Life in the Trenches (or Beneath the Couch Cushions): A Big Day for Lenny

This morning started off in much less than a favorable manner. First, I discovered two not so lovely messes in the kitchen from Tucker last night to clean up and stepped in another in the livingroom. Nice. Then I also had a dentist appointment to look forward to later in the morning and we all know just how much fun going to the dentist can be, right? Yeah…pretty much a second Monday to the week, how lucky am I?

So I turned the coffee pot on and got the smelly little messes cleaned up. Fiddled around on the computer for a bit until it was time to feed the babies. I decided today would be a big day for Baby Lenny. He’s now fully feathered and looking beautiful. He’s really anxious to try out his wings and flaps them for a few minutes here and there to give them a good workout and build up his growing muscles. The only problem with that is the brooder is too small for him to really stretch out his wings and he kept whacking poor little Squiggy something silly. He’s been demonstrating that he’s ready to learn to perch during feedings and only wants to sit on my finger to be fed now. As soon as I sit him down, he climbs right back up on me again, demanding his prime seat as the center of attention. Poor little Squiggy just sits alone, peeping softly and resigned to the towel, waiting for her turn to eat. Today Lenny would move to a big boy cage.

I dug out our parakeets’ old cage from down the basement. I gave it a good dusting off as it’s been down there in the dark for well over a year. Fortunately no spiders or other creepy crawlies had tried to take up residence--definitely not what I needed on my less than joyous start to the morning! I put in one of the perches as close to the floor of the cage as possible, just high enough for Lenny to climb up on and check out the world around him and also set at the level the food dishes will go once he starts to wean. He’s already nibbling on millet sprays, more or less just pulling the seeds off the stem for now, but soon enough he’ll learn the seeds can actually be eaten. And now that he’s in his big boy cage, he’ll get to sample some other treats, like whole wheat bread, crumbled corn muffins, samplings of fresh fruits and veggies, and eventually other seed mixes as well. Yes, it’s a big day for Lenny.

Well, then there’s our precious little Squiggy, all by her lonesome now in the brooder. Lenny’s cage sits right next to the brooder so they can still see and hear each other, but Squiggy had no one to cuddle with anymore. So I looked around my room for something soft she could snuggle with and settled on a little stuffed baby giraffe. Super soft with just the perfect cuddle spot beneath its belly, tucked in between its legs, which turned out to be just the right size for Baby Squiggy to curl up for some sweet baby dreams.

After the babies were done eating, they went to check out their new living arrangements. Lenny wasn’t quite sure at first about the cage and perch. He fluttered about for a minute or so, trying to decide where to sit. He slipped off the perch at first, stared sullenly at it a while, then climbed back up, determined to conquer this new challenge. Lenny is a big boy now! I tucked Baby Squiggy in beside the giraffe and it didn’t take her long to fall fast asleep, safe and content in the arms of this new warm and fuzzy friend. Soon enough she’ll follow Lenny to the big cage and learn to perch like he does, but for now she’s still happy to be a pampered little baby. Sweet dreams little Squiggy!!