Hi! After getting my sugar glider a couple weeks ago and having a big discussion with the breeder to please take him back he finally gave me an ultimatum to go get him.. Towii is a lot better this time around. He eats a decent amount and jumps about, I saw him glide once a bit :) OH last night he was playing with one of his little chain toys and kept swinging on it and batting it around. He is soo adorable. and I'm starting to gradually change him into BML. The only problem we have so far is bonding. MAN does he crab. He occasionally lunges at me and bit me, but that's gotten a little better, maybe? If he hears me he crabs, if he sees me he crabs. If i grab his pouch of the cage it's like a war up in here. He is currently sitting in a pouch under my shirt doing little cute chattery sounds but if i move too much or if I make any noise he'll crab. I left him alone to get used of his surroundings the first couple days, but I'm not sure how to go about this now. If he is screaming and crabbing all the time even inside his pouch, should I be leaving him alone because he is scared or still trying to carry him around and bond? I don't to terrorize him, but I do realize that if I never take him out for bonding because I don't want to scare him he will never bond.. Sigh. What to do? Aaaaand sudden crabbing and lunging.

Also! I want to get him a little buddy soon but I haven't had much luck here in NM. The breeder I got him from only had him, and he did sort of a not so great job at keeping them. He said he had "only been handled once or twice" when I got him the first time at about 6 weeks. I returned him for a while and still it seems like conditions didn't change much. I'm located close to Albuquerque, but I would be willing to drive anywhere in NM to get him a little buddy. If any of you knows of someone I would really appreciate the info :) Thanks!

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I tried to UL a photo but I have no clue if it worked.. Uh here's a direct link :)

Well. I have two from the same background (never held and came to me young). One of them bonded with another glider here and that one has settled down a lot. But the other one is still single because introductions to other gliders have been failing, and that one hasn't really improved at all EXCEPT - I switched to open environment sleeping areas, like a grass nest at first, and that cut down on the crabbing considerably.

If he will take treats from you, he is doing better than my little problem critter. It seems with my others after I got them taking treats things kept getting better and better. The treats that turned the tables were fresh cherries - watermelon - and chicken breast.

Your glider may need some solid undisturbed sleep. If you are carrying him all day long, it is much like some one shaking your bed every 30 minutes ALL NIGHT.

His little world has been turned upside down - taken away from other gliders, moved to a whole new environment, with new smells, sounds etc.

Try leaving him in his cage for most of the day so he can sleep with out being disturbed. Take him out in the bonding pouch in the afternoon to carry him for a few hours and then arrange some play time with him out of the cage in the evenings in either a screen tent or a glider proof (check for holes and hazards) bathroom. That out of cage time will let him learn to explore you. Keep the lights off or very low (just a laptop screen may be enough light) and bring something to entertain your self. Let him just explore and offer treats when he comes near you.

soon the little guy will be coming to you begging for goodies, but that kind of trust take time and patience.

My first glider was from Pocket Pets and had the same background as yours. She was never handled either. She was very crabby too. I did as previous poster said. Let her sleep undisturbed until around 5pm the I would put her in the bonding pouch and just sit and do something quiet like watch TV. Rub the outside of the pouch softly while he sleeps. Also I would sit outside the cage and talk to her when she was playing.
Once I did this for a week or so I would unzip the pouch hold her in my left hand with the pouch between my hand and her, (she was sleeping, but woke up at this point) then softly pet her head. She did crab a lot at this but I just kept telling her it was ok and rubbed her. Eventually she woudl fall back to sleep while I did this.

It will take a while, but after doing this for about a month the crabbing cut down a lot. Took me a month to find another glider. But she bonded to me within a week of bringing her friend home. It was amazing what a change it made. She still crabs at me when I wake her. And as for her friend my second glider, well, we're still working on her lol!

Good luck

Yeah, I figured I should let him rest during the day because I'm sure I wouldn't be too happy if someone kept waking me up at night. He licked a little bit of yogurt off my finger maybe 2 nights ago. I'm sure he is just scared and needs some time, I just didn't know if I should back off when he is crabbing or just try to soothe him? After being out at night yesterday he did a lot better at not crabbing at me whenever he heard my voice. I guess it's a long way to go but we'll keep trying!

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Originally posted by okusandman

Well. I have two from the same background (never held and came to me young). One of them bonded with another glider here and that one has settled down a lot. But the other one is still single because introductions to other gliders have been failing, and that one hasn't really improved at all EXCEPT - I switched to open environment sleeping areas, like a grass nest at first, and that cut down on the crabbing considerably.

If he will take treats from you, he is doing better than my little problem critter. It seems with my others after I got them taking treats things kept getting better and better. The treats that turned the tables were fresh cherries - watermelon - and chicken breast.

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Open Environment Sleeping Areas? I tried to do a quick google and it just sent me to a couple links of people talking about them fixing issues with pouch protective gliders.. Could I maybe get an idea of how these are made or a Picture?

Sarahssuggieshop makes them. she is awesome. i cant link on cell. anyone?

not my design , just an example