I've had them for over a year and they've yet to get used to being around me, they eat, but they spend all of their time hiding and I usually have to put their food right next to their hide for them to eat it.

I tried to interact with them yesterday, I thought if I took them out of their enclosure and spent time near them in an exposed setting they would stop perceiving me as a threat and I even offered them food. but it didn't work, and now they are so stressed out they aren't eating. I assume they will calm down in a few days but I'm not sure how to fix this.

I just want them to be more active and comfortable. ideally I'd like them to be ok with being handled by me. I just don't know how to do it, and garter snakes are so niche that I can't find any tutorials or guides on the subject. closest I could find is info for corn snakes, and that's where I got the idea that I just tried from.

Help?