Socialization help with feral kitten

Our little feral kitten (I'm guessing ~10 weeks old) has been in our care for about a week. We are keeping her in a large dog crate on top of a table. The crate is about 2'x3'x2.5' high (I'm estimating...I'm at work right now). There is room for a single story round kitty condo, a small litter box, food and water, and floor space to lounge. 

We have gotten her mostly used to our presence, as long as we don't touch her. She will eat with us just outside the cage, at least if she is hungry. I have put my fingers near her, and even touched her paws.  When she backs up, we stop and back off a bit. I do think there is slow but mostly steady progress. We are following the other advice we've found on the web re: how to interact with her.

Some of the advice I've read says that she should really be in a small room. I can see the advantage - she could really play (laps in the cage chasing the red dot just isn't the same), we can work on getting her to approach by putting the food closer each day, etc. The problem is that I don't have a room I can put her in. The main bathroom wouldn't work, and the other bathroom is too tiny for humans to sit in and interact with the kitten. Closing off any of the bedrooms wouldn't work, and I live with a packrat...too much effort to eliminate hiding spots. The only thing I can think of is to make some sort of temporary room within our den.

So my question is: how important is it that we have the kitten in a room versus a large cage. Have any of you successfully socialized a kitten in a large cage? If I do need to make a temporary "room", any advice on how to do it on the cheap and easy?

I am having to learn patience. I so want to pick her up and cuddle her. I know socialization has to be at her pace...I just wish her pace was faster :-)

I have socialized kittens in two 4' crates.  Each had two doors and I used the side doors to build a hallway between the two crates.  I used those wire grids they use to build kid's shelves.  That gave them a little more room, although it wasn't ideal.  They really needed places to run and climb and the crates were not good for that.

If you decide to give her her own room, just make sure the beds are on the floor and there aren't places where she can hide but you can't get to her.  Pull the bureaus away from the wall, for instance.

A bathroom is good, if that's all you have.  If it has a window, all the better.

And yes, the lessons in patience are hard!  There were times when I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to pet some of my fosters.

Hang in there!

I've had great success taming feral kittens in a crate, which is by far my preference. It allows you much more control, and up close and personal, where as a room means she does not have to be close to you, and in fact will stay as far from you as possible, which will really slow the progress down tremendously.

This is my way, some people feel it is better for the kitten to let it tame at it's own pace, but not me.

Mentally, each week he remains unheld makes it harder for him to be comfortable (eventually) with it.

So if it were me? I would pull him out using a full hand scruff and tightly wrap him in a towel so that only his face is showing, arms under the towel.

Then talk to him, pet his face, hold while watching tv, just so he learns it is not scary or dangerous for him to be held.

He is young enough that he should tame down very well.

He will likely always be very shy and hide with strangers, but who cares right? As long as he is good with the family.

Here is a great set of videos on working with feral kittens.  It is a 3 part series that starts with their rescue then working on socialization.  There are some great tips involved.

http://www.urbancatleague.org/TamingVideo

Update on Snuggles:

After 10 days, we have her playing (chasing a sparkly wand toy). We've been touching her with the wand and sparkle end, and have even gotten a few strokes on her head with a hand. I think play will be a big part of getting her to accept us.  I've been hanging my socks in the cage each night so she gets my scent.

We had a bad experience trying to grab her for a vet visit early on - including a bitten hand (which is healing fine). She was very traumatized (as were we). So I'm not willing to force the issue at this time, as long as she is making progress. If she stalls...then we'll go for more hands-on approach.

We are going to set up a play area using a metal dog pen and the wire squares you can build shelves from (plus zip ties and velcro ties). It will be attached to the cage, so she can access it. That will give her more room to run and play, but we can still have access to her.  We can also let in one or two of our cats who have already met the kitten and will be good for her to learn from. They've been in the cage, but there hasn't been room for interaction except nose touching.

At the rate things are progressing, I think we'll be able to pick her up this weekend without excessive trauma. I know that will help her a lot. It will help us too...I really want to cuddle her :-)

Thanks for the advice!  I know there isn't a "right" way to tame her. It helps to hear from others experience, though.

Sounds like you are making progress.  Thanks for the update.