Thank you. I would say just keep trying, one thing I learned is if they see that or notice they can convince you not to touch or pick them up they will not budge. I had a incident where I had just taken him out of the cage to pet him and hold him. He jumped out of my had on to the top of his cage and he was going towards the edge. I got really scared that he would jump off and hurt himself. He went to jump and I caught him. The way i caught him was from the top and i believe that sent him into defense. I was only trying to keep him from hurting himself. When u put him on my chest, his beard was black and he was mad at me. I googled how to calm him and they suggested to just try and handle him and calm him by petting him to assure him he was in no danger. At first I said what, he might bite me. But I got the courage to do it, scared to death?. I had put him on the floor shortly after I noticed the beard being black. What scared me was that he was hissing and his body was swollen. He would not let me near him. So I had to use his toy to get him back in cage. That's when I googled the question. That was a scary time. I've never seen him like that. But I had to assure him that I wasn't trying to harm him. So I say that to say, keep trying. Once he feels more comfortable he will let you pick him up more and more. I would love to have another, i just worry so much about him. I would have a head full of grey hair?. I'm still learning him, eventually I will. Good luck