I just had a question about my gliders and bonding. I got a pair of girl joeys about three months ago and in the beginning they were the usual crabby gals but they calmed down in less than a week. After about a full week I was handling them with no problem, they would climb on me and crabbing was gone really quickly to my surprise. I figured that was great because they were already relaxed and we could bond pretty quickly. Well its been three months now and I don't feel like much progress has been made. I have read the stories about people who go MONTHS with a crabby glider and it feels hopeless so I feel VERY fortunate with my pair but I also read stories and see videos of owners who have gliders who LOVE their owners. I don't feel like my gliders really even acknowledge my existence and sometimes don't even like me. I let them play all over my bed and sometimes my one girl, Sofia, goes under to investigate and she usually comes right out if I show her a straw. In the past it would be me encouraging her to play on the bed by letting her free but lately when I take her out to sleep on my lap while I work on the bed, she will go on overdrive to GET AWAY FROM ME. She runs right under the bed and refuses to fall for any trick and will not come out. She even barked at me for 5 straight minutes when I was trying to lure her out the last time and I moved the bed around so I could get to her but she wouldn't come out at all. Neither of them jump on me, notice if I make any sounds, want to sleep on me anymore, fly to me, care all that much if I have a treat unless I stick it in front of their face, groom me, stay on me while I walk, etc. The only thing they will do is if they hear a loud sound and they are on the floor, they run to me for protection. Is this some teenager thing? Are they just wanting to be independent or something because I really do feel like I'm the dad of a couple teens who could care less about me anymore and the only thing they want to do is get away from me even if I have treats. I treat them very kindly, let them explore in safe areas, feed them great healthy food, give them treats, built them a nice spacious home with an endless supply of toys, pet them and TRY to scratch them, TRY to massage them, the whole nine yards. Is this it? I can't tell you how jealous I am of the owners who have gliders who groom them, glide to them, act possessive of them, prefer to be on their owner as much as possible, prefer their owner to handle them to other people, let them scratch their bellys etc.. I could probably give them away tomorrow and they would be perfectly fine with it (NOT doing that just how I feel). Once again, I'm extremely fortunate to have a pair of Gliders who are healthy, not crabby, and a world of entertainment but I just feel like I'm not getting any love after all I have done for them lol. Anybody have any advice or have similar Glider issues?

I think it's just the gliders' personalities. You happen to have very independant gliders. I have thee gliders and the only one who will jump on me when I'm around in my boy, Chester. My girls couldn't really care less about me as long as I feed them. I've only had Athena a few weeks (and she was uber-crabby at first. She still crabs from time to time, but she takes treats from my finger and climbs on me sometimes), but I've had Dixie for almost as long as I've had Chester and she rarely even leaves her cage. She'll let me pet her, but she still tries to grab my thumb and bite it. When she does come out of her cage she really doesn't hang on me, she just scurries off and does her thing. It used to bother me, but I know I'm doing my best for them and that I'm taking good care of them and they're healthy. That's really all I can ask for. It sounds like you're doing a really good job and the fact they quit crabbing after a week is a testament to your care. Just don't get discouraged. It's not you, you have just free-thinking girls who would rather explore. That's a good thing too!

Lol thanks for the comfort dpatters. I love my girls and my long rant could be dwarfed by all the good things I could say about them but I just had to let it out. I do plan on bringing a boy into the mix someday so another Glider and a male personality may bring me some luck. Just wanted to get these girls first to make sure Glider ownership was for me and I can say for sure they have really enriched my life. They do have great personalities I just had that one complaint about them lol but I can live with it and hope for the best they either come around or my future boy, "Bruce Wayne" will take to me.