Hi there,

I actually have more than one question... if anyone can please help me I'd be really grateful.

I just bought a sugar glider only yesterday. I love her very much, but I don't think the feeling is mutual.

She's 7 months old and had had already a previous owner for about 6 months.

The previous owner unfortunately left a hanging pouch in her cage, and that's where she loves to sleep. I heard that this can interfere with the bonding process. Should I take the pouch away?

Secondly because she's 7 months old and not a few weeks old, do I still give her a two day space to get used to her new home, or can I try carrying her in a walkabout from now?

Also there was an incident yesterday... My mom wanted to show her off at our local pet store to some friends (though I warned her again and again that this would be unwise) and tried to remove her from her pouch. Of course she freaked out and tried to make a run for it so I promptly grabbed her and held her firmly, though gently, to keep her safe. And she bit me, tearing off the skin on my thumb...

I understand she was very afraid and I'm not mad, but has this put a damper on our relationship, since it's started off at such a sour pace?

Lastly, I've asked a professional glider company for advice and they just now told me that to try and bond with an unbonded adult glider is difficult and that the end result will leave you with maybe a "friendly" glider, but it will never be the same (or as attached) if it was a baby... is this true?

Please help me, and I thank you so much for your time.

Have a great day.

First, welcome! I don't know what company you talked to, but I assume they sell baby gliders??? So of course they want people to think that "older" gliders don't bond as easily as a baby....because they want you to buy their babies!! This is COMPLETELY untrue...older gliders can bond as easy if not easier than babies. But it takes A LOT OF TIME. (no matter the age) :)

You just got the thing yesterday and she is soooo terrified right now. Yes you should definately give her a few days to adjust, and the incident at the pet store probably freaked her out even more. Leave her alone for a couple days (except to feed her) and maybe sit by her cage and talk to her gently.

DO NOT remove the pouch, please. That is where she feels safe and where she should sleep. It's important for them to have a pouch to sleep in.

Just give it some time and be patient. Read around on the threads here about some bonding techniques. Good luck with her, and I really hope you have plans to get her a buddy sometime in the near future.

Where to start...

She is probably completely petrified out of her mind right now. I would absolutely give her a few days to adjust at this point. Let her at least get used to the sounds and scents around your house. Then, I would slowly try giving her some treats by hand through the cage bars before you start any further interaction. She needs to learn she can trust you. For all she knows, every face she saw in the last 48 hours wants to eat her for dinner.

She needs a pouch. That is where they sleep. You can get a bonding pouch (also) and keep that in the cage temporarily so that she can sleep in it and you can also take it out and carry her around in it. (Indoors, at home)

It is a complete myth that you can't bond with adult gliders. I'm not mad at you, but it ticks me off completely that people say that. The people that say that tend to want to make money off selling their own joeys. Period. MANY, MANY of us have acquired adult gliders and they were/are the sweetest things ever. One of mine was over 3 years old when I got him and he was a love.

She is going to take extra time and patience after the traumatic beginnings she's had. I would also strongly advising getting her a cagemate as they are colony animals and should be at least in pairs. There is a proper introduction process for that as well when you are ready. In the meantime, Welcome! Please ask as many questions as you want!

Holy crap, Tisha...can you say "great minds..."? LOL

first off they sleep in pouches thats just what they do i dont know where you heard to take it away...but thats where they get away from light during the day it also keeps them warm they should also have a blanket and another glider friend...so as soon as possible get her a friend and there are rules to that also like 30 day quarantine and vet visit right away then when the 30 days is up another vet visit these visits should have fecal smear and fecal float....and its going to take more then one day to bond with her...i have had mine for 2 months and i cant touch her yet...so its just takes time and yes it is harder to bond with an adult but it can happen and sometimes very easily...and yes they bite there is nothing you can do to stop it....they are wild animals they will bite you scared her and wouldnt let go so she did all she knew how to do and she bit you....welcome and tanks for comming here for help there are lots of good people on here that will help you....also what are you feeding her?

ok so we all decided to reply at the same time lol

Well, we must know at least a little then, right? LOL

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Originally posted by kyro298

Holy crap, Tisha...can you say "great minds..."? LOL

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PS, at 7 months oop, she IS still a baby. They can live over 12 years in captivity with proper diet and care....so by no means is she even considered an 'older' glider yet. I have 2 males that are 2 years old and I still don't consider them 'old' considering how long they can live...

Oh wow, you were given some terrible information....

1) Please don't take her pouch, that's her bed and it's a lie that it does not affect bonding...

2)Give her a couple days to adjust, it's all new and scary to her.

