(OH My Gosh!! I Love This Baby, Thank You!!)
Username: VenomousParadise
Name: Pangea
Gender: Male
Taming Prompt:
The Skepluvi arrived at our ranch facility within a few days of being rescued, the report we received shortly before failed to describe the depth of his condition. The Skepluvi, Dubbed "Pangea," was an utter nightmare upon release, and required a dose of sedation before it could be coaxed out of its traveling containment. Pangea was temporarily introduced to a sterile room with around one foot of soft shredded paper bedding as well as several handmade woven hides. After a thorough evaluation by an exotic vet on staff, Pangea was left to settle in his new home so that we could monitor any abnormal activity and wait for his prescribed medication to be shipped in. Unfortunately, Pangea was extremely lethargic and only accepted liquid meals so long as he did not see them delivered. A small doggy door was attached to his enclosure so that meals would be delivered without him seeing the presence of a human. A week of this routine allowed Pangea to adjust just enough so that his muscles were no longer in a state of constant tension, and he began to accept small amounts of soft food drenched in honey. Pangea’s medication arrived the following week, but we were at a complete loss as what path to pursue, for the medication had to be hand administered as a shot. It was quickly decided upon that Pangea needed this medication if he was going to be able to have a sense of normality, and I was chosen to pursue this goal.
The first difficulty I stumbled on was Pangea’s complete utter fear of humans, just the mere sight of one triggered his disorder. This was one of the sole reasons I had kept out of the enclosure previously and tried not to interact with this rescue before this point. Thankfully, another colleague brought a possible solution to my attention.. Pangea was only scared at the sight of humans and didn’t react to our scent, but this would be difficult to act on. After sending a few emails to those above me, I was granted special permission to use our full body suits, which are typically only used in instances where Skepluvi has a contagious disease. This was certainly going to be a test for both me, and little Pangea.
When entering the enclosure I was immediately presented with Pangea puffing out and creating quite a ruckus at my intrusion into his territory, but his muscles remained untensed. His allcimalation cage allowed plenty of space for me to make my way into an area of relatively few items and I decided to wait to see if he was able to grow content with my presence. Pangea was ultimately one step ahead and acted out to protect what was his, and quickly sought me out. He started by playfully nipping at my boots before biting harder to test if I would react as a threat should. I suppose he was satisfied with my lack of response, or perhaps the taste of rubber, and went straight for the scent that laced my pocket. A bottle of honey had been given to me shortly before I entered the enclosure in case he did end up reacting badly to the excess smell of humans, but it seemed the only thing on his mind was actually the honey itself. As Pangea fished out the bottle from my pocket, I started making subtle movements with my hands and brushed slightly against him, but he chose to not acknowledge my seemingly unimportant touches and continued on with his struggles of opening the honey bottle. Ultimately fed up, Pangea started slamming the bottle against his padded walls to no avail of breaking it, his body quickly grew tired of this exertion and he settled down between me in a huff of annoyance. Fortunately for Pangea, I was able to coax the bottle from him and gently open it, to which he thought was appropriate to launch himself at me in a desperate attempt to knock the bottle from my hands. I preceded by quickly standing and walking over to his feeding station in a brisk pace with him on my heels. I ended up pouring the honey over his freshly cut fruit and dietary pellets, and while he was startled at all my movements the allure of honey overtook him and he consumed his first solid food items ever in our care. In his state of distraction I took a moment to slowly grab his medication from my pocket and prepare the tiny needle, my hands shook to the point where I almost dropped the shot several times: I was afraid that he may react bady and all this would be for nothing. Eventually, I brought myself to gently grab the base of his scruff and slowly administer the medication. Pangea ended up being too engrossed with the taste of his meal to register that I had given him a shot, and instead simply brought his head down and scratched himself as if he had just been bitten by a bug.
It would seem that Pangea had overcome his first hurdles and was on the way to recovery, even if it did require me to wear an uncomfortably big suit. We have plans to move Pangea in with a younger female Skepluvi in hopes she will help him overcome his fear of humans, but for now, I am content with his little miracles.
(907 Words)
