Every night, I go out between 8 and 9pm to check on the birds before my own bedtime. Their lights go off at 7 automatically, except for Bug's light (which I turn off early most nights, but stays on if I'm not home) and the quail light (which goes off at 8, hence why final check is after 8). I make sure the babies are on their roost instead of the floor, and then I go bring a little glowing bowl of water to Bug and Mantis and make sure they're up on the right perch (the one that has heat).
Mantis expects this. Mantis expects this SO MUCH that if I go out there without water and hold my hand up, she will just make drinking motions in the air and then make the annoyed noise when she has not managed to drink anything. This expectation is reasonable, to be honest, as she has (almost) always received glowing fancy drinkies at bedtime from when she hatched on. She knows no other world than one in which she is spoiled rotten.
Bug has not! Bug usually drinks and eats before bed. She enjoys bedtime drinkies but they are still a little bit of a surprise.
But TONIGHT, I brought out a mini soda bottle and the bowl and I took a few seconds longer to hold it up because I was pouring it into the bowl (rather than trying to balance a bowl across the snowy terrain without soaking my hands), and both of them were tippy tapping on the edge of the perch like they were gonna climb off it onto me to drink. Bug stretched wayyyy out and started making drinking motions in midair like a fool. She was stretched so far out she almost fell off the perch. And then they both shoved their whole faces into the bowl like it was the best water in the entire world.
I'm crying laughing at this point, because seriously I was JUST out here at lights out, I made sure both of these birds ate and drank well before I left, and I left fresh water when I went! So it's not like they were acting like they'd never ever ever had water in their entire lives because it was true. But they sure could have fooled me if I didn't know better.
Smooches for the best most silliest girl