Dexter moved to his new cage

[criswell]

I've been setting up Dexter's new cage over the past few days and we moved him into it today.

As I imagined, he was very stressed by the whole thing. We probably wrongly decided that the safest plan would be to catch him and pop him in the carrier for 5 mintutes while we moved the cages around but Dexter was having none of it. He would not be caught and managed to squeeze past David's arm to escape out of the cage. Then he just sat on top of the cage and didn't want to get off but he did eventually fly up on to the curtains.

Our lounge is tiny so there wasn't much room to move and we didn't want to leave the door open in case Dexter flew out so we sat the old cage on the floor. We had a bit of struggle getting the new cage in and even harder time getting the old cage out. Dexter kept his distance and looked quite scared and anxious. I felt so mean taking his home away after he's lived in it for 6 years.

He was very skeptical about the new cage even though it's the same as the old one (although a slightly different colour) and it took ages for him to come near it. He sat on top and sang for a while and then moved to the doorway and sat there for ages before finally going in. Then he sat as near the door as he could. It took at least an hour before he was prepared to go in the cage, and he settle fairly well and had something to eat. Then he had a chat with Miss Peacock on the top of the cage

Later on in the evening he kept flying around the room, calling and then sitting on the outside of the cage, looking about for something, especially looking down at the floor. At one point he climbed down the front of the  cage to the bottom and looked like he might jump down on to the floor. Maybe he thought he'd find his old cage down there. He came over to see me when I held out a perch and stayed with me for ages which is something he rarely does. I wonder if it has made him miss his buddies more now he is in a totally clean cage. I expect the old cage still smelled of them a little. Or maybe he was just missing something from his old cage, or the cage itself. I put in equivalent toys but maybe they aren't as good. I will disinfect some of his old toys and give them back to him.

I put swings in the places he likes to sleep, and he went up to bed in his usual place so I hope he sleeps well. And I hope he'll be a bit more settled tomorrow. All in all, I think he has coped with it pretty well. Moving house is a stressful business, especially if you don't have little friends to share it with.

[tweetiepiesmom]

Awww, good little Dexter is so cute. For those of us who've moved houses, we know it takes a while before it feels like "home", even with all our old stuff!

[ffiscool]

I hope Dexter has a good night and will not be as wary/searching tomorrow

[Loz]

Welcome to your new home, Dexter!
I think he'll settle just fine.

[criswell]

Thanks everyone. His droppings were all in one place so he was settled over night. He's had a few mad flights around the room this morning but he's more settle than last night. He's been preening a lot and rubbing his face on the perches. I saw him lick one of the perches earlier too. It still looks quite bare in his cage filling up again over the coming days.

[Ira]

I'm glad that he seems more settled today. Hopefully that will continue to be the trend, especially as he gets more familiar objects back from 'the cleaners'.

[criswell]

Thanks Ira. He's been pretty calm this afternoon so he seems to be getting used to it. I've replaced all his short natural wood perches, but while his full width ones are at the cleaners he's making do with the plastic ones that came with the cage! He is not impressed with those. He's been singing plenty so I know he's not too bothered by the change.

[willowsmum]

Glad the move went well criswell. It sounds like Dexter has settled in brilliantly and taken it all in his stride.

[criswell]

Thanks willowsmum. I would say he's totally settled in today. One of the new perches is quite a lot thicker than he is used to and he seems to like it. He's now got used to the distances between the perches and hops from one to another with easy. He fell of the chunky perch the first time he jumped on to it. There were so many perches in the old cage, to help Dean Stockwell get around, so I won't have so many in the new cage as Dexter doesn't need them.

[ffiscool]

Glad he’s settled into his new pad. Varying thicknesses are good.

[Hezz]

That’s great, criswell. Less perches will be good for him - it’ll make him have to work harder at getting around.

[ariella]

Sounds like the move went smoothly for Dexter. Hope he enjoys his new home.

[criswell]

Thanks everyone. He's seems really happy with his new pad, especially the thick perch (about an inch in diameter). There was an even thicker perch in my order too (about 2 inches diameter) but I decided not to use that one as I didn't want to make his new cage too scary. I agree that it's good for him that there aren't so many perches now.

[ffiscool]

Glad he likes it. I remember when I put a flat corner perch in for Max, clearly it was going to eat him, lol. But he sat on it quite a lot after a few days, standing on it to pull a toy n

[criswell]

It is funny how they react to new things ffiscool. When Randolph Carter was in quaratine I put one new perch and a swing in his cage and he didn't go anywhere near them until 2 weeks later when I brought him downstairs to meet Dexter and he forgot all about the scary new items.