Let’s start with a glamor shot of the young lady:
…Luxie takes a lot of naps, I’ve observed. It seems like it might be because she is still so young? Internet searching seems to indicate that budgie youngsters sleep more than adults, 12-14 hours. I wonder too whether she is not sleeping through the night (the past couple mornings I’ve found a computer on that I thought I’d put to sleep, so the noise might have disturbed her), or else was on a different sleep schedule. I got her up a little after 8am, but she seemed very cranky and screeched at me while I replaced the bowls for our morning routine. But she perked up today around 9:30, ate some breakfast, and then sat quietly under the UV light. (She doesn’t seem to like the UV light, though I don’t know whether that is due to the world looking different to her when it is on? I was told Lutino eyesight can be poorer, like Albino mutations). She takes many naps:
…I tried very hard to just leave her alone to get settled in, but then, one thing led to another…
(she is not yelling, I just got lucky and snapped the shot when she was either yawning or adjusting her crop.)
…She has been on my shoulder or at the back of my neck for most of yesterday and today. What a radically different experience to my first budgie! I put her back in her cage for “cage time,” but she tries to find a way out toward me. When I opened the door today, she came right over me, perched, and has been sitting there contentedly since. I’ve been doing homework, dishes, rocking in my rocking chair, and she does not screech at all, just sits contentedly. She seems to snooze on and off as she’s sitting. She seems to go in short bursts of activity (eating, preening, climbing and “beaking” things) and then a snooze.
She tried a bath yesterday! Though I’m not sure if she liked it. I offered her one today, but she wasn’t as interested. The water might have been a little too cold. She was a bit shivery afterward. I got a little rice pack I use as a heating pad and heated it (more moderately than if I were using it) to offer her something warm. She didn’t seem interested. The first budgie never bathed, so I’ve got more to learn about this.
She doesn’t seem to be eating the greens I put in, but it is possible that she is still getting used to the new set-up. She seems to be working on figuring out how to get between perches in the cage. Lots of near-falls. Oh! And even with her wings clipped, she made it up to the top of my tall bookshelf:
So she definitely manages flight, it’s just very fluttery right now.
I’m guessing she’s still getting used to the new setting. I think she was flock-calling for the first time this morning, and I was so sad to tell her that her brothers and sisters weren’t here. Today she has started occasionally chirp-singing while I work. I’m still learning exactly what she is communicating with her screeches—sometimes it seems more like “oh you startled me” and other times it is more of a “leave me alone.” I‘ve been going more off her body language than screeching, since she does it for so much—if she edges away from me, she doesn’t want something, but if she steps up and then refuses to get down, she was probably just surprised by my hand appearing in front of her. Though she often seems irritated when I “interrupt” her doing something, but once she has switched to the new activity, she is fine. I can relate–I hate task-switching before I’m ready too
Such a different experience from Ibid! I am hoping to get that pet clicker soon and see how she does with some training.
…Luxie takes a lot of naps, I’ve observed. It seems like it might be because she is still so young? Internet searching seems to indicate that budgie youngsters sleep more than adults, 12-14 hours. I wonder too whether she is not sleeping through the night (the past couple mornings I’ve found a computer on that I thought I’d put to sleep, so the noise might have disturbed her), or else was on a different sleep schedule. I got her up a little after 8am, but she seemed very cranky and screeched at me while I replaced the bowls for our morning routine. But she perked up today around 9:30, ate some breakfast, and then sat quietly under the UV light. (She doesn’t seem to like the UV light, though I don’t know whether that is due to the world looking different to her when it is on? I was told Lutino eyesight can be poorer, like Albino mutations). She takes many naps:
…I tried very hard to just leave her alone to get settled in, but then, one thing led to another…
(she is not yelling, I just got lucky and snapped the shot when she was either yawning or adjusting her crop.)
…She has been on my shoulder or at the back of my neck for most of yesterday and today. What a radically different experience to my first budgie! I put her back in her cage for “cage time,” but she tries to find a way out toward me. When I opened the door today, she came right over me, perched, and has been sitting there contentedly since. I’ve been doing homework, dishes, rocking in my rocking chair, and she does not screech at all, just sits contentedly. She seems to snooze on and off as she’s sitting. She seems to go in short bursts of activity (eating, preening, climbing and “beaking” things) and then a snooze.
She tried a bath yesterday! Though I’m not sure if she liked it. I offered her one today, but she wasn’t as interested. The water might have been a little too cold. She was a bit shivery afterward. I got a little rice pack I use as a heating pad and heated it (more moderately than if I were using it) to offer her something warm. She didn’t seem interested. The first budgie never bathed, so I’ve got more to learn about this.
She doesn’t seem to be eating the greens I put in, but it is possible that she is still getting used to the new set-up. She seems to be working on figuring out how to get between perches in the cage. Lots of near-falls. Oh! And even with her wings clipped, she made it up to the top of my tall bookshelf:
So she definitely manages flight, it’s just very fluttery right now.
I’m guessing she’s still getting used to the new setting. I think she was flock-calling for the first time this morning, and I was so sad to tell her that her brothers and sisters weren’t here. Today she has started occasionally chirp-singing while I work. I’m still learning exactly what she is communicating with her screeches—sometimes it seems more like “oh you startled me” and other times it is more of a “leave me alone.” I‘ve been going more off her body language than screeching, since she does it for so much—if she edges away from me, she doesn’t want something, but if she steps up and then refuses to get down, she was probably just surprised by my hand appearing in front of her. Though she often seems irritated when I “interrupt” her doing something, but once she has switched to the new activity, she is fine. I can relate–I hate task-switching before I’m ready too
Such a different experience from Ibid! I am hoping to get that pet clicker soon and see how she does with some training.