Trouble in Paradise

Brunswik is completely torn on the issue of his new friend Mabel. He clearly loves having her around. He follows her like a lost puppy dog, sometimes he tries to make babies with her, but usually he just wants to be near her. He's fascinated by this little gray thing 1/3 his size that doesn't seem to give a lot of concern to his existence.

But then he's also jealous. He doesn't like sharing me with her. If you don't already know this, Brunswik is very attached to me, and he isn't used to having to share me with anyone else. He has even been know to get upset when Andy hugs me for too long.

Yesterday I picked Mabel up and was petting her and cuddling her. I did this mostly to give her a break from Brunswik. He ran all around me thumping his feet. You need to know that he absolutely HATES being picked up. He thinks it's the worst thing ever. But ever since those two minutes that I held her he comes and asks to be picked up. He nuzzles into my chest and doesn't want to be put down. What a little stinker!

When Brunswik was little we fed him his vegetables out of our hands. This helped us bond with him and get him to trust us. So I planned on doing the same thing with Mabel. I got out the vegetables and put his in his bowl, like I always do. Then I took out a couple of carrots for Mabel. He started to eat his and I went to her cage and put my hand in for her to nibble her carrots. She did, and then as I had expected Brunsie came and started bouncing around. I thought he wanted to get in there with her so I shut her door and only left it open enough for my arm to fit in. And then he bit me! Twice! Not enough to break the skin, they were just warning nibbles. But I bopped him in the head and told him no, and he sat there looking like I had just crushed his world. So I put the rest of her carrots in her bowl and shut her door so she could eat in peace. I thought he had bitten me because I was in his way, but he didn't seem to have any interest in Mabel. I picked up a carrot out of his bowl and sure enough he started to eat. He was jealous and wanted me to feed him too. I couldn't believe it!

He also doesn't seem to know what he wants to do. He runs around trying to decide if he should chase Mabel or come get some pets from Andy and I. He likes having Mabel around, but only on his own terms. It's going to take us all a little while to adjust.