I just got 2 cute sugar gliders not long ago. We have one who eats a lot and one cries all the time ( we think it has trauma). The one who eats a lot poops a lot and the other too. Is there any way to potty train these sugar gliders ?

There is no way to potty train ANY sugar gliders. They go when/where they want. If they are going on you, get used to it. They poop when they are stressed or scared, and they poop when everything is going great. It just goes with owning gliders.

Oh!! So um.....er...... Any ways to get rid of trauma?

The potty training myth has been perpetuated by the illustrious ASGV organization. They don't say that you can potty train them but that you can hold them over a paper towel or newspaper or something you don't mind getting pee and poop on when you first take them out. They will (supposedly) evacuate their bowels and bladder of most contents making it less likely that you will get showered on when they run around on you. Their is some truth there but they still pee and poop all over as they are running and playing. Short answer, "not really".

What kind of trauma are you talking about??? Mental trauma....stress, etc? Or physical trauma...injury?

The guy's having a stress trauma.

By crying, do you mean crabbing? Is the glider making a noise that sounds something like a duck crossed with an electric pencil sharpener? (Best way I can describe it). If so, that's called crabbing. Unless you have a real reason to believe that the glider is in some way injured, or has recently experienced some emotional trauma, then there is a good chance they are just crabbing because they don't really know you. Even if their friend is fine with you, that doesn't mean they are ready to accept you. Try backing off a little. Sleep with some fleece scraps, or wear some inside your clothes, then put them in their sleeping pouch. This will help them get used to your scent. Try sitting with them in the dark at night in a small, glider-proofed space. This will allow them to run around and explore, but also get to know you in a relaxed, organic way. Many people, including myself, like to use small tents to do this in. A bathroom will also work well. Treats are great ways to buy their affections (yogurt and meal worms are favorites here). Patience is really key with these guys.

And as others have said, you definitely can't potty train them. Once they start to really like you, they'll start saving up their pee for you, so they can mark you as their own.

"Once they start to really like you, they'll start saving up their pee for you, so they can mark you as their own."


lol, it's true

I have managed to potty train mine for daytime bonding. Although I don't believe all that is said, they are very smart. One will poke his head opt of my husbands shirt when he has to go. The same one used to go back to his cage to use the bathroom until I added two girls, which I'm still working on bonding him with. We potty all 4 of our gliders before they come out of the cage and rarely potty on us. But this is during the day or early evening. After they are fully awake, they will still go anywhere. So I guess it's limited potty training. But they are smart little guys

I like the duck mixed with the electric pencil sharpener description of crabbing, but I always describe it as the sound that wine makes when it is sent through an aerator. It is glider crabbing to a T!

despite not being able to be "potty trained", they do still naturally tend to not go IN their sleeping spot... and they almost always go first thing when they wake up. you can reduce the frequency with which you get used as a toilet by waking them up and then letting them run around the cage for a few minutes and potty before taking them out, by putting them on a paper towel until they go when you take them out of the bonding pouch and/or (if they're bonded enough to tolerate it), stimulating their cloaca a little with a tissue when you first get them out so that they go potty on it. even if you get them to go for you when you first get them out, though, they'll inevitably have to go again if you have them out long enough.

being used as a toilet and not going anywhere without a purse pack of kleenex is part of owning gliders - you've just gotta adjust to it.

one other really handy trick is to have kleenex within reach and keep an eye out for "pee bootie". whenever one of my gliders is about to pee or poop, they kinda squat a little... giving you time to snag them and get a kleenex under their bootie (or at least get them off your clothing) if you're attentive enough. I have four gliders and every single one of them has a "tell" when they're about to use me as a toilet.