Bubbles is finally starting to bond with me, and it really made my day

So Bubbles is my second baby rat that I've had to hand train. Momo and Daisy were already trained by their previous owner so I never had to put any effort into bonding with them, but when I got my third rattie Pepper she was so skittish on account of being a pet store rat that I never got around to fully hand training / bonding with her before she passed, because she was absolutely terrified of being handled and on almost every occasion she'd manage to escape my lap and catching her would be a nightmare.. maybe I was just trying a wrong approach, but even so, she improved a bit from being terrified to just being anxious. Eventually I just sort of gave up since it didn't seem worth putting her through stress and she was happy with her sisters

but I've been putting more effort in for Bubbles' sake since Daisy and Momo won't be around forever, and I've been handling her multiple times a day for 30+ minutes and it's really starting to work. She used to run away or avoid my hand and when I handled her outside the cage she'd continuously look around with her eyes bulged out and it just seemed like she was looking for a way to escape back to her cage where she'd feel safe. But now she's finally starting to calm down, grooming herself, grooming me, exploring my lap, etc. I always felt like I failed Pepper because she was challenging and I never went that extra mile to bond with her, so I gotta say this breakthrough with Bubbles really makes me feel good.

Good for you! All your hard work and effort will pay off big time. The older she gets, the calmer she will be with you. Soon she will be snuggled up with you and you will hear her bruxing and you will just melt. :heart: