Now that you've got her trust try to pick her up often. Just consistent handling seemed to help with Perry. And I never try to pick him up immediately after offering food.
Keeping the trust of an ex-biter
Let me start off with:
OMG!! Today I picked up Jellybean WITH MY BARE HANDS and she did not bite! She didn't even act or look like she even thought about biting! She was so good! I actually cried because I have been waiting and working for this for SO LONG! She was kind of nervous and acted a lot like Sakura does, trying to burrow under my arm, but she didn't bite! My hands were near her face, and I was handling her, and she didn't bite. And to make sure this wasn't a fluke and she was just in a particularly agreeable mood, about an hour later I picked her up again - while she was in the cage - and again, she didn't bite! I cooed at her and petted her and after a minute or so I gave her a Yogie and put her back. I am SO HAPPY!
/end joyous rant
So, now that my first (and only bitey) rat seems to trust me enough to not chomp on my fingers, I want to make sure we stay this cool. I don't give a second thought to scooping up my other rats and giving them a kiss or a skritch or depositing them on my shoulder for a little ride. Rokk and Coconut eat it up, and Sakura is coming along in leaps and bounds (she doesn't even seem like the same rat anymore). But I don't want to do anything to shake this with Jellybean, since it's taken us so long to get here. I'm not sure if I should just continue picking her up, doing it the way I did with Coconut and am doing with Sakura, and pick her up, hold her for gradually increasing lengths of time, and then putting her back down, so she sees that it's not so bad and she won't get hurt and there's nothing to be afraid of...
If anyone with an ex-biter could give me some advice, I would really appreciate it!
OMG!! Today I picked up Jellybean WITH MY BARE HANDS and she did not bite! She didn't even act or look like she even thought about biting! She was so good! I actually cried because I have been waiting and working for this for SO LONG! She was kind of nervous and acted a lot like Sakura does, trying to burrow under my arm, but she didn't bite! My hands were near her face, and I was handling her, and she didn't bite. And to make sure this wasn't a fluke and she was just in a particularly agreeable mood, about an hour later I picked her up again - while she was in the cage - and again, she didn't bite! I cooed at her and petted her and after a minute or so I gave her a Yogie and put her back. I am SO HAPPY!
/end joyous rant
So, now that my first (and only bitey) rat seems to trust me enough to not chomp on my fingers, I want to make sure we stay this cool. I don't give a second thought to scooping up my other rats and giving them a kiss or a skritch or depositing them on my shoulder for a little ride. Rokk and Coconut eat it up, and Sakura is coming along in leaps and bounds (she doesn't even seem like the same rat anymore). But I don't want to do anything to shake this with Jellybean, since it's taken us so long to get here. I'm not sure if I should just continue picking her up, doing it the way I did with Coconut and am doing with Sakura, and pick her up, hold her for gradually increasing lengths of time, and then putting her back down, so she sees that it's not so bad and she won't get hurt and there's nothing to be afraid of...
If anyone with an ex-biter could give me some advice, I would really appreciate it!
