Sudden hand fear

[Trilu88]

after months I had finally gotten all 3 of my rats to be comfortable with being handled. Then in the past week my oldest is afraid again. What would cause the return of the fear?

 

[Lookup]

I had this happen with one of my first pair of boys, years ago. There was some loud noise while I was holding him, and suddenly we were back to square one. It's probably nothing you did, but something spooked him. Don't worry, it won't take months again. But you do have to back up a few steps and work on whatever earlier step he's comfortable with now, then move forward. Once he sees there's nothing to fear, he'll progress quickly. I'm sorry, I know that's frustrating, but be patient and soon he'll be cuddling with you.

 

[jorats]

Anything could cause them to become more fearful. Just be patient and they should be ok soon enough.