So we got Carly a friend yesterday...we adopted Zoey. Unlike Carly, who I've had for over a month and wants absolutely nothing to do with me, Zoey seems to have bonded to me almost immediately. Ok maybe bonded is a strong word, but I definitely seem to be her security. I took her out to play in my room and I don't think she left me for more than 30 seconds at a time...jump off, explore something, jump right back on mom...I LOVED IT .

So here's the problem...she bites...hard...and it hurts! I know alot of people say you have to "take the bite" I keep reading that...but come on now, I just don't think that's realistic. I have NO pain tolerance and it's instinct to jerk away if something is biting you and I think my instinct is too strong to overcome lol. It's like when she bites me I panic and all I want to do is get her off me before she bites me again. She bit me twice, once on the neck and once on the wrist (I was wearing gloves or I'm sure my hands would have been torn up). She is 2 1/2 yrs old so it's not like this is the 'teen nipping phase'. Zoey acts as if she's been handled a lot, much more than Carly was because Carly acts scared to death and runs from everyone, but Carly has never bitten the way Zoey does. Carly has nipped me a couple times, but just barely, but Zoey is BITING me. I figured since she WANTS to be out and be with me, if I put her back in her cage immediately after she bites and tell her "no bite" maybe this will help...like a timeout. What do you guys think??? Anything else I can do? The bites are completely random...one minute she's playing, climbing on me then...CHOMP! I don't get it! Other than the biting I just love her...she's great...but I don't want to get to the point where I'm not wanting to handle her because I know it's going to cause me pain. Any suggestions (offered in a supportive and positive manner) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

When she bites, make a loud PSSST! noise. This is the sound gliders make to each other that means "stop it!" It takes some time, and unfortunately you'll have to put up with being bitten occasionally in the meanwhile. But it works. I don't know about the cage-time-out, that may work too. Especially if you reinforce it with saying to her "no bites" when you take her out again.

I had the same problem with my Madelyn when I first got her. Especially when I would go to touch her in her cage. OMG she would get me good. It took about a good 6-8 months of her bitting me to realize I was her mommy.
This is what I did and still do. I made sure I give her a small treat to start with and another one when I put her back in her cage. I talk to her all the time. I know that sounds crazy but I think she learned my voice and my smell and now when I call her name she starts sturring around in her pouch and comes out to see me.I always make sure not to move my hands really fast in her cage or any time to touch her. I did the psst thing to and that has really seemed to help with the three I adopted 9 months ago. I also put her in her pouch and then put her pouch inside my shirt on my chest and just lay around and watch tv. Then its just me and her. She feels safe in her pouch. For the first few days she didnt even come out or even peek out but after a few days she started to kinda do the peek a boo thing. When she would do that I would talk to her and then eventually she would come out and play and then when she was done she would go to sleep in the pouch. All in all the more time I spend with her the better she gets. I think most of all its just gonna take time. Dont give up they all have different personalities so you may have to try several different things to see which things she will respond to.
I hope this helps and good luck

Thanks for the tips. She bit me again tonight. I made the Pssst sound and boy she didnt like that at all. She immediately ran under her blanket and gave me the cold shoulder. I guess then we were both unhappylol...she was mad and my finger hurt!! I have made that noise at Carly before when she nipped and she could care less but Zoey hated it. These are the first two gliders I've ever owned and I'm shocked at how different they are. Their personalities are just night and day. I'm not sure if sugar gliders vary THAT much or if it's just coincidence that I ended up with polar opposites in just about every aspect. I still havent officially introduced them yet....that should be interesting lol.

I'm happy I have never had a biter *knocks on wood*. Gremlin and Bella has never biten me but they do nip. They have biten my mom but we found out is that you can't give them treats during play time. Only once when they wake up in the morning to get something to drink and once at night before I got to bed when they are put back into the cage. When you have her out do you feed her treats? If so she could be thinking "Oh I got treats from that tall tree like thing maybe if I look inside it I can find more". Also about the whole night and day thing. Gremlin and Bella are like night and day. lol. But when I put them together they where like long lost friends meeting up again. Now they have a baby coming lol we all can't wait for him/her to come.

My gliders really have never bit me... (knock on wood) but they do bite my dad...
Two of the glider think that my dad is the reason for there hardships... (one had his hands mashed (curtisoy of the idiot living with us, and my sister) and the other is missing most of his tail (curtisoy of the idiot living with us again...)
but I think she is trying to tell you something... is she leaving anything behind in the food bowl in the morning she very well be HUNGRY... or asking for somekind of a treat for being cute, though it may not be the most CUTE way of getting your attention, but that may be what she is trying to tell you...

