Twix is a handful

We knew Twix was going to be a challenge when we took him on, and we are prepared to care for him for as long as he needs no matter what happens. Even so nothing could have prepared us for what a character he is.

Twix obviously had a difficult life before he joined us and, sadly, that shows in the way he acts. The most noticeable thing is his walk he hobbles like a little old rat. His back end appears very stiff when he walks and he can’t run very well. The condition of his fur has improved since we’ve had him, but he struggles to twist round to wash his sides, usually he rolls over when he tries to do this. We are keeping him in a low cage to stop him from trying to climb, when he does climb up the outside of his cage he struggles to get down and usually falls. So we feel a low cage will keep him safe.

Twix with his home and in his favourite place

He does enjoying coming out to play, even though he can be a bit of a naughty boy. He does not like hands and he will try and snap at them if you give him the opportunity, the same with ankles. Even so I’m not letting his bad habits stop him from enjoying out of the cage time. I usually sit on the stairs so he can’t get at my feet and I keep my hands away from him too.

I pick Twix up in an old towel, he gets quite grumpy at this, but he can’t get at me to bite and it is much friendlier than gloves. At the moment he tends to attack the towel as soon as he sees it. I think this is because he doesn’t like being touched - probably because he’s not used to it - and I use the towel to put him back in his cage. I’m hoping he will learn that coming out is something he will get to do everyday, so going in isn’t such a big deal. What makes it hard at the moment is Twix can only stay out for about 10 minutes at a time, any longer and he starts to get naughty. Once he has got over his anger at being put away he will have a large drink of water, which is probably the reason he starts to misbehave in the first place.

I want Twix to feel safe in his new home and hopefully he will learn to trust us or at least understand that we’re not going to hurt him or let him down.