Thank you
cypher, Sasha04, Thin Lizzy and
Ruth Edwards. Apologies for not posting updates sooner as I have been really busy and plus my days have been hectic with most my free time I have had to divide up between my two cheeky troublemakers.
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Taming Diaries – Day 4 to Day 13
Day 4 – Progress was made today, Liquorice climbed the bars of the playpen and decided to proceed onto my hands – I was so pleased with her although had to withhold my excitement so I wouldn’t startle her. After Liquorice climbed onto my hands I did immediately placed her back inside her playpen. She only felt comfortable doing this once – but a huge progress nevertheless.
Day 5 – Taming was cut short today as I was extremely busy – Liquorice decided to spend the majority of her taming session tucking into her treats that she had stored away in her playpen. A few times she did attempt to climb out of her playpen and when I offered her my hand she had a sniff but didn’t feel comfortable climbing onot my hand and went back to having fun inside her playpen.
Day 6 – Liquorice really enjoyed herself in her playpen today. When talking to her she would come running over to the panels near I was sitting and considered climbing into my hand but she didn’t feel comfortable. When it was almost time to for back I presented Liquorice the box I use for transporting her to and from her cage and I thought if she would feel ok to walk out onto my hand and she was happy to do so and then returned her to her cage.
Day 7 – Sleepy Liquorice, well I think she had a busy night as after having an explore of her playpen, Liquorice sat in her ceramic mushroom house tucking into her treats next thing I noticed is that she was dozing off even though she was trying her very best to stay awake. Her head was gradually getting lower and her eye shutting it was adorable but thought it would be best to return her to her cage so she could get some sleep.
Day 8 – An eventful session. Liquorice was making such great progress and I was so proud of her as I could see her confidence was growing although still very nervous and shaky and was happy numerous times to climb into my hand. Unfortunately I had to cut taming short after Liquorice bit me – I don’t know what caused her to bite although Treacle was being very vocal in her cage so don’t know if that might have caused it or if something startled her. I really didn’t want to end her taming session but my finger was bleeding very heavily that I would be best to return her to her cage so I could tend to my finger and get a plaster on it as I couldn’t leave her unattended in her playpen.
Day 9 – I have to admit I was a little nervous today initially about handling Liquorice but knew I had to overcome this and faced this fear. Liquorice was more than happy to climb into my hand which helped me to gain trust for her again. But then out of nowhere Liquorice bit me again on the side of my palm of my hand – this bite was worse than yesterdays and my hand started bruising almost instantly after she bitten me. To be honest this really did knock my confidence. Unlike yesterday I continued her taming session as I had a plaster nearby but I felt so nervous about climbing her into my hand that I instead used her transport box again. Although I know her bite isn’t from aggression but fear – as she a quite nervous – and it won’t stop me taming her.
Day 10 – After lots of thinking trying to figure out what might be best for Liquorice I decided for taming today that I was going to wear gloves and would keep taming to 30 mins today to see if this would help her and also me to regain confidence. I didn’t want to resort to wearing gloves but I thought it would be best for her especially as she quite nervy and her sense are more alert. Liquorice was much more at ease climbing onto my and with gloves, was less shaky plus didn’t attempt to bite plus she even let me pick her up. I must admit this made me so happy. I will continue to wear gloves for as long as I feel will be best for Liquorice before gently introducing her back to my bare hands again. As I think the new experience of being handled plus my scent were far too overwhelming for her being a nervous as she is – I didn’t want to resort to gloves but I feel it will be best for her.
Day 11 – Unfortunately my schedule was very busy today, so I didn’t have sufficient time to get Liquorice out for her taming I felt bad – I thought I would try in the evening but could hardly keep my eyes open.
Day 12 – Taming resumed today, a little later than usual again another busy day, Liquorice was so happy to be out in her playpen that she spent most of her time exploring and enjoying herself running in her wheel. Although she did find time when she was exploring to climb up into my hand still wearing gloves and she seemed a lot more at ease and didn’t feel shaky. Even after returning her to the playpen she was back climbing up the panel again wanting more cuddles. I even started letting her walk hand to hand which she started to enjoying whilst doing this I made my hand like a tunnel to get her used to being touched all over when she being handled she seemed at ease.
Day 13 – Cuddle, Cuddle, Cuddle… During the taming session she kept wanting to climb up into my hand, I think she is getting more familiar with being handled now that she starting to relax more. She even let me pick her up a few time and she didn’t seem phased at all. She spent more time in my hand during her taming session than did in her playpen. I will see how the next few days go and see if it would be the best time to go back to using my bare hands.
I haven’t got Liquorice out yet today for her taming; I will do it later on this afternoon.
Today marks 3 weeks since welcoming Liquorice home, It feels like I have had her for much longer! Liquorice has also been spoilt to some new toys – as I have decided to buy new toys for Liquorice as I’m paranoid about her getting ill/potentially catching Maple’s nasty bug.
Liquorice loves her sand bath and because she has mostly black fur it been very interesting watching her in the sand bath – and it made me realise that even though Syrians don’t roll around on their backs like Russians they instead flick sand onto their back with their back feet – I always wondered why my Syrians behaved the way they did in their sand and Liquorice helped me to understand. Also she loves treats and food – and like Pumpkin mealworms are a favourite. I also decided to weigh Liquorice as she looks like she grown quite a bit since I brought her home and I was interested – so Liquorice is 135g which is lighter than I thought she looked but I’m interested to see what she will weigh when she fully grown.
I have also managed to get some more photos from her taming sessions…