I found this very helpful when I was looking for advice, I hope this helps you.




show details 10/8/09

Trust/Bonding/Holding/Biting/Training

Do you have a glider that you just can't seem to get near without it crabbing, fussing, and making all kinds of fuss? Do you have a glider that bites or nips? Are you finding that your glider doesn't want anything to do with you? Are you wanting to possibly pocket train your glider? This is the section that covers these areas. Lets start at the beginning.. The first thing we need to do is try to understand how the glider feels. It is a tiny scared little child, and when young children get scared they react adversely. They scream, cry, bite, kick, throw tantrums, run away and hide. Well, that sounds very similar to what a glider does. So what would we do with a child that is scared? Of course we would try to comfort it. Now what would we do if this child wasn't ours? Now lets say it had been abused, neglected, and really didn't know what love or trust was? We would TRY to teach it what love and trust was. Now the question is how? A bonding pic (click here)
TRUST

What I recommend for this, is a pouch ,a Ferret Couch Pouch or one of Betsycc's or Clara's , instead of a nest box, I have found they tend to be more protective over a nest box than a pouch, I also recommend, hanging it on the cage door, being careful the pouch doesn't get caught in the hinges. I recommend these, because they are big and roomy, they each can attach to the cage and be taken out quickly and easily.. Wear a cover shirt for a day and night (yes, sleep in it). lay it on top of the cage the next morning. This cover shirt will belong to your glider at this point. Don't wash it or clean it.
The first thing we would do is give it time. Time to get used to its new environment, scents, sounds, and new home. We would try to protect it from ANYTHING that may scare or frighten it. Since we don't know this glider, we have no idea as to what will startle it or make it feel uneasy in any way, shape or form. So we would go about this, by just having it associate you with only good things.
There are many things you could do to accomplish this, the more you do the better your chances are of building a trust. The one thing you need to always remember is that gliders are very fragile and have a very tender heart. They cannot be trained with any negative feedback. NEVER do anything to your glider, that may make it feel that it wasn't totally safe with you. Some methods that have been suggested, that I feel, would be detrimental to the bonding process is: hitting, popping, tapping the glider, placing it under running water, or confining it and wearing gloves (they can't get used to your scent if they can't smell it). These things only make the glider feel more and more defensive, and that is not what you are trying to accomplish. There are some very good suggestions and ideas that have been proven to work. We will go into total detail for these proven methods. Remember what we said.....Time. In some cases the trust starts building immediately, in other cases it may take a long time. It all depends on you, the gliders history, disposition, and personality. Consistency is very, very important.
If you can't approach the glider without it's crabbing and lunging, leave it in it's cage for the first 3 days, let it get used to it's new home, let it learn to trust it's new home. Talk to it often softly, give it a treat, every time you talk to it. This teaches it to associate your face and voice with good things (treats). If it crabs, let it. Stop what you are doing and wait for it to stop, but don't move. Just continue to talk to it. Don't show it you are afraid, remember you are trying to gain it's trust. I have found that the chicken with apples baby food, or something that is smooth and requires them to lick it is by far the best thing for this training. Dip your finger tip in it and offer it to them in their pouch, a lot, the more often the better. Meal worms, veggies, pieces of fruit. do this as often as possible for the first 3 days. Do NOT try to remove them from the cage or disturb them for any reason for these three days. As they are licking your finger pet them with your other fingers. You will be done with the basic trust process, when you can place your hand into their pouch and eventually just let them lay in your hand.

BONDING

Wear a cover shirt for a day and night (yes, sleep in it). lay it on top of the cage the next morning. This cover shirt will belong to your glider at this point. Don't wash it or clean it. After the initial waiting time, 3 days to a week, this training will start. The first chance you get, to spend time with your glider in the day or late afternoon, put on a pocketed shirt, put on the gliders cover shirt,, remove the pouch, glider and all, as gently as possible to avoid startling them or scaring them. Wear the cover outer shirt that buttons down, under that wear a pocket tee. Button the bottom 3 buttons and tuck them both in, place the pouch in between both shirts on the front of you and button another 2 buttons. This acts as a pouch to hold their pouch for you. Continue doing what you have done the days before, treats, talking softly and letting them see you. Start the first day at about a half hour, the whole time talking gently to it, humming to it, offering it treats, rubbing the outside of the pouch. If the glider does well continue to do it as long as possible, DON'T leave the house with the pouch and glider, till you know that glider is not going to move all day and till they feel safe with you. Each evening place the pouch back into the cage and lay the cover shirt on top of the cage again. Do this till you know the glider bonds. It is imperative that daytime, and early evening hours are spent with your glider as much as possible. I say this often DAY TIME is bonding time NIGHT TIME is play time. During this period, as few people as possible should come in contact with your glider till it feels totally safe with you. I suggest getting some pics and showing them instead of the glider, at least for awhile. This is the longest process. Once you have gotten to the point where if something scares them or startles them, they come running to you. You will enjoy you pet like you never thought possible. The more time you spend working with it, the better off you are. You NEED to dedicate at least an hour to 3 hours each day with your glider, not just playtime, during playtime, they won't be spending much time with you. .

