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This past Saturday I weighed all my chondros. I needed to know my female Biak's weight to figure out how long before she's ready to breed
(610g...another year? She's an '05 I think, though she was sold to me as an '04, but that's another story). While I was at it I decided to
weigh my others because it had been a long time. Ironically, my Biak didn't give me much trouble. Maybe she's getting over her trust issues, or maybe
she's lulling me into a false sense of security, I don't know. What surprised me, though, was the reaction I got from my normally docile male Aru,
Ted.
After a smooth removal from his perch, Ted then proceeded to give me the fight of his life as I tried to slip him into the pillow case. It's a testament to his personality that he never bit, but he rammed his head into me numerous times, hissed and spat (best way to describe it, though there was no actual spit, per se), tried to give me an indian burn (two coils adjacent on my arm, squeezing tightly and rotating in opposite directions...how does he do that?!?), and tried lunging away every chance he got. My wife had to help out and my kid was terrified. We finally got him into the pillow case and onto the scales. He weighed in at 1380g (down from 1500g last summer, because he fasted over the winter). I prepared for the worst when I reached my hand in to take him out, but he didn't bite. He did start with the jumping again. I placed him in his cage, he got on his high perch, turned to face me, and started huffing at me. Not his normal behavior.
So...is there a less stressful way to weigh adult chondros? I'm open to ideas and would love to hear how everyone else does it. In the meantime, I won't be weighing any of them without really good reason. Ted is healthy and there was no truly compelling reason for me to put him through that. But I would like a better way for when I need to know.
After a smooth removal from his perch, Ted then proceeded to give me the fight of his life as I tried to slip him into the pillow case. It's a testament to his personality that he never bit, but he rammed his head into me numerous times, hissed and spat (best way to describe it, though there was no actual spit, per se), tried to give me an indian burn (two coils adjacent on my arm, squeezing tightly and rotating in opposite directions...how does he do that?!?), and tried lunging away every chance he got. My wife had to help out and my kid was terrified. We finally got him into the pillow case and onto the scales. He weighed in at 1380g (down from 1500g last summer, because he fasted over the winter). I prepared for the worst when I reached my hand in to take him out, but he didn't bite. He did start with the jumping again. I placed him in his cage, he got on his high perch, turned to face me, and started huffing at me. Not his normal behavior.
So...is there a less stressful way to weigh adult chondros? I'm open to ideas and would love to hear how everyone else does it. In the meantime, I won't be weighing any of them without really good reason. Ted is healthy and there was no truly compelling reason for me to put him through that. But I would like a better way for when I need to know.
