Snoball's hormones seem to be raging. He gets upset easier lately, and has been biting more and more. Normally a quick "bzzzt" and shake of my hand is enough to distract him from biting my fingers. (He doesn't puncture, just applies pressure ... a LOT of pressure) but lately that hasn't been enough. Stage 1 is a quick shake, stage two is a flip upside down, and stage 3 is being put on the floor and walked away from. Lately, not only have we been having to go to stage 3, but he's been chasing my feet once he's on the floor. I tried to turn that into a game at first, but he couldn't do it without getting too rough and getting angry. So now, we have to have a stage 4, which is picked up with wings tucked in, and taken straight to the cage.
Stage 4 doesn't happen often. Usually once he gets walked away from he gets upset and immediately stops being a bully. He'd rather get snuggled than ignored. -lol- He was also screaming a lot in the beginning. I think this was due more to the environment change than his hormones. But he's getting better about it. When he was persistent, he would get his feet squirted with water. He hates that so it stopped him immediately. He's so used to the fact that [screaming = wet feet] now, that all I have to do his give him "that look" or show him a squirt bottle and he stops. -lol-
Bedtime is sometimes difficult, sometimes easy. I think once he gets used to the routine he will go to bed quietly. He stays up and plays with me and my other birds (we're usually doing homework or blogging while everyone runs around and plays) until around 8pm. That's when he starts to get a little loud. At that point, he goes into the "quiet room" which is the only place he's been comfortable sleeping. He has a night cage in there with a pacifier toy that he picked out and a few perches. Once he settles in for the night he is quiet and content until morning, when I wake him up for a shower. He either comes in the shower with me, or stays in bed with David. Then we leave for work, where he stays for a few hours while I go to school (or actually work!) and then we head home again around 6 every night. Sometimes we go shopping and he draws big crowds, or sometimes we go straight home and relax. :)
We were able to sleep in today (until 9) because I took over a friend's shift which is later in the afternoon. I got up and made omlettes for everyone. I put bird seed in the egg so they had a foraging toy as well as a treat. Snoball got breadcrumbs in his egg.
"Hey Mikey, he likes it!"
We went to work around 10:30 or so and Snoball spent the day playing on the perches there and interacting with customers. He is so spoiled at work. People come in and ask to see Snoball (not me), people ask how Snoball is (not how I am), people ask which toys Snoball recommends (not which toys I recommend), etc. :) Little kids are always stealing treats out of the food bins to bring to Snoball. I don't usually yell at them. (don't tell my boss) ;)
We came home early today and had some fun exploring everyone else's cages and toys. Snoball spent some time in the big comfy chair with me while I did my Detective Fiction homework (reading several detective stories ... go figure). I don't think he liked the stories much - he fell asleep. I'll have to let my professor know that Snoball does not approve. (Yes, I read them out loud to the animals. It helps me to remember the stories better.)
I found a rattle that was originally bought for the bunnies, but thought Snoball might like it. So I tried to hand it to him, but he was being a brat and threw it back at me. "Fine Snoball," I said, "I didn't want you to play with it anyway. Y'know why, Snoball? Because *I* wanted to play with it." And I took off across the living room, using the rattle as a tambourine and singing a song from the musical Chicago. After a while of me dancing around and clapping with the rattle and looking at Snoball as if to say, "Wow, you sure are missing out. Poor Snoball... and to think you could've had this very rattle," Snoball got very upset and insisted that I give him the rattle. He was making a fuss and reaching his foot out and doing his typical unhappy "UGH!!!" -lol- He got the rattle in the end and enjoyed it. He likes for me to hold the rattle and let him take the links in his mouth and shake them back and forth. They make a clicky-clacky noise that way and he gets really excited over it. Sometimes he even puts his head feathers up. :) This is the rattle in question:
I think that's it for today. Tomorrow morning Snoball goes to work while I go to school for 4 hours. (Yuck) Maybe we'll go somewhere afterwards. I've been taking him to fish stores because I want to set up a goldfish tank and I am pricing things out and getting ideas. He's a little unsure about the fish - he doesn't know whether to like them or be afraid of them - but they keep his attention.
