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New Owner's Journal
8/18/00
First journal entry. Our little baby girl glider (who will be named Ezri) doesn't arrive until Sept. 10th. Grant (my husband) and I spent over a hundred dollars today on toys and equipment for the cage. Yeah, we didn't need to spend that much, but it was fun, and I know that lil Ezri will love all of it.
Few words about our cage:
Its still in progess, meaning its all over my living room floor. We decided to build our own, and its going to be 2ft wide, 2ft long by 6ft tall. Quite a castle for the lil girl. The wire for it is PVC (vinyl coated) 20 gauge wire. I've read on several sites, and been advised on the Glider Board that you have to use the Vinyl Coated wire... not only is it easier to clean, but if you use regular galvinized wire, your glider could develop bactierial infections later.
Grant installed a pull out drawer at the bottom of the cage to make cleaning easier. That's been the longest part of building it so far, but I know in the long run it will be worth it. On the front of the drawer, he put miniature lion head door knockers. Oh no... not a spoiled baby at all!
We're still trying to figure out how to put shelves into it... mainly how to make them out of the PVC wire. We had thought about using wood for the shelves, but decided that they'd be harder to clean. Bought out Manzanitia branches for the cage today, as well as some sand-blasted drift wood (the kind that has holes in it) for climbing about the cage. Food and water dishes along with a water bottle, some treats and regular toys. Got a Glow-In-The-Dark runabout ball today too.
I've made a nest pouch, holding pouch, pillow and snuggle buddy(teddy bear shaped) for Ezri out of an old velour blanket of ours. Nice and fuzzy. Will be making a hamock out of the same material soon as well. The nice thing about using that old blanket is that until last week, it was on our bed, its covered in our scent, so she can get used to us even when we're not around. Whatever is leftover from that full sized blanket will be used as a drape on the back of the cage as well.
That's all for now... more another day.
8/29/00
Twelve days and counting until Ezri arrives.
Cage is finally complete! I can see my living room floor!!! Grant (my husband) did a great job building it. Here are two pictures of it empty:
And now the great decorating project begins! Move over Martha Stewart! We've put in all the toys that I mentioned last time, as well as a few that have been made since then. The cage has 3 PVC wire shelves in it, made from the left overs from framing the cage.
I took our old blanket and put it behind the cage on the two sides that are facing walls, to prevent any messes that Ezri should attempt to make. I've read too many stories of gliders that like to 'play' with their food not to take this preventive measure.
We're waiting for the arrival of our Wodent Wheel (which is designed to keep lil tails from getting caught in it) and then I think that is the last of the toys for the cage. Of course, should I see something that I feel is a must have item, I will buy it. I do realize that as Ezri and I get to know each other, I'll get hints as to what kind of toys she likes to play with and the style of the cage will adjust to her needs. But I do also feel that I've covered the basics.
Two days ago, Grant and I were at Target and saw that they were selling Bamboo in their greenhouse section. Since the plants are glider safe (Toxicity rating of one) we bought two so that we can snip them and put them in the cage for Ezri to chew on. My mom has also given us permission to nip and tuck at her apple tree as the need arises. At this point, I'll be surprises if we can keep the bamboo alive til Ezri gets here... plants don't seem to like us much.
Speaking of plants, I have to find a place for my aloe plant. Its not glider friendly and will have to forego its home in the living room and move to the bedroom I think.
*Sigh* Its almost September... holidays are coming and once our families decide who goes where for which holiday, I'll have to ponder making Ezri a travel cage. More on that later.
We've decided to 'shut down' our house for a month to 6 weeks after Ezri arrives, meaning that we won't be having any friends over (other than Anna, who lives two apts down) oogling Ezri. We want her to feel safe here with us, and with Anna. Who knows... Maybe I'll get Anna to babysit during the holidays! *wink*
More later (and more cage pictures) once the decorating is done.
Sept 19th 2000
Well, this will be a very very long entry chronicalling Ezri's first week with us.
We brought her home on Sept 10th, and spent a long evening waiting for her to wake up. We had prepared and froze the Leadbeater's diet the night before, and when 1030pm rolled around (the time we were told that she usually woke up) we put it in.
