Hey everyone! Just out of curiosity...how much did doing tent time help with bonding? I just bought a tent and plan on using it within the next week or so, my gliders are more comfortable with me (I brought them home last week)...they will lick treats off my fingers and approach me, however they won't let me touch them. How much did incorporating tent time help in that regard? I'm not rushing anything, I'll take as long as they need, I'm just curious as to how beneficial tent time was in the bonding process for everyone:) how big of a difference did it make in your gliders?

For me I would say it has been very helpful. The first couple times my glider, Minnie was very nervous and stayed in on spot mostly. Then I got a tip to rub her scent on the tent. I used her fleece from her cage and the next time she was in the tent she was all over the place! She repeatedly jumped from the tent to me. The 4th time in the tent I got a face hug twice! It has definitely helped build trust as she had gotten out of her cage recently and instead of running away from me she hopped on my arm and I was able to carry her back to her cage rather than try to lure her back with treats. hope this helps, good luck

When I got the tent I didn't know what I was doing, so when I set Tveit in it he was petrified, I had no toys in it, and it was during his sleep time! So he just found a sleeve or pocket and jumped in it... So it didn't work well for me. But if you do it right, I think it's an amazing way to let them out and play with you without running away

Thank you guys! I'm excited to see how they act! Hopefully it helps them trust me more :)

gives them a chance to get on you and explore you on their own, without being forced. it takes a few trips or more depending on how scared your gliders are of you. But I think its very important for your glider to get to know and trust you.
we have one female that is scared of us, but tent time she follows the other gliders and gets all over us.
gliders are exploring animals in the wild, so giving them a place to roam and run and jump is also very healthy for them. I read that a cage should be the gliders sleeping home NOT their prison. the more you can let them out in a SAFE area to go the better.

I started out using my bathroom, but have used a tent as well after I got one when I homed Ollie. It's the same pretty much. I found that it improved my relationship with my gliders and still find that out of cage play still improves our relationship. I unfortunately due to many changes in the past few years do not have a convenient way to set up bathroom or tent for out of cage play. I do try as often as possible to spend some out of cage time just outside their cage. But we all miss those days with all the exploring, running, climbing, jumping, and gliding done in the bathroom.

Thanks guys! I'm going to start tent time when I get a new tent, I've been eyeballing the Gengi. I'm excited:) I hope they will trust me more and want to come to me once I incorporate tent time!

I just got a Sansbug 1 person tent and I love it. I put it on my bed and we hang out in it for 1-2 hours at night. I've had the girls for a week and I've noticed an improvement already. Instead of staying at the back of the cage when I approach, they'll come to the front. They still crab like crazy when I move them to their bonding pouch but it doesn't last long. Also, I do tent time about an hour before their normal wake up time. I move their pouch to the tent and gently guide them out. They wake up pretty fast. Tonight I stayed in the tent abut too long because one didn't want to go back in her pouch.