I've been trying to get Washi and Shikoni together. It's getting kind of frustrating.

I put a towel in the bathtub, and then both boys. I have to carry them in pouches, so those are in the room with us. What happens is, as soon as they see each other they ball up. Shikoni is usually the aggressor in this first encounter. The last few times I've let them go at it, it usually lasts about fifteen to twenty seconds and then they break apart. So far no one has gotten hurt, for which I'm grateful. Once they break apart there are no more confrontations. Washi will typically hide under the towel, tunneling around and coming out from time to time, then back under. Shikoni jumps onto me. I'm right there sitting on the floor beside the tub. I put him back; he marks the towel on the spot where Washi is and then jumps back onto me. I try to leave them in there for fifteen minutes, but Shikoni is getting more distressed the whole time, I can see it. Washi is also pretty upset, he just doesn't know how to handle the situation. Shikoni aims for his pouch, he just wants in there; he can see it from where we are sitting. I've tried hiding it but there just isn't a place; if I leave the pouches in the sink, he finds them; he's even gone up my sleeve.

I haven't even tried to get Shikoni with Kioko; he's bigger and also the more aggressive of the two brothers. My thinking is that if I get him together with Washi it will make Kioko more likely to accept him.

Right now I feel like it will never happen. Granted, there have been some small signs of improvement: the first time I put them face-to-face there were three fights within about two minutes, at which point I was afraid someone would be injured so I stopped the whole thing. Now they'll go maybe ten or twelve minutes after the first fight; but it seems to be upsetting to both of them. I don't know if I should just stand back far enough that Shikoni can't see me; close the shower curtain to keep them in the tub and let the chips fall where they may; I almost feel like giving up. I won't, but I'm pretty discouraged at this moment. I guess I'll see what happens tomorrow.

 

snusie
Gender: Female
Occupation:Horticulture
Member since: Oct 29, 2008
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I work in horticulture for a good-sized city, so any gardening -- I love to read and work HARD crosswords -- also draw and paint. My News
Kioko and Washi came to live with me on 11/23/08: five-year old brothers. As of February '09, we're having great luck with bringing them all together into one happy little colony. Favorite Quote
1) ...I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center. ... Big, undreamed-of things --- the people on the edge see them first. Kurt Vonnegut, "Player Piano" 2) Beauty fades, dumb is forever -- Judge Judy, almost daily My Bio
Very old, b. 1957 in New Martinsville, WVa. Live in Central Texas now. I'm Mother to Ophelia, a 4-foot ball python; Domino, a regular cat; and Shikoni, Washi and Kioko, three lively gliders; and Step-Mother to Mike, a 13-year old former stray yellow shepherd. We and other humans all live together in quite surprising harmony.

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