I made another post about my cage setup before getting my 2 GIRLS, and someone made a comment about the bar width, but I was like its okay were gonna make modifications. BUT we were planning on making the modifications AFTER they came home.... completely forgot we were originally planning on getting adult boys, but we have wound up with around 6 month old GIRLS. Tina immediately slipped through the cage lmao. So it was kind of a disaster as I held Tina while my partner put the hardware cloth on. We made it through the night, though we both woke up frequently, I kept waking up terrified she had gotten out.
Anyways, our biggest issue (?) now is that we may have given the girls too much bedding too soon. We did the cement mixing bin method, and filled her up fully. Louise immediately borrowed, and once Tina was contained, she helped Louise with making entrances and hung out with her but comes out every so often and just chills and explores. Louise has come out maybe 3 times that we know of.
Im just wondering how this is going to effect our bonding. We specifically chose not to over crowd the cage to prevent them hiding and being difficult to get out while we practiced handling and bonded... now that they have created tunnels in their bedding, I definitely would not want to destroy them to get them out. :( Should we just give them a few days of zero handling? We are wanting to do the patience method for a few days before doing the confidence method. But im wondering if I should do patience for longer because of how crazy the first night went for Tina and because of how much Louise wants to hide. At the same time, I wonder if doing nothing and waiting will just do nothing? I just want to do whatever will benefit them and our relationship. I want them to know its safe to explore and rest absolutely anywhere. They seem to have eaten their pellets overnight, so I am happy about that. Tina also drank lots of water.
Louise: cream
Tina: Grey
