It's Getting Better All the Time

Digby reached, in my mind, two big milestones this week.

The first one was one that I've seen coming for the past few weeks. Last night after I put her in her cage for bed, I left her cage door open while I gave her some new water. I left the room, got her water, and went back to the living room. Digby was no longer in her cage, she was standing on her cage door. This afternoon I decided to see just how willing she was to leave her cage. I opened her cage door and put her t-perch in front of the door. Within two minutes, she was out of her cage and on her perch. She went in when I got close to her, but as soon as backed off, she came back out. When I approached her again, she stayed on her perch and hopped onto my arm.

Tonight, when I put her in her cage for the night, I again left the door open while I got her water. She came out as I expected. It makes me very happy to see her so willing to come out.

The second milestone that she reached is a huge, huge one. She was on her perch and something startled her. She jumped down to the floor. I bent down to get her, but I had short sleeves on so she couldn't just step up onto my sleeve. Given the choice between the floor and my hand, Digby chose my hand! She hopped up onto my hand and stayed there. I also discovered she will let me pick her up using my hand even though she won't step up onto my hand. She's also been letting me pet her on her back and tail a little.

Digby has made huge improvements since I got her, and it seems like lately her behaviour and willingness to trust has been improving by leaps and bounds. One day she'll be totally opposed to something and the next day she'll be happy to try it.