I know this is a ridiculous question, but...

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Originally Posted by SmoothScales

Blackout actually escaped her old tub 2 weeks ago in the middle of the night! I can only conclude she did it to get away from the waste she left in it. XD (She was found a few minutes after her escape was discovered 2 shelves up from her tub chillin.)

Our BEL will cling to the lip of her water bowl if she messes her tub so that she doesn't have to touch the mess. Makes me think she's going HALP! HALP!

/end thread highjack

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Oh yeah, she also tried to get away from poop like the plague! It amuses me that she just climbed up and bit and stopped LOL. She's like, "Okay, the poop is far away, I'm good."

Hahah both of mine now do the same as your BEL!

Any animal with behavior can have wide variability in the manifestations of that behavior. Just like humans. This can be a developmental delay as well as meeting targets early. Can BP's have "mental retardation" as you phrase it? In the sense of developmental/cognitive aberrancy, sure. Any animal with cerebral function can.

Because we are keeping them in a cage, free from predators, behaviors that would potentially doom them in the wild are instead, observed and marveled at.

Gross alert! :rolleye2:

One of my daughters "finger painted" once at a very young age. She was/is not retarded. She was actually in the gifted program during much of her schooling.

I have witnessed many dogs eating feces. They did not appear retarded except for what they were doing at the time.