Thank you
Sasha04, mangoandmimi, cypher, pinkpixie and
Thin Lizzy. She really is a black beauty I am totally smitten over her and the progress she has made is huge although still not fully tame yet but we are getting there.
Like I mentioned in Treacle's thread I had initially planned to update you all on Liquorice last week but due to being busy and troubles with my internet I have only just found time now to post the reply I had started to prepare.
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Wonderful Progress
Liquorice has made amazing progress since I last shared her taming diaries with you last Sunday…
On Monday 8th, I went back to just using my bare hands and Liquorice did wonderfully gave my hands a good sniff – which was a little nerve wracking for me but I stayed calm – and Liquorice felt comfortable and was happy walking from hand to hand. As I was sitting on the floor once Liquorice confidence fully came out she just wanted to climb down off my lap onto the floor. As she is comfortable with me picking her up I decided to let her have a little explore with in my reach at first she was a little shaky but she stayed close to me and was happy to get lots of cuddles before it was time to go back in her cage. Tuesday 9th, I the playpen back up with myself being one of the sides – she seemed so much more relaxed in it plus whenever she felt unsure she would come running over to me to seek comfort – this really melted my heart. I even whitnessed some of her naughty tortie shining through her shy exterior! I decided to weigh Liquorice again today just to see how she is doing weight wise – and currently she is 140g – again I thought she would weigh more as she does look very big.
Wednesday, I had to do taming early today as I had a busy afternoon so Liquorice was a little more tired than usual but still happy to be our getting cuddles plus getting to have an explore of the playpen. As it wasn’t our usual time for her taming session there were lots of different noise she hasn’t yet heard like the doorbell – so she was a little jumpy but apart from that she did marvellously . Thursday 11th, marked another great taming session, very curious and thoroughly enjoyed all the cuddles she received.
Friday 12th, Today a little more nervous that she has been in previous days but still her friendly self and was more than happy to picked up when she tried venturing out of her playarea (i.e. trying to sneak past unnoticed). But she wasn’t very happy about having to go back in her cage as she was getting a little sleepy, so when I tried to get her ot come over she did stand up and get a little defensive showed me her teeth but once she realised it was only me she happy to climb onto my hand for me to returned to her cage. Unfortunately Saturday I was very busy so had to miss her taming session, but we made up from the missed taming session on Sunday – as Liquorice did amazingly so had lots of cuddles, was being very cheeky plus scented marked everything in her playpen. Also today I decided her cage needed a bit of spot cleaning – as her cage was getting a little smelly eventhough I frequently spot clean her house – so wondered where this awful pee smell was coming from. That’s when I realised that as well as having a hamster who pee is her house Liquorice is also peeing in her wheel! Liquorice is the very first hamster I have had who has peed in her wheel hopefully I will be something she grow out of!
So now for Monday 15th taming updates, another amazing day although a little hesitant at first as I decided to introduce her to the wooden wheel – so she was very nervous to approach it and kept making herself jump but once she realised what the wooden wheel was – she absolutely loved it plus rubbed her hips all over it. We hardly had many cuddles as she was having too much fun in wheel but when she had breaks she ventured over for a quick cuddle before returning to her running. I would pretty much say she is almost tame – word can’t express how proud of her I am as she has come so far! Plus, I started setting up my DIY cage for Liquorice however I have to get a few more toys and chews to go in her cage as the cage looks fairly empty plus I don’t feel comfortable using any of Maple’s toys or chews (they are still all up in my loft). Although the cage isn’t ready for her to move in yet - I did let Liquorice have an explore and she was loving exploring – I was a little apprehensive that she would be a little nervous but she looked very happy and confident to explore. So hopefully once I have finished setting the cage up she will feel happy to move in permantely as I know she will love it.
Liquorice moved into her DIY cage on Tuesday, I wasn’t going to move her in so soon but she looked to at ease and relaxed plus was having lots of fun exploring that I decided to leave her in the cage after taming and see would monitor her and if before I went to bed she looked stressed I was going to move her back to her bin cage. However she was thoroughly enjoying herself that I decided that she could stay in the DIY cage – and she is loving all the additional space she now has – plus like Pumpkin and Maple enjoying having access to two wheels. I decided to not to get Liquorice out for a few days for taming just to let her fully adjust to her new home plus I was really busy that I wasn’t available to get her out in the evening. Although resumed taming on Thursday which she was happy to come out again and explore her playpen although during Friday taming session she did bite my finger again – the bite looks worse that it actually is plus I didn’t feel a thing. I quickly managed to get a plaster on my finger and wash my hands – instead of putting her straight back in her cage after biting I did continue taming just so she is doesn’t start associating biting with going back into her cage. Taming has continued to go well the following day and she is still ok/plus I still feel comfortable holding her bare handed so hoping that soon she will be fully tame as she almost there. Even though she has recently bit me I do feel that she has made wonderful progress in her taming.
When Liquorice is confident I can really see her true mischievous side glowing through but her nervousness keeps her from fully expressing herself. But with time she will realise that there is nothing to be worried about and she can just be herself.
As well as the updates her are some cute photos of Liquorice, investigating her cork log for the first time plus playing around in her tent – that she ended up knocking over! …
And here is how her DIY cage looks like at the moment – fortunately she hasn’t made a big mess of her cage!