Animals

I'm the OP. I'm the one with the Fabulous Fingerbiters. These chickens aren't food: they're overindulged pets. Each one has a name, so chicken stew isn't an option. I've named them after various vaudeville stars or actresses because they're a lot of feathery drama queens. Actually, biting the hand that feeds them is right in line with the entertainment-industry theme I chose when naming them. A chicken bite from a baby bird isn't really painful at all because their little beaks are so soft. Even an adult bird's peck isn't painful in the same way a dog or cat bite is painful. They can't break the skin, although if they get you in the face it can leave a scratch or welt. A parrot, by contrast, can take your finger off. Chickens just aren't strong enough. These are going to be lovely laying hens. They're just a bit cheeky. I think I can break them of the habit by switching for a while to grass instead of mealworms, by *not* dropping the goodies no matter what, and moving on to the second phase of training, where I train them to hop onto my lap and sit there to be fed and petted. When training a chicken, it's important to use food as a reward. They're not like dogs and they don't consider attention a reward. They don't even consider petting a reward until they're conditioned to do so, because it's not a normal behavior or sensation for them. But it's straight-up operant conditioning, right out of B.F. Skinner

I did take my dog back. I have had Riot for three years, so he is a big part of my family. I have also started boarding him during the day or leaving him with a family member/friend. I am moving in a few weeks so hopefully, this won't be an issue that pops up again. Chip your dogs. It is a lifesaver. While I understand where the police officer was coming from (he has an autistic child) you don't sell a family member. Dogs have always been family to me. The kind of awkward part was the mother started crying, asking to buy Riot from me. She said he was so well behaved and they needed something to help their kid. She then kind of demanded I let her son come over to my house to play with Riot when he wanted to. I guess so she could tell her son that Riot was still his, but that he was just living with someone else. I told her no and said I didn't want to have contact with her again. She got mad. I don't think I left looking like a saint, but I am glad to have my dog back.

OP here, I had only had the two budgies for a month, I bought them with their wings clipped but I didn't think he could fly with two inches missing from his wings, especially since he and the other budgie hadn't been doing so well. They couldn't get any lift on any of their attempts, and could only fly about 5 feet or so, so I was fine letting them sit at my window. That;s all they had been doing in the past 2 weeks I'd been letting them out. I was just sitting here, and suddenly I hear my mum screaming- they had somehow flown over the gate and into the living room. Another thing to note is that they had made a lot of noise every other time they flew, but this time I didn't hear them fly at all... I was letting their wings grow out so exactly this couldn't happen. They hadn't been able to fly far enough to get over the gate before, having nothing to jump off and being unable to gain lift. I wanted them to be able to fly away from my mums dog if they got out. Sadly, they tried to fly out the glass door after going out my door and the one the dog got was the same colour as his fluffy toys... I do understand this is at least partially my fault, if not all my fault, I was right here and didn't hear them fly, let alone get over the gate that stops the dog coming in here. I was too focused on what I was doing on my computer at the time.

Just so you guys know, I have a whole lot of furniture. I'm pretty sure the cricket was hiding under one of the pieces of furniture, but every time I got near my couch, ottoman, armchair, side table, or bookcase, it stopped chirping. It was pretty hard to tell where it was coming from!

I am an uncontrolled human. The cat is uncontrolled also. Cat food doesnt smell nice to me, and it was a strong, wet, meaty smell. Dammit, that came out bad too. Maybe i should work at one of those phone sex lines.