3) Biting is normal... it is what any animal will do to defend themself...

4) PLEASE don't let your mother show her off like a toy, they are not and pulling them out in the day hurts there eyes (They are nocturnal) and if she keeps doing this it's likely you will end up losing your glider outside and she WILL die from either predators or the elements.

5)I adopted both my gliders as adults (2 yrs) and Tazz bonded immediately and Aussie is coming around after only a couple months. Which "Professional Glider Company" is this?

6) Since you have recieved such poor information, what diet do you have her on? If you are feeding pellets PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STOP! This can and WILL kill her.

7) She needs a friend or she will self mutilate and probably end up dead from depression.

Hey! Congrats on owning your first glider! They are amazing and wonderful animals and great great great pets. First and foremost it is always best to have at least 2 gliders, because having just one can cause it to become very lonely, etc. if you look it up you can get ALOT of info about it, which i highly suggest you do. Okay, now about ur scared suggie...When I first got my boys they were about 2 yrs old, and were tame, but just not with me. LOL. You didnt say whether or not ur glider was a tamed glider or not, but if it had a positive and good relationship with its previous owner, if it was happy when the owner held it, etc. then its a tamed glider. I dont know much about taming untamed gliders, since my boys were both already tame when I got them. I do know that if your glider has never been tamed, it can def. make things rough. As far as your little guy being afraid, dont worry about it, its normal. Yes you def. need to give ur glider some space in the beganing. I was so excited when I got mine home (they arent babies either, they are both 2yrs old) I didnt want to wait to play with them. My sit. might be a little different because they were both in the pouch when I got them, and I had a VERY long drive home with them around my neck in the pouch. Oddly enough both of them were 100% fine and dandy with me on the ride home. When I got home and set up the cage I let them play, and just watched them. Then the next morning I decided to take them out. I was only able to pry one away from the cage, and I had read online that you should put them in ur shirt pocket to bond with you, and you need to close the pocket somehow (i.e. safety pin, etc) I AM NOT SUGGESTING TO DO THIS i dont know if its the right thing to do or not, but I can tell you I got BIT THE HECK UP and my little guy was very unhappy. In fact he was alot better with me BEFORE i tried and did that. I was told to press firmly against the pocket to calm hiom down and eventually he will settle down and whatnot, well, thats not at all what happened. So after about and hr I put him back in the cage. About 4 days later, I was washing out their cage with the hose outside and had them in their pouch with me. Long story short the hose spun outta control and got the same glider from before (peanut) wet. Well that was pretty much it for a while. I really thought hed never like me, and hate me forever. I'm not going to lie and tell you he came around right away, and it was all honkey dorry. Peanut is shyer than my other boy (skittles) and that may have had something to do with it. But when skittles was letting me hold him and play, peanut was still biting me. Eventually after alot of time invested peanut came around to love me too, and hes just perfect. I've had my boys since July, and I'd say by september they were already completely comfortable with me. BUT I also live in an effiecency and so they can see me, hear me, and smell me 24/7, which I noticed MADE a huge difference from when I lived at my old house and their cage was just in the living room. LONG STORY short, give it time, give them time, and give urself time. DONT do the same thing I did and get so excited you couldnt wait to play with them, it will only make it harder for you in the end. Your little guy probally did get scared when ur mom went to get him out, but he will be okay, and will get over it. Just keep trying, and dont give up, in the end i promise you IT WILL BE WORTH ALL THE WORD YOU PUT IN IT. Good luck and I hope this long long long answer (lol) helps you.

Omg: Tisha, Kyro, Bob/Zoey, Essika, Skittles/Peanut
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!

Tisha/Kyro : Yes, it was a baby selling company that told me this information! And I was so sad that I couldn’t stop crying ! (Silly I know, but I really wanted her to love me). But I refused to completely believe it and joined at least 5 forums to find out the truth XP
This is all so new to me, I’ve never had a pet before and she’s my first sugar glider so I’m a total amateur.

Bob/Zoey: It was also the same company that told me to not have a pouch in the cage and instead put a piece of my clothing on her heating rock and let her sleep in that instead.

I can’t afford to get her a little buddy right now, but I’ll save up. (Every little bit counts :] )

Bob/Zoey/Essika: So far I’ve been following a set of instructions on how to feed her: ½ her bowl with glider food mix that the exotic food store gave me (and a little bit of crushed peanuts over that), an apple piece at night, and a small piece of broccoli, and every other day I put calcium powder on her apple piece. And every three days a small piece of bread.

I’ve only given her one mango sugary treat (that was because she deserves it since the pet store incident).