HOLDING

ANYTIME that you need to handle the glider or catch it to put it back into it's cage, hold your hand flat palm down, place your fingers together, spread your thumb out, see the V it makes in your hand. Use your right hand for now. slide your hand from the right to the left slowly. When you need to catch your glider, do what I call an interception. get in front of it, place your hand lower than your glider is, slide it under its front feet. It will make the glider walk on your hand. Let your glider hold YOU. When it gets there be sure to give it a treat. The Key thing with this is DON'T try to hold the glider, let IT hold you. Many people have different interpretations of holding their glider. I have found that many of them actually mean they have their hands open and the glider is sitting in their hands. Very FEW gliders like to be confined. They are very independent. If they FEEL they are in control they will learn to trust you more. Providing you have given them ample enough time to get used to their pouch, when you need to get them back into the cage , you can take their pouch and hang it somewhere that they may feel safe. They will crawl into in then take the pouch and hang it in the cage.

BITING

Biting, nipping, tasting they are all the same thing. They may start just by you thinking they are tasting you, then it turns into a nip, some bite, some bite so hard to break the skin. The most important thing to remember here is that you are doing something, that they want you to stop. I am going to say something here and you are going to think I am totally nuts, and you may be right. You MUST take the bite. Under no circumstance pull away from it. The reason you must take it, is that if you pull away, then the glider has learned that you will stop what you are doing and the bite worked. So in actuality what you have taught it, is that if it bites you, you will stop what you are doing. So you MUST take the bite, but there are things that have worked for others and you will have to try the different things to find out what works best for you. Remember the Key thing here is persistence, patience, and consistency. Try each thing for about 3 days, if you find no improvement, move on to another method. What you first have to do, is make note of what you are doing, that caused it to bite you. If you can avoid those things, of course problem is solved, however there are times when you have to do something, like putting it in it's cage after playtime.
In that case, intercept it as explained in the holding section above. I would suggest putting a tiny bit of yogurt low fat or chicken with apples baby food,, honey, or whipped cream on your finger tips or where ever it is biting at. In fact, what I suggest is, using it as a training aid at the beginning during the time when you have them in the cage, every time you put your finger near it, have something on your finger tips. It may bite you once, but then it should start licking you. "Warning" This may cause your glider to be a very licky glider. Some people blow in their face to stop it. Most gliders hate direct air being blown on them. A very good friend of mine once suggested a horn (the bubble bike type) held down to your side every time the glider bit, blow the horn. The sound should get it's attention and make it think that every time it bites you, that it caused the horn to blow, therefore thinking your skin honks when bit. You can take a piece of cardboard and tie a string on it in the middle to put on your fingers, every time it started to bite place the cardboard between it and your skin. It makes it very hard to bite your skin if there is something flat that it can't bite into. Some people when they bite, place the glider back into the cage, to teach it that if it bites, they get no outside play time. The one problem, I have found with this, is that if they don't want to leave their cage, they will use the biting to be able to go back in. I have received many letters from people whose glider bites them terribly on their arms and hands, many times this is because of a smell the glider absolutely loathes, like.. other pets, soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, after shave, perfume, nail polish, hair spray, cologne, body oils. In most department stores they have unscented soaps and such for hunters, you may want to totally descent yourself and see if that is the cause, An improper diet also will cause this type of biting. Remember you MUST take the bite till you find something that works for you. Remember patience, perseverance, and consistency.
POCKET TRAINING

