After catching its breath, your BOTIMAL® will circle the pearl, suspiciously at first, then curiously, and at last adoringly, at which point it will pick the pearl up, cradle it in the palms of both hands, and begin once again to violently hiccup. The hiccupping won’t last as long this time, and there won’t be any false signs of choking. The hiccupping will cease when your BOTIMAL® has mouth-ejected a splash of sticky, effervescently pink fluid onto the pearl, at which point your BOTIMAL® will rapidly turn the pearl in its palms and blow air on it as if to polish it with and then dry the effervescent pink fluid. The BOTIMAL® will repeat the cycle of hiccupping followed by fluid ejection followed by polishing/drying-off-type behavior anywhere from five to ten more times until it has produced an ovum identical to the one from which your BOTIMAL® itself once hatched.
Your BOTIMAL® will set the ovum down in a secure place, oftentimes right in the ovumslit, after removing the bottlecap or thimble. At this point, you should feel free to engage with your BOTIMAL® as you normally would. You’ll note that it looks a bit depleted, and you might want to give it an extra LifePellet®, but shouldn’t feel obligated to do so. It’ll survive either way, just as long as you cuddle it.
If you’d like the ovum to hatch, all you need to do is follow the steps described above, in the section entitled HATCHING YOUR BOTIMAL®.
If you don’t care to hatch another BOTIMAL®, simply cuddle your BOTIMAL® so it can’t see what you’re doing, and dispose of the ovum (or store it at room temperature for later). Whether or not your BOTIMAL® will remember the ovum—if it even knew it WAS an ovum—we can’t say for sure. What’s certain, however, is that your BOTIMAL® won’t miss the ovum. It will continue to behave as it always has, like a flesh-and-bone robot that thinks it’s your friend®.
(NOTE: If you accidentally interrupt your BOTIMAL’S® attempts at self-cloning, it may produce a pearl but fail to produce any sticky, effervescent pink fluid to splash on the pearl. If this happens, your BOTIMAL® is likely to be reluctant to let go of the pearl. To repair this unfortunate situation, wait for your BOTIMAL® to go to sleep for the night and, after an hour, quietly open the lid of the PillowNest®, and remove the mouth ejection from your BOTIMAL’S® hands before it can fully awaken and strengthen its grip. Have a LifePellet® handy to replace the missing mouth ejection. If you do this gently and quietly enough, your BOTIMAL® will remain asleep and later wake up to find a LifePellet® in its hands, which will make it happy. However, even if your BOTIMAL® awakens while you’re in the process of replacing the pearl with a LifePellet®, it won’t be too upset, and in the morning, though you are likely to find it grieving, it will have forgotten about the missing mouth ejection, and will be thrilled to cuddle.)
Raising Clones
Clones get along famously. They play together, cuddle together, learn tricks from one another, and are happy to share their PillowNests® (NOTE: a PillowNest® can safely sleep up to four BOTIMALS®). The company and cuddling of another BOTIMAL® is no substitute, however, for the cuddling and company of a human being. All BOTIMALS® need simple human warmth to survive. (NOTE: they also need daily LifePellets® and daily thimblefuls of water.)
Illness
BOTIMALS® are hardy robots with rugged immune systems. They are impervious to most illnesses from which human beings suffer, including the common cold. Psittacosis (or Chlamydophila psittici), which is often present in pigeon guano, can, however, infect BOTIMALS®, causing any or all of the following symptoms: scaly skin; a general loss of pluck; misshapen, though firm, rear ejections; and, eventually, death. If your BOTIMAL® shows signs of infection, make an appointment with a qualified veterinarian (one who treats pet birds). The vet will administer a simple blood test and, if the BOTIMAL® is diagnosed with psittacosis, prescribe a course of antibiotics. Until the course of antibiotics has been completed, you should allow your BOTIMAL® an extra two or three hours of sleep per night, cuddle it for an extra hour a day, refrain from putting your mouth on it, and be sure to wash your hands with soap after each cuddling session.
(NOTE: Dust, blasts of air, and sudden exposure to bright light, especially sunlight, can cause some BOTIMALS® to sneeze drily. Many of them seem to delight in it. Sneezing is not a sign of illness in BOTIMALS®, so if yours starts sneezing, don’t be alarmed. Enjoy the show.)
Death
The longevity of BOTIMALS® is presently unknown. With the exception of those that were the result of falling, crushing, puncturing, drowning, or poisoning, all BOTIMAL® deaths that have taken place in the laboratories of Graham&Swords Corp. were caused by grief and loneliness—from an insufficient supply of their owners’ simple human warmth. Most of these deaths occurred while the warmth-deprived BOTIMALS® slept, but some were the result of sudden cardiac arrest caused by BOTIMALS® overexerting themselves in the course of trying to entertain (e.g. by dancing) their owners into cuddling them.
However your BOTIMAL® dies, please refer to your state and local laws for instructions on how to dispose of its body.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where did my BOTIMAL® ovum come from?
Your BOTIMAL® ovum was originally shipped from the Graham&Swords Corporation Factory Laboratory.
My BOTIMAL’S® rear ejections aren’t glossy black, but I only feed it LifePellets®. What should I do?
The mineral content of tap water varies geographically, and your BOTIMAL’S® rear ejections might be affected by this. Your BOTIMAL’S® health, however, won’t be. Try giving your BOTIMAL® bottled water to drink and see if that doesn’t make the difference. And if it doesn’t, it’s time to figure out who in your household (a child, a spouse, maybe even certain pets) is feeding your BOTIMAL® something other than LifePellets® on the sly.
My BOTIMAL’S® rear ejections don’t smell like grape-flavored bubblegum, but I only feed it LifePellets®. What should I do?
See previous answer.
Can I bathe while wearing the IncuBand®?
Of course! Your IncuBand® is waterproof. Just be sure to rinse your ovum of soap and residue.
Is it possible to overcuddle my BOTIMAL®?
That depends. Every BOTIMAL® hatches with a baseline need for simple human warmth, and, if that baseline need isn’t met, then grieving, followed by cloning, and eventually death, will ensue. If you regularly exceed that baseline (e.g. if your BOTIMAL® hatches requiring two hours of exposure to human warmth a day, and you give it three hours of human warmth a day), then your BOTIMAL® will soon come to require the baseline plus the excess. In that sense, it might be said that you can overcuddle.