crazy babies

I learned today that the best tool for retrieving a joey on the loose is to offer something that is associated with safety.

I'm working on gaining their trust but until we get there I know they trust their sleeping pouch and bonding pouch.

Fooks made a surprise break for the freedom of the living room carpet while I had my hands full with Gerber (she was letting me pet her! … big step toward the trust I mentioned).

Buddy Cat followed the escapee to the foyer so I knew right where she went. Buddy is an old boy (16 and a half) and is surprisingly calm and shows no interest in eating the joeys.

After a few minutes of big-eyes that seemed to say "Wow! This is so cool!" I was able to entice Fooks to climb into the safety of a bonding pouch.

Excitement over and no one got stressed out. :)

Baby steps

They have no fear of me! It's very cool to sit by the habitat when they are asleep in the morning and see one of them come out to greet me when I put my arm inside.

The next thing I want to accomplish with them is to transition from them crawling on my arms on their own terms to accepting my touching them on my terms too. That should reduce the scratches I've been incurring as they grip my arm with their sharp little nails to crawl up and down (and even upside-down).

I want them to allow me to reach in and pick them up (slowly of course). From there I want them to be able to trust me so eventually we can walk away from the habitat with them not going into panic mode and trying to get away from me. I want them to seek me as a source of safety when they are afraid.

I suppose once they trust me and look to me as a safe place, we can start working on going into a closed and safe room so they can try some gliding. One step at a time.

First trust and safety. :) 

glider tracks

I sat with them again early this morning. One was already in the sleeping pouch and the other was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (very awake and ready for play).

I think it was Fooks who was up but they look so much alike that it's hard to tell unless they are close enough together that I can compare the darkness of their coats and see which one acts entitled. You know, like the queen of the manner.

Whichever it was, she was all over my arms. No fear at all as she used me as her own personal jungle gym. It is so cool to watch them climb as easily on the underside of something as they do on the top. I have little glider toenail marks all over both arms and hands.

They fussed and argued more than normal last night but there is a new toy in the habitat so maybe it was over that. I turned on the red light and angled it so it wasn't as bright. They continued playing but the fussing went down dramatically so I left it on for the night. Maybe they know to be good when someone is watching. lol

glider tracks are all over my hands and arms

ow ow tsst ow

This morning my arm was the glider trampoline and tasty treat. ow tsst! ow ow

I love that they are beginning to warm up to me and not afraid as long as I don't make any sudden movements. It is very gratifying to have them both climbing all over my arm at the same time. They both still have that nibbling thing going on though and the "tsst" sounds didn't do much to dissuade them this morning. It didn't hurt too much unless they were trying for an especially delicate place between my fingers or right next to a fingernail. ow ow ow

It's fun how their little faces will poke and nudge to move my fingers apart. They are strong little buggers! They can part my fingers even when I'm trying my best to hold them together. Of course that exposes delicate spots to try to taste. ow! tsst!

One of them even became determined that she would remove the ring from my finger. No luck for her on that one but I moved away. :)

Cro bought some new sleeping pouches for them and they fussed and argued over possession of the "new toy" until I got up in the middle of the night and removed it. After that it was a peaceful night with no arguing. Grrber isn't the push over that I was painting her to be. Just because Fooks claimed the dominant role doesn't mean that Grrber is going to always take the second seat with grace.

I know them a little more each day and the more I know them the more I love them.

tsst

They didn't argue or fuss at all last night. No barking either. Maybe they are past that stage of proving who is most dominant? I hope so. It is so fun when they are loving toward each other and much less stressful for me - the worrier.

I got up when it was still dark and sat with them. They both showed no fear and little caution as they came close to check me out and crawl on my arm and hand. I tried the tsst sound when one started to nibble my fingers and she stopped what she was doing but wasn't afraid.

Maybe that is the magic sound to tell them "no, that's too rough". Cro was making the tsst sound now and then when he interacted with them last night, which is what gave me the idea to try it.

They had me smiling as I watched them play and interact with each other with only a few tsst! sounds from one to the other when things got a little too rowdy.

Buddy Cat was sitting on their habitat again this morning as if to proclaim himself King of the Mountain. The photo is showing the red light, which I left off last night so they would come out and play.

red light

Inspired by post I read on the Glider Central forums, I went in search of a red light bulb. Since the Halloween items are out now I knew it wouldn't be difficult to find one, and I did!

Unfortunately the joeys did not come out of their pouch while it was on. They crabbed at each other for hours and hours and I just knew that staying in the pouch that long was making them very grumpy. So I relented and turned off the red light. Out they came and no crabbing, no fussing, no arguing at all until early morning.

There was lots of barking though. I captured audio of their cute little barks below.

First thing this morning I sat with my arm in their habitat again. Grrber went right to the safety of the pouch but Fooks was determined to nibble until she had a bite of me. She was unafraid and climbed all over my hand and up my arm, which is awesome, but I don't want to be the chew toy either. Back to Glider Central for advice. :)

BARK! BARK!

The joeys have been fussing and arguing less and less each night and have started up with barking. BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! well, you get it. Lots of barks. And though their barks are adorable, they are also difficult to sleep though. I love them so much that I don't care, but I hope that the barking isn't keeping Cro awake.

I thought that maybe the barks were an alert that our cat was nearby, but Cro thinks they are just experimenting with the sounds they can make since they are babies and away from a larger colony. They might even be calling out so the missing members of their colony might find them.

I think the answer to the arguing is that one (Fuchsbau) was proving dominance over the other. Once her dominance was accepted it seems to have calmed down. The less dominant one (Jagerbar) looks to be happy and healthy so I guess it's all good.

When I got up this morning I opened the habitat door and sat beside them. They were both still awake and full of energy so I slowly reached a hand in among them. Fooks crawled all over my hand and Gerbar nibbled on my fingertips before they decided it was time for bed and climbed up and disappeared into the sleeping pouch.

So cute!