Oh, and of course tap water in her bottle (tap is ok, right?)
Skittles/Peanut: Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that! Yes, the long ride home was great cause she was mostly quiet and kept wanting me hold her pouch close and tight against my chest. I think she’s tame, because our first meeting she wasn’t all that bad with the previous owner around. All the owner told me was that they never had time for her and she’s always so lonely.

But I never leave the house except once a week/sometimes 2 weeks (not exaggerating), and I have a lot of free time since I’m always at home. So hopefully she won’t be as lonely.

Essika: I don’t know if I’m allowed to say their name (incase it’s considered slander or not) and I didn’t wanna cause trouble that’s why I left the name out, but if it’s ok on this forum I guess I can say it.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I feel a whole lot better now, and I’m not giving up on my glider, no way no how!

I can say it for you..Perfect Pocket Pets? It isn't slander to repeat information they tell you.

ok well i want you to research one of the recommended diets on this site....lots of use them and if you are feeding pellets it is bad there are also fruit smoothies and veggie relishes that you should also look into their diet needs a proper 2:1 calcium versus phosphorus ratio

Bingo.

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Originally posted by bobnzoey

ok well i want you to research one of the recommended diets on this site....lots of use them and if you are feeding pellets it is bad there are also fruit smoothies and veggie relishes that you should also look into their diet needs a proper 2:1 calcium versus phosphorus ratio

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What do the pellets do to her? Why are they hurting her??? :(

Sinny, their bodies aren't really made to process hard dry food like that. Pellets often cause an absessed tooth. It can cut their mouths and be hard to digest. Something crunchy is good on occasion for dental purposes but not too often. I give mine a couple pieces of honey nut cheerios about twice a month. So far so good! It's alright in 'moderation'.

Also want to mention, heat rocks are dangerous (they can get burned on them but the biggest danger is them chewing the chord!). Gliders regulate their own body temperature and should not need a heat source like that. A lot of mills sell the gliders when they are too young to fully regulate their temperature which is why they promote the heat rocks.

What state do you live in? Maybe you can look in local classifieds for a buddy! Craigslist.com is a great source as well.

I'm glad you're doing your research now and I hope you bond well with your baby! Just keep in mind, she could bond with you in one day or ONE YEAR!! It's all on her time. Just take baby steps.

Pellet thread:

http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24413

Get rid of the pellets. Get rid of the heating rock.
Keep that pouch in there.

Check the resources-->nutrition tab up top. Gliders need protein, fruits, and veggies NIGHTLY, but also you need to pay attention to the calcium:phosphorus ratio. It SHOULD be 2:1.

I suggest going with a veggie relish and a fruit smoothie recipe (or one of the blends; my girls actually get the blend recipes) and either the HPW or the BML. I also give me girls the BML.

And welcome!!!

Oh yeah. And I suggest purified water. I read somewhere that tap wasn't good for them because of the traces of metals, bacteria, and even medications in the water (thanks to people flushing or throwing meds down their sink drains). I have a purifier system attached to my sink that I use for myself and son and the gliders and my chinchilla. In short: NOBODY in my house gets tap... except the turtles.. XD

I've always used tap water..as does my family. If you are known to have "tainted" water, that's one thing. I've never heard you have to use purefied.

I recently watched a story on 20/20 about the water systems and that even the 'safe tap water' has all kinds of crap in it.

No matter where I go, the water tastes strange to me, too. Purified is yummy.


I'd really rather be safe than sorry.

Here is another thread on the "Mill Breeder Lies" links on YouTube. Sounds like you might want to see these...

http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?whichpage=0.833333333333333&TOPIC_ID=26027#211636

Megs06, turtles shouldn't be getting tap water either because of the chlorine that could possibly be in the water!!! I have a painted turtle and every time I change his water I put in a special fluid that somehow gets rid of the chlorine.. they drink the water they swim in so it's only fair to be careful with them too.. what type of turtles do you have??

I have red eared sliders. I've never heard of them having any sort of issues with tap, and never figured they would considering they're from cruddy water as is.
I've had them just about a year now. My brother has 2 red eared sliders and a Mississippi Mud and has had them for about a year as well, uses no tap, no issues. And my aunt has 2 red eared sliders, she's had hers about 10 months and she uses tap.. the two she has are now nesting some eggs.

Better safe than sorry?

At the zoo we always had to dechlorinate the water for the reptiles and amphibians, but not with our very large tortoises. I just know that was oour protocol. Sorry-didn't mean to go off topic, was just addressing the slider thing.

Sinny, I hope we can get pics of your baby!!