I suggest for one glider to NOT use a pouch or a nest box for awhile, instead wear a pocket tee each day and hang it IN the cage each night. If you have more than one leave the pouch or nest box in. Still hang the shirt. Be sure you replace it each night with the one you wore that day. This will serve several purposes :
1. It will get you glider used to your scent as it will be fresh each day.
2. The only thing for it to sleep in will be the pocket.
3. It will give it something to climb and play on.
4. It will get used to you putting your hands in the cage.
5. By the time you get through this, it will look at the pocket and your scent as a "safe zone".
After about a week or 2, maybe longer (you will know) you can try to take the shirt out in the morning and put it on, with the glider still in the pocket. Start off with just a short time each day.
Another method is to wear your gliders cover shirt button the bottom 3 buttons and tuck it into your pants, Scoop your glider gently from it's sleeping pouch, being careful not to get it too excited and pull out your pocket and just guide it in , Make a path with your hands so it has no other choice than to go into the pocket. It will come and go often in and out of the pouch, let it. Let it explore just the shirt and your pocket, If it curls up and goes to sleep within your shirt , just scoop it up gently and try again to redirect it to the pocket. Once it goes in and stays for long periods of time, you can then pin a "Crown Royal" bag or a thinner smaller pouch .. smaller than their sleeping pouch, like Betsycc's People Pouch or Clara's Fleece Sleeper inside the left side of the cover shirt. That is strictly a precautionary measure, in case they get startled, scared, or just plain restless, they will go into the pouch.

I always make the PSST noise or gently blow in their face.

So today Zoey bit my son and drew blood. I know it's really not funny but it was kinda hard not to laugh when my son came stomping into the living room, looking pissed off, and informed me "your rat bit me" in an angry tone . My son tends to be very dramatic and animated so maybe you just had to be there lol. Apparently he stuck his finger in the cage to try and pet her. This is not like an occasional bite...every time I get her out I KNOW she's going to bite...but it's also not like an aggressive mean bite either...although it is a hard bite. I have had her for several days now and she has never once even crabbed at me, she definitely wants my attention and seems most content in the bonding pouch close to me...so I don't understand why she keeps biting. I'm worried that maybe this is a habit that will never be broken. I got her from a breeder for a very cheap adoption fee (only $50) and I'm wondering now if that's why she was so cheap...because the lady was never able to break her of this habit. I've also noticed that it seems to be SKIN she likes to bite. At this point I'm wearing gloves every time I handle her...she doesn't bite the gloves...but if she can find a spot on me where skin is showing (my neck, maybe wrists, etc) that's where she's going to bite. I know what everyone will say...perfume, body wash, etc. etc...but it's not like she just bites me because I smell all good and fruity because I'm a woman lol...she also bites my son who uses different body wash, obviously different body spray, deodorant, everything. Apparently I just have a flesh eating sugar glider .

I know she's not hungry because she always has some food left over in the morning. I have been doing the Pssst sound which I think may be helping a little, but the more often I do it the less effect it's having. I think she's getting use to the noise so I don't know how long that will work. Thanks for the post "pipersfun". When the pssst noise stops working I may move on to the horn idea.

Candy blue, please try the PSSST sound, it really works. I adopted two five-year-old boys in November '08. They both hated to be handled in any way. The worst one, Washi, would draw blood every time my hand came anywhere close to him. After a couple of months he quit doing that. I can even pick him up now. He'll still occasionally nip, and he loves to nibble on me; but I very rarely get a real bite from him. Considering that I had five years of bad behavior to reverse, I think that he's really come far.

I'll keep trying the Pssst thing and keeping my fingers crossed. If I could just get her to stop biting she would be perfect...I love everything else about her!!

Have you tried washing your hands before handling her? The type of lotion, soap, shampoo you use may smell like lunch to her.

I had a biter. Rocky would bite so hard he drew blood. I kept doing the pssst sound and he eventually quit. Lillybelle never bit, but she does nip, kind of like "let's see how mom tastes today"

It takes time, I have had Docoda for almost a year now. He still like to try and bite, it isn't that hard anymore. I tried gloves in the begging thinking it might help. It is a bad, bad idea it slows down the bonding and they fear the gloves.

I am surprised no one has said so sooner, but as pipersfun mentioned, gloves are BAD. It hinders the suggie from bonding to you and drags the process out. I realize you don't want to get bit, but as has been mentioned and read, you MUST take the bite. And wearing gloves does not allow the suggie to get used to your scent or your hand.

I currently have a bitter as well. His name is Gizmo and I brought him home Monday. He is the exact opposite of what the lady said he would be like. He bites constantly and most of them are hard bites. Only one has been known to draw blood so far, and that was when he was being handled by my boyfriend. My boyfriend has the same problem that you mentioned you have. He tends to jerk or pull away if bitten, and there was even one time when he put him back immediately after being bitten hard. I told him that you are supposed to take the bite no matter how hard and whatever you do, don't pull away because you are letting the suggie know that "if I bite you, you'll leave me alone" and therefore, bites will occur more often.

I haven't heard of the "PSST" method, but I will definitely take it into account and try it.