beetlehugz
Ootheca
Hey all, new poster here. I've got two adult male hissers (housed separately) that I've had for about 7 months now. I got them from a friend while they were still young, and they used to be fairly personable. Not exactly eagerly crawling into your hand per se, but once they got onto you they were pretty chill and would even cozy up and take naps. In recent months, they've become a lot more skittish and prone to hissing, though. I think I had a few too many interactions where I spooked them, or may have stressed them out a little bit, so they became wary of my hands and general presence.
Now it feels like every time I try to take them out of their enclosure to interact with them, (which is about once a week,) I'm pulling teeth, and they trust me less and less. Is there some way to win back their trust over time? Do I need to keep interacting with them more, or give them space? I know they're very smart little critters, so I don't want to keep pushing their boundaries if it'll degrade our relationship even more, but I thought I'd seen posts about the fact that interacting with them more can lead to them trusting you. I don't know if this holds true if you've already lost that trust, though, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Now it feels like every time I try to take them out of their enclosure to interact with them, (which is about once a week,) I'm pulling teeth, and they trust me less and less. Is there some way to win back their trust over time? Do I need to keep interacting with them more, or give them space? I know they're very smart little critters, so I don't want to keep pushing their boundaries if it'll degrade our relationship even more, but I thought I'd seen posts about the fact that interacting with them more can lead to them trusting you. I don't know if this holds true if you've already lost that trust, though, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!