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One of my girls, Lara, is still nipping me fairly regularly, and I'm actually wondering if it's because she genuinely doesn't like being touched by human hands. Is it possible that this is just a genuine personality thing, and if so I feel like I should just respect that she doesn't enjoy being touched and let her interact the way she wants.
For reference, this is how it usually happens:She is unafraid of us and will run up to the cage edge to see what's going on. She will sniff my hand and explore a bit if I'm still and let her do her thing. If I then try and touch her- maybe stroke her with a finger, or try and tickle her, or even try and reach for her- she'll back off, and as soon as I retreat, she'll come running back. If I persist with this, or if she's having a sensitive day, when I reach out to her she will then nip me. She never draws blood, but it hurts a little, and occasionally leaves a mark. Usually it's a fairly light nip to begin, and if I continue to try and touch her, she will come back purposely and nip me harder.
However, if I lean my arm against the cage, she'll happily run up my arm and onto my shoulder, and she explores me all over with confidence- though if I try and play with her, or touch her when she's busy sniffing things in the room, she's likely to give me another nip, as if to say 'dont touch me, I'm busy!'. She will hop over my hands while running on my arm to get in or out of the cage, which makes me think it is hands she has a problem with.
When we're in our play space together, I would try and chase her a little when she nipped me, just gently trying to keep my hands on her, to show her that nipping won't make me go away, but that hasn't really changed much. After reading up about it, when she's nipped me harder and it has hurt, I occasionally give her a very gentle bop on the nose with my finger- just to startle, never to hurt! But I'm wondering if this will just associate hands with negative experiences if I do this.
She's not afraid of humans generally, in fact she's much braver than Daisy, and rarely runs from movements/noises, and will climb all over us- she's super energetic and lives exploring, hence her name being Lara, as in Croft
I think that's all the info I can think of- I know it's a long post, but I felt it important to try and be accurate!So I guess I'm asking for advice- should I be working with her/training/react in a certain way? Is it something to do with the way I'm behaving? Should I respect she doesn't like to be touched in that way, and just enjoy her energetic personality in all her other ways? I love my girls to bits, and just want to do right by them!
For reference, this is how it usually happens:She is unafraid of us and will run up to the cage edge to see what's going on. She will sniff my hand and explore a bit if I'm still and let her do her thing. If I then try and touch her- maybe stroke her with a finger, or try and tickle her, or even try and reach for her- she'll back off, and as soon as I retreat, she'll come running back. If I persist with this, or if she's having a sensitive day, when I reach out to her she will then nip me. She never draws blood, but it hurts a little, and occasionally leaves a mark. Usually it's a fairly light nip to begin, and if I continue to try and touch her, she will come back purposely and nip me harder.
However, if I lean my arm against the cage, she'll happily run up my arm and onto my shoulder, and she explores me all over with confidence- though if I try and play with her, or touch her when she's busy sniffing things in the room, she's likely to give me another nip, as if to say 'dont touch me, I'm busy!'. She will hop over my hands while running on my arm to get in or out of the cage, which makes me think it is hands she has a problem with.
When we're in our play space together, I would try and chase her a little when she nipped me, just gently trying to keep my hands on her, to show her that nipping won't make me go away, but that hasn't really changed much. After reading up about it, when she's nipped me harder and it has hurt, I occasionally give her a very gentle bop on the nose with my finger- just to startle, never to hurt! But I'm wondering if this will just associate hands with negative experiences if I do this.
She's not afraid of humans generally, in fact she's much braver than Daisy, and rarely runs from movements/noises, and will climb all over us- she's super energetic and lives exploring, hence her name being Lara, as in Croft
I think that's all the info I can think of- I know it's a long post, but I felt it important to try and be accurate!So I guess I'm asking for advice- should I be working with her/training/react in a certain way? Is it something to do with the way I'm behaving? Should I respect she doesn't like to be touched in that way, and just enjoy her energetic personality in all her other ways? I love my girls to bits, and just want to do right by them!