Teenage tantrums....

[BeebosMum]

Wel I guess Beebo at 9 weeks is going through the owl teenage tantrum period. He is constant ly testing to see what he can get away with! But last nigh we were in hysterics at him!

Id got up to put the TV off and get organised to go to bed, he was sitting on top of our snakes vivarium, when I switched the TV off he flew across the living room and was clipping at me as if to say "I was watching that!!!!!" Then when I tried to lift him to put him in pen - he threw himself forward twittering and clipping and making all sorts of noises! Before he has just managed ot end up face down but last night he managed to flip himself right over and lay on his back (I always lower him down onto the couch so he doesnt hurt his legs when he does that - I dont let go and right him immediately so he doesnt think it will get him anywhere) looking at me - so I lifted him back up and he sat there - glowering at me and went very quitely back in his pen and sat with his back to me sulking!

Im a bad mum this morning - obviously we are having a battle of wills......!

[ColdZero]

what snake do you have?

sorry i can't comment on owls...they aren't interesting enough :twisted:

[BeebosMum]

what snake do you have?



We have 2 Gopher snakes, Beebo is fascinated with them - think he fancies seeing what they taste like!

[Osiris]

lol BeebosMum, my European does the "clicking" but is as soft as anything when it comes with me going into her aviary. Doesn't seem to like a lot of people though... They do have their own indvidual and sometimes laughable character.

[BeebosMum]

lol BeebosMum, my European does the "clicking" but is as soft as anything when it comes with me going into her aviary. Doesn't seem to like a lot of people though... They do have their own indvidual and sometimes laughable character.

Ummmm Im beginning to think I do have a female - Beebo can be very strong headed! He is as gentle as a lamb for all the noise - which with the size he is Im very relieved about!!

He terrorises 2 of my dogs - they are so scared of him they wont come into the same room when he is in - he had the brass neck the other day to jab one of them in the backside with his claws ( he sneaked up behind the dog when he was sitting down) - poor thing nearly leapt out of his skin - I swear Beebo found it highly amusing - do owll laugh? I put Beebo back for a while after that until things calmed down a bit but when he stands there eyeballing them they run past him, I suppose its a communication thing, as dogs they see being stared at as quite aggressive, they dont realise that he cant really do anything else.

[BeebosMum]

:D Guess what? - started little fellas training this weekend - thought it might be an idea as he (She?) is getting very mobile as I said - he made it t the top of the living room door last night. I got him to jump to the glove twice! Admittedly it was off the back of the couch to the glove but you have to start somewhere! My hubby has his orders for his days off this week - aviary/mews is top priority, either that or at least 2 of my dogs are going to be moving out........... poor kids are being terrorised! Thing is one of them is a 55 kilo (28 inches roughly at the shoulder German Shepherd) Poor Rudi is terrified of Beebo, the sight of a small owlet running at full tilt along the hall towards him reduces him to a quivering lump!

[Osiris]

What weight was the EEO?

[BeebosMum]

Dont know - but heavy enough to scare the wits out of Rudi!!

Mind you thats not saying a great deal, he doesnt have a great deal of wits at the best of times - big sap......I love him to bits but if he scratches his head we have to check his paws for splinters afterwards...

(Just incase it was a serious question - I havent weighed Beebo, as Im not yet flying him properly, I havent got my falconry scales as yet - but Ive got them on order)

[Osiris]

No no - it wasn't a serious question... i was just interested in his/her weight :-) Well it seems to me that she is going good... jumping to the fist and all...:-) and more obviously scaring your dogs ;-) the EEO i had for imprinting took a ride on my dogs back at one point! i couldn't help but laugh...atleast it made no damage to my dog :-)

[BeebosMum]

No no - it wasn't a serious question... i was just interested in his/her weight :-) Well it seems to me that she is going good... jumping to the fist and all...:-) and more obviously scaring your dogs ;-) the EEO i had for imprinting took a ride on my dogs back at one point! i couldn't help but laugh...atleast it made no damage to my dog :-)

we had that happen when he first started jumping of the couch - testing his new flying power, our long haired shepherd Yuli is a patient big lad and when Beeboo landed on him and then fell off he stood up heaved a big sigh - sniffed at the wee fella and wandered away to sleep elsewhere! They are best mates but as I mentioned already the other 2 are terrified.

