A Breakthrough?
The bonding pouch I ordered came in today. It’s huge, much larger than I expected, and it’ll fit both girls easily. I let Paris try it out, but “swapped her out” for London, considering Paris had quite the excursion (more below). London was unsure about it at first, but I cradled her in my hand through the fabric, and she came to life. She let me stroke her ears, then her neck, then her body, and then she climbed up and settled herself in the crook of my arm! She was extremely shy, and a bit antsy, dancing from foot to foot, but I praised her and softly talked to her and stroked her until she calmed down enough to stop her nervous habits. There are no words to describe how happy I am for today! This is the rat who wouldn’t let me touch her when she first arrived home, and now look at her! I feel like the time I spend with her, letting her explore me etc., is really paying off, and I can’t wait to watch her continue to make such quick progress! If this is her progress in a couple of days, imagine what it’ll be like in a week!
Paris had her own little adventure today, and she was such a good girl during it! She met my therapist, and she carefully sniffed at her fingertips when she stuck her finger through the bars. She rode on my shoulder during the car ride up and the car ride back. She got some scraps from a tri-tip sandwich and side salad (she’s got a taste for the tri-tip). And she got to spend some time sniffing around (while on my shoulder) a plant nursery! She was amazing, very well-behaved the whole time, captured the attention and “ooh”s and “aww”s of a couple people, and even let my mother stroke her! They’re both really coming around. Poor, Paris though… She’s absolutely exhausted; she’s currently curled up in her special corner of the cage napping up a storm.
I also stopped by PetSmart and got a chinchilla dustbath house (instead of an igloo) that I filled with shavings and am using it in their playpen (since it’s too large for the Martin’s), some treats (though the lady forgot to bag the yoghurt drops -sadface- So we’ll have to make a trip back and hope they compensate) and a rat toy with some chew blocks and a little bell on the end. They’re both very suspicious towards it, but I have no doubt they’ll warm up.
In other words, they’re settling in better than I had hoped, and I keep falling more and more in love with them each day.
