Hello, i need help, im going to be bringing home two untamed 2yr old female gliders, both from the same local owner, she never held these gliders so understand it may be harder to bond with both gliders, they dont have names as well, anyone with experience who can relate? How long does it take, or do they ever bond? How do they interact with you ? Thanks in advance, all help is appreciated. If its any help i dont own any gliders at the moment, my last glider passed away 4 years ago, quite long ago.. Everything is new i dont own anything from my previous glider, cage, cage sets, wheels, food everythings just been purchased few days ago.

No guarentee they will bond and it may take awhile as they sound neglected a bit. It'll take alot of patience. It could also be quick bUT don't get your hopes up and keep calm. They are all pretty different. Helpful hints may be tent time where you let them come to you. Add your scent to fleese and put it in cage every night. Lots of hand feeding treats. I use live mealies yoggies corn marshmallow whatever they really like you'll get to know that in time. Avoid startling them too much.

Before you bring your girls home, take all of their clean, fleece pieces and either keep them in your laundry hamper or take the sheets off your bed that you've slept on and roll all the fleece items up and leave for at least overnight, if you want to leave 2-3 nights, might be better. The extra fleece items can be cut into small square "blankies" and place in sealed plastic bag.

When you bring your girls home, let them acclimate, surrounded by the scent marked on their cage gear. You can sit in the room and talk softly, move slowly around the cage, especially as you approach to place in or remove food dishes.

After 2 days, begin offering treats, first through the cage bars and take notice of their reaction. If they do not approach the treat, reach into the cage towards them slowly, while talking to them.

Once you have them receiving treats from your hand, you can begin daytime (when their sleeping) bonding technique I like to refer to as "pouch time". Slowly remove the pouch that they're sleeping in, again very slow and gentle. Hold top folded over closed, you can speak softly to them the entire time, but if they're sleeping try not waking them (mine were light sleepers). Take the pouch to a sugar-proofed bathroom or other safe area and just sit holding the pouch on your lap, gently rubbing the pouch from the outside. Have treats handy, if they pop their heads out (you can unfold the top of the pouch as soon as you are settled in secure area) you can offer a treat. Over time of doing this, which could be a period of several days to every days for a week or up to however many weeks it takes, with progressions. You can take these progressions slowly, testing their pace with your comfort level.

PROGRESSIONS:
1. Pet their heads, and eventually other areas you can reach when they are eating your treats.
2. Length of time can vary depending on your schedule and how your girls are doing can be increased to longer periods. Starting from 10-15 minutes up to 30 minutes.
3. Begin placing your hand in their pouch, slowly and gently begin to pet/touch them while inside the pouch. If they aren't comfortable with this, stop, wait and maybe try again another time.
4. If you can begin to scoop your hand under them, do so, but don't remove them from pouch right away.
5. Transfer to a bonding pouch, carry around with your for several hours. If you like, once you have increased pouch time-try transferring them to bonding pouch for longer time with you. I don't recommend starting more than a few hours, once or twice a day.

Tent time or glider-proofed bathroom or other secured, small space for playtime can begin anytime after they will receive treats from you and allow you to pet them when their heads are popped out of their sleeping pouch. This is what I refer to as "out of cage playtime". This is done evening, late night, or early morning when they are awake.

Patience, persistence, lots of love and treats, are keys to relationship building. They will at their own pace, to their own degree they're capable form some sort of relationship with you. You will have to settle for what they're capable of and just keep doing your best to apply the keys to building that trust.

Thank you guys i really appreciate all of the info i still have hopes up i am really looking forward to bonding to my gliders i understand it will take sometime.

Great advice from 'NyxandBenny' and 'TJones09'! . Bonding with older gliders is more difficult, but absolutely possible. Sadly, it sounds like these two have been neglected so it will take time for you to gain their trust. But with love and patience, you can form a relationship with them. While my two gliders were babies when I brought them home, I can relate to the challenges of bonding. It took awhile and there were times I thought they hated me. But eventually they came around (baby steps) and the time and effort you put into it is so totally worth it. They have each other and using the techniques mentioned above, I believe your babies will make progress and learn to trust you more. This forum is a great place to come for helpful hints and advice. Wishing you the best and congratulations on your coming additions!