[Osiris]

lol....they'll get used to him.....mind u your EEO will be shortly flying about the house possibly destroying everything in sight!! I was luckey... the EEO i had didn't destroy anything, but the tawny owl nearly knocked over a v.expensive painting!! lol.
Once she starts flying good and flying about the house like nothing else matters!! lol - get her in an aviary for your sakes!!! hehehe!!! lol :-):-) Keep me/us posted on your progress please, love to here about her!! :-) Jamie

[Bubo]

hi beebosmum, well your eeo certainly seems to be coming on very well. as jamie says do keep us posted.

[BeebosMum]

lol....they'll get used to him.....mind u your EEO will be shortly flying about the house possibly destroying everything in sight!! I was luckey... the EEO i had didn't destroy anything, but the tawny owl nearly knocked over a v.expensive painting!! lol.
Once she starts flying good and flying about the house like nothing else matters!! lol - get her in an aviary for your sakes!!! hehehe!!! lol :-):-) Keep me/us posted on your progress please, love to here about her!! :-) Jamie

The flying about the house has already started! Mind you the flights are short and he has his favourite locations, back of the couch, top of the dresser and the top of the door. His other favourite thing is a bath, the dogs water bowl gets tipped up regularly and Beebo paddles about in that, we usually mop up and give him his bath, which he jumps in before I get a chance to put the water in! We've just be given a loan of a video camera - so I hope to get some footage of him - if not in the house then flying outside. As of next week the serious work starts, Ive got him booked in next Thursday to get his gear on - thats going to be a trauma if the half of what Ive read is true. Still at least Im getting some help with it, the falconer Im training with has been great - he is going to help me do that and he is also loaning me a creance - so I dont have to buy one - very decent of him. We have a couple of posts in the garden and out the back which are perfect for starting juniors outside training. Im quite looking forward to that and I think so is Beebo - he sits on the windowsill watching the birds on the feeders - think he wants to have a go - try some different types...! His hunting instinct seems to be in gear - if the amount of pouncing he does in the house is anything to go by.

[Bubo]

yep things are definately starting to look exciting. keep that hunting mode in gear and stimulated even by games it will be good for him. the fun is really going to start now :lol: i look forward to reading it all.

have fun (especially when putting the gear on :lol: - glad i have a barny when i have to do that sort of thing)

[Osiris]

His hunting instinct seems to be in gear

If you are intending on hunting with him or her, just make sure he/she when it nails something (rabbit), doesn't carry it off up into the tree or something.

stimulated even by games

Some birds can get bored, so i think its a good idea to put something in with him/her such as a ball just to keep them active... This works gr8 for a steppe eagle.

Seems to be coming on good though :lol:

[Bubo]

that is very true osiris, i am forever having to come up with new games with kadabra but it does seem to keep him alert and on his toes. :lol: kadabra is scared of tennis balls :roll: but will run after a foot ball no worries... work that one out. probably just likes big balls :lol: :twisted:

[Osiris]

hahaha!! lol
Yeah, a football for a EEO and as you said Kadabra likes them... a football for a Barn Owl will keep them entertained, but think of other ways to keep them entertained... :-)

[BeebosMum]

His hunting instinct seems to be in gear

stimulated even by games

Some birds can get bored, so i think its a good idea to put something in with him/her such as a ball just to keep them active... This works gr8 for a steppe eagle.

Seems to be coming on good though :lol:

He loves games!! One of his favourite toys is an old washing ball - tied inside an old woollen sock - I roll it across the carpet and he watches it for a minute (head going like a yo-yo) then runs across and pounces or launches himself off whatever perch he is on at the time and lands on it - both feet out front. The one that used to make my hubby laugh (before I started training Beebo on the glove) Beebo likes to scratch around in one of the dog beds - opposite end of the hall to the kitchen - Id come out of there with a chick/mouse/bit of rat and wave it at him and he'd trundle along at full tilt towards me to get it! Quite a funny sight - little EEO's arent the most elegant runners but he culd get quite a turn of speed up depending how hungry he was! He also likes to raid the dogs toy box - we were watching him the other night and he brought through a squeeky duck and a fluffy dumbell and took them into his pen! Think I may have created a monster - knowing my luck if he catches anything when he is out he will try to bring it back in the house.........

