Quote Originally Posted by slither9192
Hi, My female pastel Abbi is very defensive. Whenever I take her out to hold her she either hisses or strikes (sometimes open mouthed but usually closed mouth strikes). She is still little at around 400g so nothing hurts but I would like to get her to calm down. She has been on and off feeding adult mice (20g). But sometimes when I feed her she will just get defensive and start hissing and closed mouth striking and striking but letting go to the mouse. What should I do. I want her to be less stressed so she will eat so I don't hold her often but also want her to get used to handling and calm down. So should I keep holding her often and hope she eats? Or should I make sure she eats and hold her very little?
She may not feel comfortable in her cage, I know when I switched to a tub to make moving easier mine was a little defensive until she got settled in. Seeing as how she already seems stressed I wouldn't try to hold her alot. Maybe just see how she acts every few days to see if shes calming down. Once she relaxes a little try and hold her for a little bit a day (other than after feeding), with time she should calm down.