Thank you
Coco61, Sasha04, cypher, Ruth Edwards, JennySTL and
Thin Lizzy for your lovely messages. Liquorice has been managing to mesmerise me more with her beauty as she getting more comfortable with being handles and I know she know how gorgeous she is, fortunately no more bites!
Coco61 – I did find getting bitten twice very daunting and did really knock my confidence but I am not somebody who give up and just had to find a new way which worked best for us both to continuing our bonding – luckily the gloves have really helped with taming Liquorice. Although the only other hamster to bite me during taming was Cotton and she blossomed into a very sweet girl that I knew that Liquorice will too with time.
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Taming Diaries – Day 13 to Day 22
These updates I have grouped days together as the taming progress was very similar. Huge progress has been made!
Day 13 to 15 – I started to wear thinner gloves for taming so that Liquorice would be able to smell my hand but she would still feel comfortable that their was a barrier inbetween to help her feel calm when being handled. Initially she was very nervy about the change of gloves so after being handled Liquorice did spend the majority of her taming session hiding away or keeping herself amused in her playpen – occasionally she did find some of her confidence to come out for a cuddle but was quite shaky and was happy to be placed back into her playpen. The following day I started taming with a session of cuddle and I found this started to help her confidence grow – we even made progress with being picked up and also getting stroked from head to tail where she wouldn’t flinch or get shaky but stayed calm. Although once returned to her cage Liquorice was getting more relaxed with the idea of taking treats from me instead of refusing them.
Day 16 to Day 19 – As she was starting to feel at ease with being handled with me wearing thin gloves plus me wanting to go back to handling her with my bare hand I took one glove off therefore my left hand still had a glove on whereas my right I didn’t. I must admit I was a little nervy as she wanted to sniff my hand before stepping on but she didn’t show any intent to bite so as taming went on I also started to feel more relaxed too. Every day during taming something spooked Liquorice that she would end up spending taming cowering away and she looked a little scared that on Day 19 half way through her taming session I decided that a possible switch in taming methods might help with bosting her confidence. This is a method I started using for Maple once I had upgraded her to the DIY cage so I decided to switch from using “Cotton’s method” to a the method I have dedicated to Maple in her memory – “Maple’s Method”. Maple’s method involves using the carrier and placing Liquorice inside – I ensure she has somewhere to hide i.e. a bendy bridge. So once Liquorice is inside I don’t close the lid but leave it open so when she want to she can climb out. Whenever she climbs out I offer my hand and will cuddle her briefly before returning her (like I was doing with “Cotton’s method”) but I instantly noticed a big improvement in her confidence she looked so much more relaxed plus me moving didn’t cause her to flinch. At the end of this session she was more than happy for me to pick her up from the carrier to return her to her cage.
Day 20 to 22 – I been continuing to use “Maple’s Method” to tame Liquorice and the improvement have been huge that I can’t be more proud of the progress she has been making. Whenever something made her feel uneasy she would seek me for comfort and reassurance – and with some gentle massage she would relax. Although her confidence has grown significantly since I started taming she is still shaky initially after getting her out but with a bit of time this stops. Liquorice has done something that none of my past hamsters have ever done in taming on Day 21 and Today (Day 22) – Liquorice melted into my hand whilst stroking her head and started to fall asleep – this instantly melted my heart and it made me more aware that our special bond is blossoming plus the switch in taming methods is doing wonders for her. Today even marked the first day I handled her with no gloves since being bitten – I can’t be more happier especially with her walking from hand to hand with confidence and even allowing me to pick her up. Eventhough I wouldn’t say she fully tame yet but nearing that stage and I couldn’t me more proud of Liquorice.
Recently I have been considering moving Liquorice into the DIY cage as I feel that this would be a beneficial move to Liquorice as she will have lots of space to run around, deep bedding to dig and plus have plenty of sheltered spot to hide in if she feel scared something the IKEA Samla doesn’t provide. I am planning of setting up the cage for her sometime this week or next depending on how busy I am – using it as a play area during taming and like with Maple allowing Liquorice to decide when she want to move into permanently.
Liquorice has also decided that she not overly keen with using her sand as a toilet instead rather pee in the comfort of her house. Hopefully this habit will stop and she will realise sand is a lot nicer and less smelly place to pee.
This Saturday was a special day as it marked a month since bringing Liquorice hime she has been a joy to have and it so lovely seeing her specially sweet personality emerging more and more with each day!
Due to my focus being more on taming recently I haven’t managed to get many photo of Liquorice during her taming session although did get these two cheeky photos of her…