Getting him more used to me?

[boosh96]

Handsome Jack's settled pretty well into his new home. He drinks a ton and he's starting to develop a good appetite. But the poor little guy's terrified of my hands. He refuses to hand-feed and he runs away from my hands if I try to pick him up. I took him outside for some sunshine and he tried to get away from me when I picked him up to take him back inside. I don't want him to associate me with a bad experience and get even more skittish. How can I help him get used to contact or at least seeing my hands? I don't care if he's handleable or not, I just don't want him to continue being scared of me.

 

[nightanole]

If he doesnt hand feed, how about tong feed with 8-12" tongs?

Another trick if your cage is like mine, is to leave the front door open with a removable branch. When he gets on it you can just take branch and all outside for a few min of sun, and then bring it back in. That should associate you with sunny instead of a fate worse than death.

 

[kplatvoet]

What worked for me - was giving my panther blue bottle flies when I took him outside on a weekend - he was so in to hunting them he forgot to run away and didn't mind my hand coming into the cage for only crickets by Monday - I didn't use the stick to get him outside - I most likely should have but his cage needed a good cleaning and he wasn't having any part of sticks either - I use a zippered laundry basket that I had already hung up and let loose a bunch of flies in - Saturday he wasn't happy - Sunday he still wasn't happy but was better - Monday he didn't run when I put my hand in to put his crickets in his cup- 3 weeks later and he eats from my hand (if he's hungry- and isn't in a pissy mood)