Updates, new arrivals, and cuteness (lots and lots of cuteness!)

It's been a while since my last update. Dumbledore and Paro are doing well, although Paro isn't progressing as quickly with the targeting as Dory. Getting Paro turned out to be more than just another experiment in fish training....it's also been a test in cat training.

 My beloved cat, Rusty, who is very prey motivated and will work for toys more than food usually, immediately became focused on Paro in his tank. This hadn't been a problem with Dory because his tank is on a high chest in the living room with no way for Rusty to jump up (at least she never bothered to try, and was content to gaze at him from the floor). The new tank is on the table by my bed, which Rusty often used as a stopping point halfway down from the bed. So, she had a history of being on the table, and I am assuming she thought that I had put Paro there for her personal enjoyment. Heh. The first day, I left Paro alone in the room and came here, into my office to type something up. I heard this light tap-tap-tapping in the other room. A few months ago I shaped Rusty to paw target a myriad of objects, spots on the wall, my feet, glass coasters, etc. She's become very paws-y since then. I like it. Except for when she uses this new fun skill to beat on the tank wall at my brand new fish! Thankfully, these Bettas don't seem to care much about noise or tapping on the glass (and now Dory is trained to go to the tapping, very cool). SO--I have had to teach Rusty to sit politely on the floor by the tank, and to use my small set of stairs (the bed is pretty high) to get up on the bed, not the table. To manage the situation when I could be there, I set up a big piece of cardboard that covered up the side of the tank she was most interested in, and placed several large hardback books around the tank on the table. This way, she wouldn't have a place to stand comfortably is she decided to jump up there, and if she did, she would probably knock the books over which she would not like. About a week after I put the cardboard up there, I decided I didn't need it anymore, and took it down. I haven't had any incidents since then, and I still work Rusty on sit and targeting by the tank to further reinforce not getting up on the table.

 I have 4 (yes four!) new fish buddies for the Bettas. Albino Corydoras. They are little tiny white/cream catfish type fish that are too adorable. They are bottom feeders, which is why I picked them (along with their size which is a maximum of 2.5"-3") hoping they would steer clear of my supposedly aggressive Bettas. I got 3 for Dory and 1 for Paro. I decided to try the one out with Paro first and then if that didn't work it would be easier to separate them than it would be to keep Dory away from 3 of them.

I put the bag in the water and Paro immediately flared and lunged at the fish through the plastic. Uh oh.

Instead of stressing them both out, I decided to remove the bag, get Paro out of the tank and into a jar, and then release the new guy, followed by Paro. This worked pretty well. Paro let me net him and went into the jar nicely. The new catfish immediately went to the bottom of the tank and scouted out his new digs. After a few minutes of letting him settle, I returned Paro to the tank. He didn't go for the new fish right away, but after about 15 seconds he approached the little guy. Then he backed off. Click! I was waiting for that to happen. I could see Paro think about it. He repeated that a few times and then swam around by himself, occasionally checking on the new guy. Very good!

I did the same with Dumbledore, and he actually did a bit better at first, he didn't flare at all and kept his cool (I think because my hand was in the water and he associates that with food). I removed my hand and watched as he approached one of the fish. He gave the biggest one a bit of a nudge and then backed off. I watched them for several minutes and clicked anytime Dory backed away from them or swam at the surface. He picked it up very quickly.

I got the fish yesterday afternoon, and this morning all 4 are still alive (yes! No murders!). When I turned on Dory's light, he was actually swimming in the middle of the tank with all three in a row behind him. Awww...he's got babies now, just like he's wanted for a while. Paro has started doing a bit of mimicry. He never really bothered with the bottom of the tank, but this new guy has brought his interest downward and he is picking at stuff in the gravel (unheard of in bettas!!) and swimming through the fake log and being very adventurous. I wish I had done this sooner, they are all having a blast. And it doesn't hurt that these new fish are probably the cutest fish I've seen. They are less than an inch long, kind of chubby, and have pink eyes and these fantastic whiskers. I'll try to get some footage of them swimming--they are FAST. One in Dory's tank likes to swim straight up the the surface, jump out of the water a bit, and then swim straight down. They also like to take little rests on the gravel, and they look like they are panting. It made me a bit worried at first, until they all immediately "woke up" and did what could be compared to puppy zoomies.

-Lulu, and the fish (I am "hooked")