I finally found a beautiful Exo-terra extra-large terrarium for Angel. I have placed it the corner of the family room and will decorate today. I want her to have a hiding spots and basking spots. I don’t want her to feel like she is on display ever again!! I hope she will find happiness and security and accepts this as her own.
The home is a hit! She has taken to it beyond all my expectations. My fear was putting her into an enclosure would make her feel fenced in , but it is just the opposite for her. Being kept in a small enclosure for so long, she relishes the security of intimate space. It is her first taste of luxury.
I allowed her to watch me put the branches in and decorate it. I opted to remove the Styrofoam back so she couldn’t crawl to the top screen mesh and lamps above. Once complete, she slowly walked over to investigate; she struggled to get in and allowed me to offer her a hand. Once in she explored for hours.
When I put my hand inside to adjust things, she let me and didn’t run. She had the realization that “Is this for me?” Could this be mine?” Maybe I am going to live here now… Maybe our love is here to stay.”
It was an amazing thing. With her mind content and curious, she stayed in the enclosure the entire afternoon and fell asleep high up on the corner branch. For night heat I am using a ceramic bulb, but it still seems inadequate. I am working on how to keep her above 80 degrees. I always kept Babe as warm as I was.
The next day she wouldn’t leave her home. She didn’t eat but one bite of food. I did bring her to the shower and she pottied. I praised her, held her and dried her and noticed she was cold. I held her close and warmed her on me and blew my warm breath on her dewlap. She seemed to enjoy it, as did I.
I took the opportunity to Whisper with her.
In a half hour she was calm and refreshed and our minds were on the same page. I released my grip and allowed her to walk slowly away. Her instinct to run kicked in a bit, but was diluted. She explored the couch and found a hiding place under the cushions. I attempted to place an electric blanket over her so she could cuddle in, but she didn’t like that.
I brought her back to the enclosure and placed a branch outside to make it easy to climb into. She saw me do it, got excited, went inside and climbed onto her branch. She looks for shelter about 3:30pm, so I put a nice soft blanket on her branch, so she would have something soft to lie on. I felt it would also warm nicely from the ceramic heater over her head. I flipped the switch on and left her alone for the rest of the night, periodically checking on her warmth and comfort.
I think I made brownie points today!