Several hours went by and Ezri refused to emerge from her pouch. So we tried to comfort her with small treats, and coax her out. We had to cut grapes into quarters so that they were her size. She took them from us readily, and holding them like watermellon slices, devoured them. Except for the skins. She just won't eat them.
We finally went to bed that night, worried that Ezri was overlly stressed out from her move. 'Round 6am, I hear her barking, calling for her family. I spent the next two hours trying to calm her down, to no avail. Finally, I woke Grant up, and asked if he had any ideas. Grant put her in her pouch and took her out of the cage. He laid down on the couch, and put his hand in the pouch with Ezri. Within minutes, she curled up in his hand, and fell asleep. Apparently, she just needed to know that someone else was there as she fell asleep.
She is a good eater. Which is good for me, as I was truly worried about this. She loves her mushy, smelly Leadbeaters. We've tried giving her harder foods, like dead crickets and peanuts, but she's just not interested in them yet.
She's also not to sure of how to play with us. She'll crawl about, but won't interact with any toys that we try to engage her with, such as a piece of 'dancing' rope, or ribbon. She'll get that predatory look in her eye, but won't budge.
We're at a 50/50 stage of whether or not she'll hop into my hand if its presented to her. When she does hop into my hand, she won't stay there for too long, she's just testing the waters. She rarely crabs, but is very cautious. She didn't bite until I cut my fingernails this weekend, now she's biting at my nails. I have no idea why.
Her sleeping habits are odd. I kind of like to think of her as my 'Good Morning Glider'. She's still sleeping when I go to bed at 2am, but Ezri is wide awake and ready to chat and attempt to play when I get up at 8am. She usually stays up til about 10am, then its bedtime. I've tried to explain that the suns been up for hours by then, but we aren't speaking the same language yet. *wink*
Usually after she's asleep for an hour or so, the pouch comes out and goes around my neck until real life intervenes or I have to work. If she starts to wake up, she'll get a small piece of fruit to munch on, and then she rolls back to sleep. She really loves having something, like my finger to hold on to while she sleeps. She also loves belly rubs.
Sept 26th 2000
Well, Ezri is still sleeping odd hours, but she's eating harder food now. Meal worms (dead) and some crickets (usually only the legs). She's also crabbing more when I take her pouch out of the cage in the morning to wear her, but what kid isn't crabby in the morning?
The great news of this week is that she's started to really play with us now. She'll jump from Grant to me, and back again, attack balls of cotton and strings of cotton rope or any hair tie that I happen to be using that day (while its in my hair!)
Since she's not getting up at night until about 2 or 3 am we've been taking turns sitting up with her. We're still putting her food out at 1030pm each night, and she'll get up for a short while directly after to eat a small bit, then crawl right back into bed. We're going to give her another week, then try to start adjusting her schedule to get up a few hours earlier, and go to bed earlier in the morning as well. We just feel that we're missing too much time with her right now.
Put up a ton of new photos today, as well as a movie of her eating some coconut.
One definate benefit of having a glider is that we're eating a lot more fruits and veggies.
Oct - Nov 2000
To make a long story short, there are no updates during this time text-wise. The reason being that I was very sick and ended up having surgery in November. I'm getting better now, and I know with out Ezri's adoration and cuddles (as well as the love of my husband Grant and my family) it would have been much more difficult.
December 2000
Synopsis of events-
On December 10th we adopted Shiva, a baby girl from a loving family in Southern Wisconsin. She was about 10 weeks OOP at the time. Ezri was in love with her new 'sister' from the moment she saw her... Shiva took a few more days to adjust, but with in 48 hours of meeting they were happily sleeping in the same pouch and cage and sharing food in a very loving way.
The weekend of Dec 17th, we did our first 'road trip' with the girls. We went to Grant's mom's home in South Dakota to celebrate Christmas. The girls did excellent, with the exception of an escape from the pouch that they were sleeping in when we first got in the car. They quickly were moved into their travel cage after that.
I can't say how well they handled the trip, especially considering that we had just gotten Shiva the week before. My nephew Hunter (age 20 months at the time) was very curious about them, and I'm looking forward to the next time we introduce them together.
For Christmas, the girls got more toys, and a new purple pouch made for them by my mother. Once again, I point out that they are not spoiled at all. (YEAH RIGHT!)
