So Cookie arrived in Connecticut without a hitch. My friend Ray came with a SUV to pick me up at the airport so we could take home this HUGE animal carrier.

When I got home, I put the carrier in my screened in porch, and took the top and door off of it. Cookie would not come out, and I was NOT about to attempt picking him up after this very stressful trip for him, no matter how docile he appeared. My wrists were still healing from his razor sharp tungsten carbide VAST PAIN claws.

Originally, I thought I'd just let him free roam on my porch. I ended up nixing this idea for two very important reasons:

1. It was still way too COLD for him to be out there full time. Maybe later in the summer...

2. He didn't really know me yet, so it would be better for him to be around me as much as possible.

I decided to let Cookie free roam in my home office (I work out of my house, so I'm around most of the time). It took a whole day and a half before he would come out of the dog carrier, but once he did, he quickly found his "favorite spot" on the arm of my couch under the table lamp.

I got a special UVB bulb for him, and also a heat lamp. I have them set on a timer to be on from 6 AM until 8 PM. He seems VERY happy, and is a great eater. I feed him a WIDE variety of foods, mostly from Melissa K.'s site, but with a few variations. I don't feel the need to be a NAZI about his diet, but am still being somewhat careful about what I'm feeding him. Currently, I am feeding him mustard greens, turnip greens, string beans, pea pods, asparagus, yellow and green
squash, zucchini, raspberries(which he'll jump through flaming hoops to get!!!), blueberries, other assorted squashes, watercress, strawberries, other assorted fruits, and I'm sure some other veggies I don't remember. Mellisa also says to feed parsnips. Haven't been able to find them here... I also mix in some occasional ground up rabbit pellets for plant protein value.

I'd been very successful with Cookie pooping on newspaper in his "chosen spot," but had yet to have him trayed. I tried holding him in a tray of water last week, but all that produced was a rather hefty SNAP aimed in my general direction.

I had the tray next to my closet doors, but had a space between the tray and the doors of around 6 inches. When he would make his rounds, he would always lick the tray, but never enter it. Instead, he would walk between the tray and the closet doors (obviously following his own scent. He's pretty predictable that way). Basically, he had no interest in getting in the tray.

Then one night just for kicks, I moved the tray flush with the closet doors just to see what he'd do when he was out taking his next stroll.

As luck would have it, he realized rather quickly that I disrupted his "little iguana routine" by moving the tray against the doors. At first, he didn't know what to do. He stood there licking the side of the tray for a while, before climbing it and getting in. Once in the tray, he stood there for a little while. Then he got out, and continued his "rounds."

I thought that was it, until he went back and got in again. This time he swam and splashed around, putting his head under water. After about 3 minutes or so of frolicking, he finally went to the bathroom in there. It was the HUGEST poop I've seen come out of this little guy! Then he got out, went back up on the couch, had another snack, and back up to his perch under the table light.

Needless to say, I was ELATED by this development. I thought the tray was a lost cause, but left it out to "offer" to him just in case. He REALLY enjoys the water (which I guess isn't surprising since he likes Mr. Squirt Bottle so much), and I had a very good vibe that he was going to start going in there on a regular basis. That would be a GOOD thing, as a tray of water is easier to deal with than soiled newspapers.

Now that the tray is on the "regular path" he takes in here, it has become a regular stop for him.

Cookie is OFFICIALLY "trayed" now. He just does his business in there after his usual 5 minute frolic in the water first. Boy, this one sure does love the water. I think it is the new highlight of his day. Nothing like following a leisurely daily swim with a monster POOP!

He has so much fun splashing around in there, putting his head under water and blowing bubbles that I may have to fit a bigger tray in here somehow for him to play in. I've increased the water level so he can get further under the water. Who am I to hamper his fun?