I disagree, bonding with older gliders is not any more difficult than bonding with some joeys. In fact sometimes it's easier.

I've gotten gliders anywhere from new born ( born in my house ) to a 4 yr old freshly neutered male, with many ages in between. Age really has little to do with it at least in my experience.

I'll focus on Nicky and Amy for a min since they are closest to the OPs situation. These girls were surrenders from a woman who only got them to be cage mates for the male that she loved and was bonded to. The male died, and she no longer wanted the girls.

They didn't have names, were about 2 yrs old, lived in an aviary type cage made of unsafe materials outside in the Sarasota Fla temps for at least a year, where she just threw some steak and canned mealies in for them to eat. They were never "bonded" to the owner, never used bonding bags, no tent time, no interacting with humans really other than to receive food and water.

They arrived in a very tiny bird cage, a ferret cube with threads all over it and with one raunchy wodent wheel that went directly in the dumpster and a box of canned mealies and pellets that also got tossed in the dumpster.

I was only suppose to be fostering these girls for our local rescue until they had room for them that notion lasted a whole day, till we picked them up. Once we picked them up we knew they just found their forever home.

These girls took some time and effort and understanding on my part and theirs. They did great in bonding bags for never having had used them before. They adjusted quickly to living inside with AC and new foods. Nicky was a biter for the longest time but has gradually gotten better and I have learned how she needs to be handled so I don't get bit.

On the flip side of the coin, I had a 10 week oop joey that had huge issues being in bonding bags, crabbed all the time at every little thing... the joey was handled all the time by the breeder and was sweet as could be...for her. The girls were never handled and did great.

Every glider is different and how they react to things is unique to THAT glider, not their age and not even their history.

So to answer your questions...

yes I can relate

it took me about 6 months to see significant progress with the girls and to this day continue to see progress and new mile stones in our relationship.

do they ever "bond" yes, I believe a glider can bond no matter what their history was and how old they are when you get them. There is no time limit on friendships and that is all "bonding" really means.

They interact with me like my other 7 gliders do lol, They climb on me pee n poo on me take treats from us, rub on me to mark me and they groom me.

How they interact with other gliders, they are two of the most accepting gliders I have. They have been introduced to hmm lets see 6 other gliders in my home, been in a couple different combinations and recently just accepted a 13 week oop joey into their clan. Nicky despite her size and joy of biting humans lol is a very accepting, nurturing, doting Mother figure in her colony.



What I've learned is this...

1 don't focus on the gliders past. They are no longer neglected, no longer ignored, no longer in need of your sympathy.

When they came through my door, they came home, period, they are now my babies and always will be so their future is looking pretty damn good.

2 If the gliders have a negative reaction to something ( ANYTHING ) Then do that thing differently, until you get a positive reaction. Figure out what works for THAT glider. Like Nicky I can't just pick her up like I can my others, I have to place my hands in a specific way to pick her up. I have to approach her differently OR just allow her to approach me ( which is what she prefers )

3 Don't put any time limits on "bonding" and don't have expectations, negative or positive. Things will develop at the gliders pace. If it takes a week or over a year, it takes as long as it takes and never really stops.

4 Accept them as they are, love them for who they are. Get to know them as individuals, likes and dislikes, what the gliders "normal" looks like so you can recognize something not the gliders normal.

5 if you take measures to improve their quality of life, they will recognize that. It might take some time, and they maybe confused at first and seem to not want to be noticed or have your attention so focused on them, but they will begin to thrive and realize they are now in a loving, accepting home.

Patience and confidence is a must.

Good luck with your new babies and celebrate every bit of progress you make no matter how small it is!

Leela thank you so much for that information i really appreciate your feedback and story, Im really looking forward to my gliders with much more positive energy. Its hard finding information about neglected gliders. And these two girls dont have names either, i wanted to see how they react and how they express themselves before naming them, i want unique names for each. Once more thank you so much for the advice i took screenshots to not forget ! It will come in very handy throughout this first year!