hi I'm fairly new on here and I've only got to about page 9 of general discusion topics but I think I realise this isn't going to be anything new. But please any advice would be really welcome. Why is looking after a fab animal so worrying
. Here's the story.
Panther ambilobe purchased mid July at 2-3 months old. I haven't handled him since as I don't want to stress him. I've been feeding small amount cup but mostly free range and I've been placing the food in the viv where he can see me doing it. The idea was to get him used to me so I could then hand feed. I have then held locusts wax worms for ages in the hope he will take it and get used to me. He just sits stop still and maybe turn and leave if i haven't already had to give up.
Everything else is going well imo. Rapid weight gain , eating and drinking well. Shedding and white urates. From what I've read it looks like I have one that might not take to being handled. I think this isn't helped by the amount of time I have to try and tame him which is quite limited.
So what am I worried about. I read on here that mostly panthers are threat rather than action so I thought I would try to handle. Today I tried to take him out of the cage to be able to do thorough whole cage clean. I approached him with a flat hand from underneath to get his front legs on to my hand. He fires. All stress colours tries to leave again Back feet grab vine or mesh. If I try to lift then end result today was I didn't want to hurt his feet by pulling him away. So he then hisses. Tries multiple strikes and then a bite.
So in a nutshell our interactions are stressing him further destroying trust and I think putting us back to square one. My actions today have harmed the taming process which I think I'm starting to accept may not be possible with this one. However where does that leave me when I do need to take him out to clean viv or give him a shower.
All advice on how to proceed most welcome as we are both stressed now
. Here's the story.
Panther ambilobe purchased mid July at 2-3 months old. I haven't handled him since as I don't want to stress him. I've been feeding small amount cup but mostly free range and I've been placing the food in the viv where he can see me doing it. The idea was to get him used to me so I could then hand feed. I have then held locusts wax worms for ages in the hope he will take it and get used to me. He just sits stop still and maybe turn and leave if i haven't already had to give up.
Everything else is going well imo. Rapid weight gain , eating and drinking well. Shedding and white urates. From what I've read it looks like I have one that might not take to being handled. I think this isn't helped by the amount of time I have to try and tame him which is quite limited.
So what am I worried about. I read on here that mostly panthers are threat rather than action so I thought I would try to handle. Today I tried to take him out of the cage to be able to do thorough whole cage clean. I approached him with a flat hand from underneath to get his front legs on to my hand. He fires. All stress colours tries to leave again Back feet grab vine or mesh. If I try to lift then end result today was I didn't want to hurt his feet by pulling him away. So he then hisses. Tries multiple strikes and then a bite.
So in a nutshell our interactions are stressing him further destroying trust and I think putting us back to square one. My actions today have harmed the taming process which I think I'm starting to accept may not be possible with this one. However where does that leave me when I do need to take him out to clean viv or give him a shower.
All advice on how to proceed most welcome as we are both stressed now
