Hey everyone!

I think I've been making significant progress bonding with my sugar glider, Sky, over the past month since we've gotten her. I've been taking her out for tent time every other day at around the same time (that's as routine as my schedule will allow) and carrying her in her bonding pouch on the off days.

When I take her out for tent time, sometimes she's playful. She'll run around, jump to me, jump off of me, and climb the walls of the tent. It's really fun.

Other times, however, she's bashful. Basically I spend the whole time preventing her from scurrying up my pant legs. Even if I tuck in all my clothes, she'll just burrow between my legs and stay there.

I'm not sure if this means she's just not in the mood for running around (which I guess is fine), or if she feels uncomfortable or scared. It seems like she likes me, since she won't leave me in such instances. The other possibility is that she's spooked and simply looking for the safest place to hide.

So, my question is whether this is normal and what I can possibly due to prevent the bashful behavior and make Sky feel more comfortable.

Thanks in advance!

If she's fine with tent time and not afraid of anything, then chances are she's just not in the mood that day. Make sure there are no new smells, and even nothing moved around inside the tent because the changes may cause her to be afraid.

It does sound to me like she's just not ready to come out and play sometimes.

Since everything, to my knowledge, remains the same every time, perhaps you're right in saying that she just doesn't feel like playing.

It's a bit frustrating, though. I don't take her out everyday, so when I do I want her to get the exercise she otherwise can't get in her cage.

Also, I don't like when she tries to burrow between my legs or crawl up my clothes because I could accidentally hurt her with the slightest move!

I have one little boy glider who basically just uses me for a pouch during playtime. He loves to climb inside my shirt and up and down my sleeves and then go to sleep. That's what he does most of the time. I figure if that's what he wants to do, then I'm happy to be his pouch! Lol. Sometimes he bounces around and plays, and that's fun, too. Whatever he wants. That's why we all joke about being glider slaves, right?

Congratulations on your new little one! It's great that you're already having tent time together! I'm working on bonding and playtime with my glider as well and she's not always in the mood. However, one thing she can't get enough of is her exercise wheel. I get exhausted just watching her, lol. So if you don't have one already I would highly recommend it.

Thanks for the suggestion! Actually, we already got a wheel. She seems to like it. The only bad part is the fact that she uses it to hide in when I take her out of her pouch, and pees and poops in it.

Mine does that too. There are certain wheels that are mesh so the pee and poop falls through.

The schedule you have is fine, sometimes gliders will want to play at that time, sometimes maybe not. It's really okay unless you notice this is behavior is all the time.