Good for you Cheryl!!!! You are well on your way. Dakota sounds like a very healthy and well adjusted BP. And I'm quite sure he "likes" you! I held my BP Lucy ONLY in my hands and arms for the first few weeks. The most scary part for me was when she would move suddenly (usually my fault). Be careful not to make quick movements, or to move a hand or finger towards the head. They tend to jerk away which scares people. They will also jerk suddenly if they feel they are about to fall. I use to be afraid that Lucy would somehow feel how nervous I was, or smell MY fear (or my sweat) on my hands. Or that she would feel me tremble with fear. Now I look back on those times and I laugh at myself.

It was a big step for me to let her crawl on my lap. I think because this meant I would have to pick her up yet again. Of course now we spend lots of time just cuddling on the couch together. Lucy really likes me to hold my hands kind of like a tree with branches intertwined while she crawls around and through my fingers, sometimes just relaxing and hanging out. In the end it was Lucy who taught me how to handle a snake.

They are speaking to us all the time. We just need to learn how to listen.