You are doing an awsome job with Skittles. It
sounds as tho he is learning to trust and that is the first step. Be patient and consistant with him and let him set the pace. I know with my Sassy it was a long long road for him. He started out fearful and biting and then learned that I wouldn't hurt him and trusted me but he still didn't like me and wouldn't interact with me more than necessary. It was only after he was neutered that his behavior started to change and again it was a slow change. It started with one hop onto me for 10 seconds. Each day the length of time he would spend on me lengthened and the number of times he got on me increased until he was spending the majority of his playtime with me or interacting with me in some way. So it can happen, it just happens more slowly than with gliders who don't have baggage to carry with them and overcome.
The Rescue
By Christine Hamann
Written for Meeko & Simon, two lost souls who found a life with me
I'm huddled now within my pouch
I shake and quake with fear
Every time I hear your voice
Whenever you draw near
And when you reach to touch me soft
Please try to understand
I bite because I have not known
A truly loving hand
And so you must forgive me
If I do not believe
When you softly whisper
That I will never leave
For I have been in many homes
Heard many people say
That they would always love me
That I would always stay
And for awhile that would be true
They'd get me out to play
And then they would forget me
And in my cage I'd stay
They wondered then why I was mad
Why I would crab and bite
Why I had ceased to trust them
and only seemed to fight
But my heart it had been broken
My trust it had been shorn
My soul was crushed, and made me wish
That I had not been born
So if I crab please understand
It will take time you see
For me to learn to trust again
For love to come to me
But if the time you give me
If patient you will be
My heart will mend I promise you
And someday will be free
It will be free to love once more
Freed from the chains of fear
Freed from the chains that bind me now
To let someone draw near
So if you wait until I heal
If patient you will be
Then I'll return whole-heartedly
The love you give to me