Hello i thought i would write in about an experience i had with my new bengal and if anyone else goes through the same experience they might find it helpful.
When i chose my bengal i was told that she was shy when she arrived home (after what felt like a lifetime waiting for her to reach 13 weeks) she was very very shy,unsocial she would not let us go near her even to the point where she was hissing at us if we got too close we were devasted we thought that she would never come around however me and my wife took in in shifts to spend time with her throughout the day and we only took breaks when she was asleep or we was asleep at night ! i did not force her to be stroked but what i did do was too play with some string on the floor which eventually she could not resist and started playing this was the first breakthrough then whislt playing with the string i would run the string over my lap (at first she would not jump up on my lap) until she finally got the courage to jump on my lap this was the second breakthrough then after a 4-5 days of this i started stroking her whilst on my lap and she tolerated it this was 3rd breakthrough and after this me and my wife decided instead of leaving her dried food out free so she could eat whenever she wanted we made sure that she knew we were bringing her food and hence created another bond where she would call when she was hungry which in my experience was a very good move.We have now had her for 3 weeks and im pleased to say that she has totally come out of her shell infact its acomplete turn around she loves her cuddles strokes and she wont sleep unless she is on our laps including our kids who are 2 + 4 years of age ,she follows us everywhere and is such a loving and affectionate cat compared to the shy and hissing cat we had seen 3 weeks earlier.I hope this will information will be of help to anyone going through similer circumstances and my main point is NEVER GIVE UP no matter how bad it may seem they DO come around in the end.
heres a pic of our beautiful bengal.

WOW........ she is stunning, what a beautiful face, well done on not giving up
it just goes to show what determination can do.
Im no expert but it sounds like she wasn't handled much by the breeder,
and just wasent used to being picked up, cuddled etc...
I just wondered what you had named her? I hope things continue to go
well as bengals are such a fantastic breed, with wonderful character, and
so much love to give their owners

Thank you nikki for your comments she is utterly stunning and we are lucky to have her,
I totally agree with you about the breeder and i think thats one thing all breeders should concentrate on, handling ,socializing etc.
her name is zara we thought it suits her. we have noticed that she does have most of the "traditional" bengal traits .....she chitters she has her 5 minute mad moments where she goes crazy around the house which the kids find absolutely hilarious the only thing she doesnt like at the moment is water.
I agree with you about the breed completely they have such strong characters so active and intelligent i would never want another breed of cat i have fallen completely in love with bengals and i hope to have more later on.

She is beautiful!!! Well done, its lovely when animals come round to you when they have been so scared!

Your Experiences seem similar to ours with Minnie.

We got Minnie last week at 13 weeks old and it did seem like ages when we got her. To begin with for the first couple of days she was not eating, was hiding the whole time and if your picked her up she sruggled to get free.

After 2 days she started eating, after 4 days she started to spend more time on the sofa while for the last 2 days she is socialising with us, our other cats and will eat with them, etc. The only thing she wont do is go exploring. She spends time in the bedroom or needs to be carried down to our lounge. Im hoping this will improve in time and she will start to investigate the house.

It was playing with the toys that got Minnie out of her shell and was also key to introducing her to the other cats.

Oh dear, she definitely looks sweet! It's great to hear how determined you stayed to make her feel at home. I'm a bit baffled though - it does sound like the breeder hadn't socialised her much and familiarised her with being handled. Isn't that what the breeders are supposed to do anyway? On the other hand, her behaviour may be due to her character as well.

But it's nevertheless great how she turned out to be, and your experience is definitely encouraging!