Don’t Move My Toys!
Originally published at Harmonic Pets. Please leave any comments there.
I did it! I moved Inkybird’s toys today. Just a little bit. Moved his swing over and rearranged a couple of his toys. That’s it. I swear. And yet, you would have thought I’d picked up him and plunked him into an entirely new world by the way he birdy-cussed me out as I was switching things out. Pardon me, fine sir, for moving your toys around. Here, have a spray of millet!
Inky’s reaction isn’t by any means alone. Most pet birds I’ve had didn’t like having their toys moved around. Sure, we’re told as owners to rotate their toys so they don’t get bored, and we should. But change something in their routine, and it’s birdy-war on you!
This illustrates how much “in a routine” our pets get. They like to be fed at a certain time each day. They like their curtains opened on time, or if they’re not a timer their lights turned on at the same time each day. We want to provide variety in food, but change an ingredient and woe be unto you, because you might have taken away your pet’s favorite morsel.
He’ll get over it, of course. They tend to even if they like to chirp and squawk and tell you that it’s the end of the universe. In fact, it can be good for them to shake up their routine. Getting stuck in a rut leads to bored birds, and bored birds can be destructive or noisy birds. So go ahead and move their toys. It’s the right thing to do.