Hello,

I have had Dobby just under 4 weeks now and have some new questions on bonding. Right now we are at the point that when I put my hand in the cage he no longer crabs or hides. He comes right to me and licks me and treats my hand and arm like a tree branch. Because of this I have so many scratches on me and look like I got in a fight with a devil kitten and lost. Any easy way to trim the nails during this early stage? Also, he has gotten more brave and has started walking out of the cage onto my chest. Is it typical for them to stray or try to jump off of a person? I have two cats that I lock up when I am petting him but he is fast and I would hate for him to get away and a cat get him.

Another thing, I have heard that taking your glider into the bathroom for a play space is okay to do. What all should I watch for in the bathroom? Wouldn't it be boring for him? I have had him in there once and he climbed the shelf behind the toilet but that was all I let him do before I got scared for him. Also, he is super cute but what do you do with your glider? Aside from letting him claw me and do what I imagine is try to get nectar from me, what activities do you do with a glider?

Any advice would be awesome!

It sounds like you are making great progress bonding with Dobby! As for the scratches, I always try to wear long sleeves, that helps some.

For bathroom time, make sure the toilet lid is down, and know that if he sees a hole anywhere, he might crawl into it. Make sure there are no exposed outlets, and no soap or cosmetic spills that he could walk through. Anything they get on their feet they will lick off and you don't want him ingesting soap. To keep them from escaping under the door I use a swimming pool noodle cut in half lengthwise, or you could use a towel.

They do like to explore, and jump from the towel rack to the shower curtain, etc. If you could make bridges with braided fleece he might like that.

I know there are a lot of hard surfaces in bathrooms, but it doesn't seem to bother them if they land on the floor or in the tub. I guess in the wild they are used to slamming into trees when they glide!

They will tend to wander if they're curious, but once bonded to you they should come back. The risk is always there that they don't come back, so the area you let them out into should be glider-proof. The previous answer covers what to look for in the bathroom pretty well. As for what you can let them do/how to play with them, my boy LOVES to chase things... sort of like a cat. You can get one of the cat toys with the stick to hold and string or something attached for them to attack. Feather toys are okay (they hunt birds in the wild), but watch him to make sure he doesn't ingest anything. If you have any old baby toys, they love those too. Anything with tunnels or climbable objects on it. Hanging towels or setting up bridges with material he can climb on in the bathroom would be good, just make sure they're secure and won't fall if he jumps on them.
As for trimming the nails, I like to put Tveit in his bonding bag until he's asleep and then take one paw out at a time to clip. He gets irritated and pulls away, but falls asleep really fast so I can continue. Other people just give them a mealworm and that distracts them enough to clip nails.
**SIDE NOTE: if you use cat toys of any kind, make sure there's no cat nip in it. Catnip is toxic to sugar gliders.
www.chewy.com/kong-swizzle-bird-cat-teaser/dp/40024?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=KONG&utm_term=&gclid=CODgjtOhuNECFY5WDQod0WoJVA&gclsrc=aw.ds
The cat toy I was trying to explain is something like that link. Again, just be sure no catnip and they don't ingest anything.

Thank you two for your help. I did have him out in the bathroom this morning and he loved the towel hanging on the rack. I will say he did poop 4 times in the first 5 minutes of being in there. I hope this is something that isn't too normal.

I am super excited to try new things!

Pooping is normal.They mostly do it when they first wake up and when they first come out of the cage, so if you give them time to pee and poo first you might not have to deal with it as much later. It is always a good idea to be prepared with a tissue or paper towel. You will get used to it.

If he lets you hold him in one hand you can actually wipe his bottom with a paper towel or something and stimulate them to go the way their parents did when they were just born. They'll pee and poop immediately if they have to go. Then you let them run from hand to hand for like a minute and do it again.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqYunoirWRA

This guy will show you what I mean.

I can totally relate to the pooping issue. One time I took my glider out and he pooped 11 times! I kept thinking he was done, lol. Anyway, one of my gliders favorite games in the bathroom is crawling up the shower curtain. Once she gets to the top she glides over to me. She does this over and over again and we both seem to enjoy it. Also, I roll small balls to her on the floor which she likes to chase.