If you have it taking the shrimp from the stick, I would not change anything and let it adapt to the environment as it is. Keep trying to get it to take food while you hold the stick. If you drape the aquarium, you are likely going to have to start all over again getting it to learn that the environment is safe. I have noticed that the animals we have kept in our living room tank (where there is very little daily traffic) are almost always shyer than the ones in the breakfast room that is heavily frequented. The biggest exception was a nocturnal that I visited every night without fail. Beldar was very interactive but few people can spend an hour at 3:00 AM everyday playing with their pet :gring:
Extreme shyness is a complicated topic. We see this in very young octos (even tank raised) as, what appears to be, a natural defense. Unfortunately, we also see it in older animals nearing senescence but then it is usual only when they are introduced to the tank at an old age. The most ideal immediate interactions seem to occur with obtaining animals around 6 months old (about half their life span). This is antecdotal observation only though and each octopus has its own personality and we don't know many factors that impact interaction. The tendency to be shy as hatchlings, however, seems to be an every case scenario. There are animals that never acclimate to humans and others of the same species that will come to be petted.
Extreme shyness is a complicated topic. We see this in very young octos (even tank raised) as, what appears to be, a natural defense. Unfortunately, we also see it in older animals nearing senescence but then it is usual only when they are introduced to the tank at an old age. The most ideal immediate interactions seem to occur with obtaining animals around 6 months old (about half their life span). This is antecdotal observation only though and each octopus has its own personality and we don't know many factors that impact interaction. The tendency to be shy as hatchlings, however, seems to be an every case scenario. There are animals that never acclimate to humans and others of the same species that will come to be petted.