Peabody did GREAT last night! I tucked him away around 8:30 pm and he was quiet until I got him up around 10 am ! (As long as he was quiet I left him covered and fixed the dogs' breakfasts, fed the rest of the critters, inside and out, and me as well!).
His "one big fault" according to Judy is that he is possessive of his cage(s) and toys. She spent some time showing me how to distract him in order to get his food/water dishes to refill, change out toys, change the paper in the bottom of his cage, etc. Or to get him OUT of the cage and away in order to do those chores.
But for some reason, Peabody isn't acting that way with me. I can't reach in and grab him, he will 'bite' if I tried to do that ... but he is letting me deal with the paper, the dishes, reach in and hand him a treat (nut), take one of his toys and play with him with it.
Why is he letting me do the things that he didn't want Judy to do? My guess is that he's still "out of his element" and not sure of himself. He knew Judy and wasn't afraid to tell her what was OK and what wasn't. He's still not sure of me and so is being on better behaviour. (Does this sound familiar to those of you who are parents of small children? They ALWAYS behave better for the babysitter than they do for you!).
Whatever the reason, I'm taking advantage of it. I'm reaching in on and off all day long (never for such a long session that he'll get stressed) and offering him his favorite treat .... a pine nut. And a session that lasts several minutes with him interacting with me ends with a jackpot of maybe a half dozen pine nuts.
He did come out of the cage today for maybe 20 minutes and let me hold and pet him. When I saw that he was beginning to worry (maybe about the dogs?) I put him back. I won't be forcing him beyond his comfort level.
He let Kate take a bunch of photos of him, cage door open, this afternoon. She's really enjoying him.
It's been a good day!
Yep, he's in the 'honeymoon' phase where he's not sure where he stands, so he's being good. Give it a week or so and his old behaviors may start to show up. Before they start appearing, praise him and reward him for being good. It may postpone/prevent some of them from coming back.
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