So, I've had Asteria for a little over a month now (she is right at three months old), and she seems to be bonding relatively well in my shirt, and is sometimes ok with being out and on my shirt. However, when I take her out and try to bond with her outside of shirt-time she freezes until she has an opportunity to go hide. I don't know what it is about me that comes off as so intimidating, but she doesn't seem to want anything to do with me unless she's sleeping in my shirt. As soon as she wakes up lately (the past week or so), she darts off my shoulder and finds a corner to hide in or just runs back to her cage; and while I'm glad she understands her nesting box as a safe space, I'm concerned because she seems frightened to even be near me. I guess what I'm wondering is how I can show her that I'm not such an imposing figure, and that the safe space she finds in my shirt is actually a part of the giant creature she seems so averse to
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To complicate this further, I am also curious how to handle her innate fear of my dog. He's a Husky/German Shepherd mix, and as such, a mighty big boy. I've been doing my best to keep them separate when having bonding time with Asteria, but I can't seem to even have him in the same room with her when she is out. Even though he's showed very little interest in her since she came into the house, she still runs/hides any time she can see him. I know this is something that will never go away, and I appreciate that she isn't reckless around predators. I am wanting to know, though, if there's anything I can do to alleviate her stress around him/show her he's really not all that bad.
