I don't know what to do...!

[High_On_Sugar]

Right...

I have two beautiful sugar gliders: Sucrose and Glucose. I have had them since May 2006. Before taking the plunge I did thorough research 1. I needed to know and 2.I needed to persuade my parents. I had done my best to learn everything I could and eventually persuaded my parents. I gathered all the ingredients I needed for leadbeaters, mealworms, fruit & veg. I was buying them off a lady in Newcastle, sadly it was during school time so my mum volunteered to drive the 20 minutes, I gave her a list of questions to ask the lady before any swapping of the cash took place. Apparently she had to sell them because they were moving house.

I get home and peer into their cage, both are asleep and I leave them the 24 hours as advised. After waiting I go in and they immediatley start crabbing, gradually they have started crabbing less and less. They sleep in a bonding pouch as this is the only way to get them out. Every day I get them out in the afternoon and carry them around in the bonding pouch, and i put a little piece of flece in the pouch evryday, but they still arent warming up to me! I have tried applesauce, mealworms, honey. Now every night when i come in Glucose (who is braver) will stick her head out and take a mealworm from my fingers.

Tent time isnt much success either, they refuse to come out of their pouch and I dont want to force them.

I cant work out why they dont like me. When i got them they were four months old and were being fed hamster food the lady gave us the breeders number which turned out to be made up.

I really want to bond with them. Does anyone have any suggestions...?

[jungleflockmom]

Your experience with your young gliders is not an unusual one. Because these are not domestic animals, they can take quite some time to tame if they have not had a lot of handling. It is not unusual to let the gliders settle in for a week or two w/o coming out of the cage at all. Sometimes it takes quite a while before they will take mealworms from your fingers so it sounds like you are making exscellent progress.

It's not that these gliders do not like you. They don't know you. They don't dislike you, you are just unfamiliar to them. I think it's great that one is curious and friendly enough to take mealworms from your fingers.

You need to consistently change their pouch so that they sleep in a relatively clean pouch. The blankies/pieces of fleece you put in there need to have your scent on them so rub the fleece on your chest or back of your neck before putting it in w/the gliders. Make sure there is always something w/your scent on top of their cage - an old pillowcase is good for this. Sleep on it for a couple of nights and then put it on their cage top. The idea is to get them used to your scent and by doing so, get used to you being with them - part of their colony - and not a stranger.

Tent time needs to happen when they are waking up or already awake. They will be afraid to come out of their pouch because the tent is totally unfamiliar to them. You can wait to take them into a tent for a few weeks until they are used to you if you want. If you  want to do it sooner, you can get them to come out of the pouch if it's time for them to be awake by rolling down the sides of the pouch so that they are exposed and then holding them in your hand. If you do this while sitting in the tent and they just crawl on you, you are very lucky. If they bite, try to distract them with a cat toy like a feather tipped string that they can chase so that they don't bite you. And don't take any bites personally. They are not about you. And they don't mean the glider doesn't like you.

When you have them asleep in their pouch, put your hand in the pouch and cradle them in your hand while they sleep. If they crab when you put your hand in but don't bite hard, just keep your hand in there. Also get them used to being stroked and held from the outside of the pouch. Then begin rolling the pouch down and offering mealworms. Pet them if you can while they sleep. Mine particularly like to have their feet rubbed and after a few weeks began to put their feet up when I picked up their pouch.

Taming gliders is not a quick process, but it is a worthwhile project. Sometimes it takes a few months before they are comfortable crawling on you and happy landing on you while you are with them in their tent.

Don't give up and spend some of their sleeping time petting them in the pouch or just holding them inside the pouch. They have to get used to you and it will take time. Roll the pouch down so that they are exposed and then you can more easily work with them. In 3 months, with consistent work, you will have gliders that are much tamer. Good luck!

[Marie]

Unfortunately this is a problem we see alot of, breeders don't handle their joeys so they just assume all hands are nasty - after all hands took them away from their parents and everything familiar.  It's also a problem because the vast majority of suggie realted websites tell stories of how wonderful, sweet and cuddly they are, they neglect to tell about how 'scary' they can be when they crab and lunge!

I've had a number of 'wild' gliders and I found that just leaving them be works really well.  I feed and talk to them and when they start coming over to see you start offering them treats, let them come you, it will take time but it's worth taking that time so that they trust you in their own time, and enjoy spending time with you. (lol - how many times can you say 'time' in one sentence!!' 

It's worth bearing in mind that suggies don't have the capacity to hate, they're animals and lucky for them they don't have those kind of emotions.  Put yourself in their shoes, you're HUUUUGE compared to them, they are very vulnerable to you which is why they make such a noise, it's to make them sound big to scare away nasty predators.  They don't know you just want to be friends, let their curious nature lead the way. 

[Alfalfa]

Unfortunatly not all Sugar Gliders become super friendly cuddly pets like you read. They are still a wild animal and often hold onto those wild traits. Even with an extreme amount of work I believe that not all sugar Gliders end up as tame as many glider owners want. You read the stories on the very tame gliders but equally you can read the stories of the glides that never tame. When people select these pets they need to face the posaability that their pets may not end up as tame as they would like and if so will they be happy with that. This is a real possabilty. Personally i just love to watch my gliders playing and interacting with each other. If perchance they include me in their games I feel priveliged but do not expect it.

[jungleflockmom]

Alfalfa, I wish more pet owners could have realistic expectations for their gliders! My first two males are very tame, but I would not call them cuddly ever. Calm kittens and puppies are cuddly. Sometimes I think it's semantics - we all have different ideas as to what "cuddly" truly means. But I would never call mine "cuddly".

I do think male joeys neutered at about 4-6 months are engaging, curious pets, but mine don't particularly want me to stick my big face in their little face and kiss em. When they are sleeping in my cami and one puts a little foot out and lays his head on my skin instead of on fabric, I think it's sweet, but it's really because he's hot in the cami w/both other gliders so he comes out a bit to be cooler. It has very little to do w/me.

I think it would be other than the norm for such an active little animal to be "cuddly". In fact, I think I would worry that mine might be sick if they sought out cuddling when they were awake.

[Marie]

Lol Dee, now you know, if he sticks his foot out to touch you it's not because he's hot, it's because we wubs you!!!   

[jungleflockmom]

Oh, yeah. . . I forgot. It's true love for sure.

[High_On_Sugar]

Thanks for the info! It's been about 2 weeks now I haven't really made any progress. I am continuing with the fleece and stroking of the pouch but I don't seem to be getting anywhere..

This is going to take a lot of time and patience! 

[jungleflockmom]

Yes! If you really want cuddly you'll need to get a kitten. lol

[sash]

hi high on sugar

im in nortumberland not to far away from newcastle if u need any help u could aways give me a shout.