Hey there! So I've had my second glider, Hiccup, for a few months now. I got him as a buddy for my first glider. He's quite...stubborn...and mean. He's about a year old and we got him from a family who said they spent a lot of time with him and played with him a lot.

Since we got him, we've been doing everything we're supposed to. All the same stuff we did with my first glider, who bonded perfectly. Been patient, playing with him, spending hours every day with him trying to get him comfortable with us. He's on a good diet, big cage, the whole nine yards.

He's so antisocial. It's almost impossible to get him out of the cage. When we do, he freezes up and plays opossum. We've tried giving him treats, which he seems to have no interest in--not even mealworms. The worst part: he nips. A lot. It's very strange. He opens his mouth next to your finger or ear whatever and closes his teeth on it slowly. It doesn't hurt but it scares me every time. And he does it randomly.

I've read a lot about gliders who like to chew and grouchy ones who are just flat out mean. Nothing seems to help. I've tried the "psst!" thing and he only stopped once. It doesn't work anymore. He does it quickly enough that I can't distract him with anything else.

I really need some help here. We're not sure what to do and it's getting frustrating and we don't know what to do with him.
Please help!

You really haven't had him for very long, we have had our girls for a little over a year now, and they are bonded to us. But it also took about 6-9 months. At 6 months we were definitely seeing improvements in their attitudes toward us, but they still didn't want to spend much time.
Keep doing what you are doing, but we found its much easier to get them out if we take them out pouch and all before they are out playing. We can see sometimes a head poke out of the pouch, or straws start to move and we know they are awake.One of our girls will come out on our hands if we put a hand in the cage when she is out, but the other one usually won't. That's just their natures.

You said you do the whole nine yards but you didn't say what exactly. Do you put them in bonding pouches? Do you put a worn shirt on top of the cage and fleece blankets in his pouch? Do you offer him lickey treats?

We found all these things helped win our girls over. We didn't have the time like some people do to put them in bonding pouches and carry them around every day, so we did when we could and I gave them treats in their pouch every afternoon several months ago for a month or two so they would learn good things come from our hands.

Hope this helps and good luck with him.

Hello!
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I bet it was very traumatic for Hiccup to lose his first family because it sounds like they were great.
For my cranky glider I decided to stop forcing him to come out of the cage. If he wants to stay in the cage, he stays in the cage. *however, I do put him in a bonding pouch every day so he still bonded with me that way.* so now, for the most part, he stays in the cage when the others come out to play. Sometimes he's very clearly watching them. And, occasionally, he will come out to play too! But, that took a long time. Months. I definitely think he's happy now though.
How about trying just leaving your Hiccup in the cage, and spoil him while in there. Lots of treats. Lots of sweet talk. If/when he is ready, he will come to you.

Are the lights on when you'r trying to get him out of the cage? neither of mine are social unless the room is very very dark. If it's to bright they either freeze or go back in the pouch.

Did you get him neutered yet? Getting him neutered may help with his attitude as well. Being intact He will be posturing for the Dominant position of the colony (which includes you ).

If he was bonded to the other family it is like taking him away from a colony of gliders. When they bond with humans they are accepting the human as part of their colony. So he maybe a little depressed or missing his human colony, it will take some time to bond with you.

Because he has history with other humans he probably won't bond the same way your first one did. My female bonded rather quickly with me, but we had to do things differently when we got Simon. He just wasn't responding to the same methods that we used with my female.

Do you actually know the other family that had him before? They may not have spent as much time with him that they said they did. So he may need to "re learn" how to be social. Let Toothless teach Hiccup ( love the names btw lol ) Offer treats to Toothless first so Hiccup can see that Toothless trusts you and that your hands aren't threats. Then offer Hiccup a treat... they will learn from each other and follow the lead of the more confident glider.

My Leela has taught Simon to take treats and to forage for his own snacks in the cage. I use easter eggs for foraging treats, she taught him to pop them open to get to the snacks. I found it much easier to let Leela show him rather than me trying to force things.

Be patient and good luck !!

Thank you for all for answering so fast. To answer some questions:

No, I do not know the family well so they may have lied a little.
Yes, he was neutered when he was still a baby.
Yes, the room is always dark when I get him out.
Yes, I put him in a bonding pouch a lot. I always have a blanket for him. There is always a worn shirt on top of the cage. We give him very small treats on a regular basis.

He is just very stubborn. I will definitely try some of the suggestions you've given. Thank you so much. What can I do in the mean time to stop him from nipping at us. It's not aggressive, he just does it and it's frustrating.

Thanks again!

Ours nip/bite regularly. I wish I could tell you definitely what you could do to prevent it, but ours won't stop. I've been told its a "phase" that they go through when they are pretty young, testing the boundaries, but ours are 112 years and they bite.
What I do with her nose works best for me. It doesn't work on my husbands ears because they are behind his head doing it, and its hard to reach back there without poking them.So if he is in a position where you can put your finger on his nose, that should work, otherwise try "psst" or "ch-ch". Both sometimes work for my husband. Again, pulling his head out of her grasp works best for him because then she cannot bite.