I have a 4 year old bredli female that was never handled until we got her, and to make things worse, for couple of months after we got her, had to treat her for mites which just proved to her that humans are horrible. She was very cage defensive and managed to bite a few times. Of course, that meant that cleaning up was a pure nightmare.
I started by opening the doors just a crack and just staying behind the glass talking to her. I know that she couldn’t hear, but she could see and smell me and feel the vibrations. Then I started leaving items that had my smell on them in her enclosure (like small face towels I kept next to my skin) for her to get used to my smell being a constant. Next I started warming up the hook with my hands, let her sniff it and then stroke along her body with it. At first she’d freak out but eventually she stopped reacting to it. Finally, I started stroking her back with my hand while her head was too far to strike quickly, and that caused her to flail wildly and try to bite.
After six months of this, she accepts me stroking her back for several minutes without reacting, and I’ve started to pick up her body and slightly lift it to see if she’ll freak out again. She’s accepted that as well, but I don’t think she’s anywhere near ready for me to fully handle her as she’s still very protective of her head and neck.
The only way I can clean her enclosure in peace is to use a hook to coax her into a tub I place in her enclosure, close the lid and take it out, then put the tub back in when I’m done and let her out. I’ve also been feeding her inside the tub (which I put inside her enclosure ) so she is willing to go in.
I’m not sure if she’ll ever get over her fear of humans enough to be handled, but I’ll keep on trying.
