it might be more the necessities of foraging. …Note to self, I must get more seeds, going to be running low soon.
She’s still emphatically a cage bird. The door is always open, but it still takes the enticement of food—and good food, mind you, seeds or millet—to tolerate a small amount of out-of-cage time. 🤷♂️
She‘ll be four months old late next week, but no sign of her first molt. —Though perhaps today’s grumpiness foretells something! I continue to be permitted to occasionally scritch her, and she continues to have her peculiar “almost-baths” in which she hovers over the water and gets a little of her chest and head wet. Maybe someday!
![Bird Hand Vertebrate Parrot Pet supply]()
These are gentle greeting nibbles. I’ve come to change out your paper lining for the evening, Little One. …She was fine until I changed the paper, and then the not-gentle-at-all angry bites came again. “How dare you! I wasn’t finished with all those interesting bits of things on the ground!” It’s a no-good horrible very bad day for Luxie, I guess—some days are like that!
EDIT: We are sitting here having dinner, and she is eating like she is STARVING. She is also aggressively attacking my fingers whenever I get close to her or the bowl, which she does not usually do. (She makes the most adorable chitter-squeak when she does it too, which maybe she thinks is intimidating, but only just endears me to her more.) I do wonder if the molt has begun; I’ll try some egg tomorrow with her food.
This was a few days ago, in which she headed for the cage and landed instead on the lamp neck. Which is actually an improvement on her targeting! She had a habit of aiming for the lamp itself, but could never get a foothold on it. She sat here for a good half an hour after breakfast. Maybe she liked it because it was a tall perch. Maybe she just was contemplating her next move.
Luxie continues to have unpredictable play rhythms—some days, she plays her heart out all day, others she just kind of quietly sits. She has developed a love of jumping off her swing, and then turning around and attacking the bells on either side of it as it careens back and forth. Then she’ll hop around to where she can get back on the swing, and the cycle repeats. She is also figuring out finally that the rattan balls are meant for destruction.
She has also picked up a new sound: the video game menu sound. I don’t watch TV, but I grew up playing games and I still do when I have the time, so whenever possible I have a video of a game playthrough going in the background for Luxie’s ambient “flock is safe” noise. We’ve been “watching” some PlayStation Final Fantasy games, the kind you can spend a lot of time moving around in menus making selections, healing party members, equipping new items, that kind of stuff. And then a few days ago, I hear this adorable synth-y squeak from her, like a menu selection but live. It is DELIGHTFUL.
Luxie on an earlier post-breakfast morning as I am working on her veggies. It sort of turned into a play-explore moment.
I have been noticing that while Luxie eats many good things—seeds, pellets, lettuce, now broccoli, maybe carrot greens?—she also will occasionally go for her birdie poop. It doesn‘t seem like it’s a priority or that she is compulsory about it, but every once in awhile, she just casually has a nibble of her poops, and I don’t exactly know how to explain to her that it’s not for eating. I did get a mineral block into the cage to make sure she wasn’t doing it due to some kind of deficiency. She does also nibble bits of bark she’s pulled off perches that have fallen down, or other bits of toys, so I’m thinking it might be more the necessities of foraging. …Note to self, I must get more seeds, going to be running low soon.
She’s still emphatically a cage bird. The door is always open, but it still takes the enticement of food—and good food, mind you, seeds or millet—to tolerate a small amount of out-of-cage time. 🤷♂️
She‘ll be four months old late next week, but no sign of her first molt. —Though perhaps today’s grumpiness foretells something! I continue to be permitted to occasionally scritch her, and she continues to have her peculiar “almost-baths” in which she hovers over the water and gets a little of her chest and head wet. Maybe someday!
These are gentle greeting nibbles. I’ve come to change out your paper lining for the evening, Little One. …She was fine until I changed the paper, and then the not-gentle-at-all angry bites came again. “How dare you! I wasn’t finished with all those interesting bits of things on the ground!” It’s a no-good horrible very bad day for Luxie, I guess—some days are like that!
EDIT: We are sitting here having dinner, and she is eating like she is STARVING. She is also aggressively attacking my fingers whenever I get close to her or the bowl, which she does not usually do. (She makes the most adorable chitter-squeak when she does it too, which maybe she thinks is intimidating, but only just endears me to her more.) I do wonder if the molt has begun; I’ll try some egg tomorrow with her food.
