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 Help! My old rescue sugar glider has been getting more aggressive!!

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Tifinchi Posted - Nov 17 2016 : 09:44:36 AM
What do I do?
Marvel, whom I got about 3 yrs ago used to sit on my shoulder and I would hold and pet him occasionally. I could always pet him while he was eating and pick him up.

He is a rescue with a hurt foot and tail so he doesn't like to be OVERLY social. He would hang out for a few, but then he'd be done.

I've kept him in a large bird cage most of the time and it's never been an issue because he really didn't want held too much.

He was fine for the first year. Only biting by accident when missing with treats. A real sweetheart.

Then he would occasionally nip(hard) one time.

Now he has started attacking like a snake. I thought maybe he was confused because we always use hands to feed. So I started trying to train him that fingers are not food by using tools for food and fingers for petting. But I kept getting bit...very hard.

I thought maybe he was angry about his diet lately, so I gave him some additional protein.

A couple months ago he used his excersize will religiously every nite. Now he won't use it at all.

So yesterday I started trying to pick him up with some fabric gloves (so he could still smell me through them). He bit me like a cobra! He bit me at least 10 times!! And not one was gentle. He would bite and look for a reaction from me, so even when he did get through the gloves I would pretend it didn't hurt.

I don't know what to do. He's definitely not happy though, and I don't know why.

Your help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Tifinchi
8   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
jdching Posted - Nov 19 2016 : 12:54:58 PM
You really should have him on a well researched and balanced sugar glider diet. Check out the Gliderpedia. Pellets are not a natural food they would find in the wild. They mostly eat sap from gum trees, and don't need a lot of protein.
He will feel better and be healthier on a balanced diet!

I use a glove of sorts when I handle my gliders,also. It saves me from scratches. I stitched up a 'mitten' out of fleece, it is actually a spare pouch but I use it like a mitten.
Tifinchi Posted - Nov 19 2016 : 12:42:57 PM
quote:
Originally posted by jdching

Gliders will eat most anything, but salami sounds like avery unhealthy treat. Read the ingredients!

But last night he started using his wheel again!!! He didn't hollar like before either. I didn't give him a whole package of it. Just one slice a day of the kind that are the size of a summer sausage.
I use baby food and pellets to feed him regularly... and give fresh stuff pretty regular, but I don't think he was getting enough protein. It seems to have helped him alot.
jdching Posted - Nov 19 2016 : 08:49:21 AM
Gliders will eat most anything, but salami sounds like avery unhealthy treat. Read the ingredients!
Tifinchi Posted - Nov 18 2016 : 09:50:51 AM
Also...I know you aren't supposed to use gloves with sugar gliders...but I think he prefers it. I tend to get alot of cuts on my hands, and smells. I always wash my hands before holding him, but I think my jacket sets him off too. He can still smell me through the fabric on the gloves tho. I just can't figure out his behavior. He's never acted quite like this before... Like I said, the salami cheered him up a little, but he doesn't seem sick. He seems...well..pissed. Kinda like my grandpa was toward the end there. Didn't really care who came to see him.
Tifinchi Posted - Nov 18 2016 : 09:46:15 AM
So when I got him from the pet store a few years ago, the guy at the counter said he wasn't a young glider....that's why he was in with the females....not much of a risk. Hurt foot and tail...I gave him a few pieces of Salami and he seems to have cheered some. He he didn't bite the gloves when I picked him up, but he peed all over them. He also got in the wheel but didn't really use it. Last night at 5am he woke me up with his head sticking out of the hidy hole barking....but he didn't look at me till a little bit later....almost like he was asleep barking with his eyes open. He has that bald spot on his head most males do, but its starting to look shiny and almost a little lumpy...and there's another spot of hair missing next to it. Like he's loosing more hair. Has anyone here had the experience of having an older male sugarglider? Is it possible he's starting to kick the bucket? I haven't taken him to the vet, but being that he ate the salami (and cracker) and drank water...I kinda figured he was "ok" but grumpy.
jdching Posted - Nov 17 2016 : 06:43:15 PM
I agree. Take him to a vet to find out if he is sick or hurting.
BYK_Chainsaw Posted - Nov 17 2016 : 03:08:53 PM
My first thought is to take him to a vet and have him checked for any illness.
second thought is what diet is he on.
that is about all I can think of.
Tifinchi Posted - Nov 17 2016 : 10:08:18 AM
I should specify...I didn't pick him up WHILE he was eating....I pet him while he was eating.


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