[Renton]

Sounds like your EEO is just as insane as mine!!!

[BeebosMum]

Awwwwwwwww!!!!

Yup - aint related are they? Mines as mad as a hatter! Thats a very familiar scene for me as well. Rudi (one of our dogs) gets hacked off sometimes and takes his toys back! Puts them in his bed and sits on them!

Honestly - worse than kids they are sometimes!

(on second thoughts maybe not!!)

[Osiris]

lol - nice EEO Renton. How old is it??

Get some piccies of your EEO BeebosMum!!!! :-)

[Renton]

He's 16 weeks old now and just getting started on the creance.

[Osiris]

kewl - my EEO is roughly the same and is flying quite well on the craence but has an attitude problem but is gr8 when shes around me... :-) Well kind of! She is at my friends bit so i cant see her all the time as she is half my friends EEO aswell ... if that makes sense... lol

[Bubo]

hehehee kadabra is a ****** for pinching stuff and flying off with things. i have found so many missing little teddy bears, socks all sorts in his barn bit. Another good game kadabra loves is swinging a tiny bean bag on a piece of string (rather like a titchy lure i suppose) he really gets excited over this. He comes flying over and dives for it. he did actually hover at one point but never did it again though. What he does enjoy is jumping and diving, jumping and diving and he will do this to any toy, bean bag, teddy, our toes or fingers under something like a blanket. he really is amazing sometimes.

it is really funny when they go running, it creases me up when the get the wings up for more speed but still keep running. :lol:

ahhh no wonder i couldnt see the piccy i wasnt logged in.. very beautiful Renton.

[BeebosMum]

Id like to put some pics up but Im kind of stumped at the minute - my home PC is an antique! Its also not working very well and crashes everytime I open a file it cant cope with - Im hoping to get a new one in the next few months so will be able to scan pics and put up a gallery of Beebo pics.

Beebo discovered the bath last night.....

So I decided to try an experiment (given how much he seems to like water) I put about a inch or so of water in the bottom of the bath to see what he would do.

Result - I had a very happy little EEO who splashed about in there for almost an hour quite enthusiastically - me and hubby still have sore sides from laughing at him! The dogs were totally perplexed - didnt know what to make of him. He starting squawking to get out so I lifted him up and he sat preening infront of our fire with his wings in what I call the "gunfighter" position. Im sure you know the one I mean After all that exercise he was starving and I got him to get onto the glove twice before I put him in his pen for the night. I cant believe he is 11 weeks old this week. It only seems 2 mins ago since we brought him home!

[Osiris]

Lol BeebosMum... its amazing how grow they quick!
Glad he likes the bath...atleast he'll know to go in it when its hot ;-)

[BeebosMum]

It was bath time last night again, but he was a bit grumpy when I got home yesterday for some reason - I had to put the dogs out of the room for a bit as he was hassling them in a big way. He was ok with me but he wouldnt give any of them a minutes peace. So I put him back in his pen again and covered it with a blanket to settle him down while I did a bit of housework. He was ok with all of us later on but that one little tantrum was quite surprising! Ive never seen him get that aggressive before. He hissed me when I went to pick him up but he didnt try to bite, maybe he was just having a bad day!

Im glad he will be getting his gear on shortly, so I can start taking him outside - he is very keen to get out I think - he was on the windowsill again last night, he saw a couple of seagulls sitting on the fence, I thought he was going to fall off the sill - his head was bopping up and down so fast!

[BeebosMum]

Well 24 hours to go to the big day......

Ive been working with him the last couple of days, he is getting a bit quicker to come to the glove now, infact it he has also cut his feeding back now to once a day - I sometimes leave him with a chick when I go out in the morning, makes it easier to settle him in his pen before I go out as he tends no to swallow them whole when he is fed in the morning - he picks at it for ages but is really peckish by the time I get home at night and walk ti dogs etc before I offer him a feed. I was looking at him extending his wings and stretching his feet last night - and I thought - "god thats a big birdie!" He is a sweetie though and lately likes to sit and "groom" my hair and ponytail! When I think of the damage he could do me if he really wanted to........!

Mind you I suspect thats tomorrow so if I dont post for a bit Im mostl likely waiting for my stitches to heal.........