I have 2 girls I've had since the first week of September, and I got them fairly young, pretty much right when they were ready to live on their own. Unfortunately, they don't seem to like me a ton. They run away when I get near them, much less try to pet them, and they don't want to be held. I thought I was making progress because last cage cleaning day, they let me pet them in their travel carrier, but this time, they dug down into the bedding or piled into the corner to avoid me, and then hid from me the rest of the day when back in their cage.

I'm just a little discouraged, I know its only been a month, but thats a long time for a rat. I've tried lots of things like trying to get them to associate my hand with food, but nothing has worked. What can I do?