Hello everyone !

I have just registered, however, I've always come to this forum to seek advice, but don't seem to find exact same issue in this case.

My partner and I adopted two sugar gliders in November 2016. Lola and Charlie. They are both 2 and a half years old now. They never crabbed at us, and bonding process seemed to go okay. We give them unconditional love, we always carry them with us, we even take them on road trips. We never leave their side, they are our little babies.

After nearly 6 months, Lola is great. She still doesn't like hands (I think it's something to do with previous owners as they had 2 before us, maybe they weren't hand tamed) but she always sleeps on me or my partner, whether it's in a pocket or my bathrobe, she loves being on a shoulder or hanging down the arm, as long as it is clothed. She does not bite, but she does not like being held, no matter how much we try to hand tame them. But all and all, she is good.

Charlie on the other hand seems to hate us. He was always a bit less trustful of us (even though we care for both of them the same and cannot stress how much we care for them and show love). He started to be okay at one point, we could pick him up (he still didn't really like it) but lately he just keeps biting us and he always draws blood. I tried to scoop him up to put him close to me and he just latched on to my finger. It does not matter if we do pssst sound, he just keeps on doing it. The other week, he bit my partners hand at least 5 times and every time he drew blood. We feel like we have tried everything but he still hates us. It really upsets us as we love them, but we don't seem to get the same love from him no matter what we do.

Does anyone have any advice what to do? It's been 6 moths and we feel like we are going backwards.

Thanks

Many gliders don't like to be held in your hand. I have 4 who don't, but the will let me hold them with fleece for a little bit. They each have their own personality, some will warm up to you fast and others take forever.It certainly takes lots of patience! I only have one who will come out of the cage voluntarily.

2 options. (but first - I try not to let the gliders bite me until they get tame enough to not bite me, or its only a bloodless nip.)
1. buy dried mealworms and give them to him as a bonding treat.
2. buy LIVE mealworms and give them to him, make him work for it, as a treat, but every so often make him come to you or on you more.

Our first glider pair, Link was very slow to bond with us, I started using dried mealworms to get him to come to me, then he had to step on my arm, then after some time I got him to sit on my arm to eat his mealies. (no more scooping him up and sometimes getting nipped.) Then I carried him to kitchen to feed him LIVE mealies on my arm then back to cage. Now at 11pm they wake up and mealie day or not they are jumping on cage front at the moment they see me, they run from side to side of cage following me hoping to get out and on me for mealie time.

mealies are fattening so keep the amount they get small.
I'm sure they are other ways to get them to you, my wife isn't big on treats, her glider gizmo with come to her get in her bra and hang out with her never getting a treat sometimes, just being with her since they are well bonded and she did it with only a few treats from time to time.

A trick I learned with my boy, Maximus was using a straw and apple juice. I would take a sip and hold the end of the straw and let Maximus drink from the other end. This was much easier and safer for me. Now I can feed him mealworms and not get bit or scratched in the process. It really helped with bonding as well.

My gliders have been very skittish of me as well. The trick I have been figuring out is similar to what someone above posted--and that's getting them use to taking honey or mealworms from me, and then luring them onto my hand to get the treat. Right now we're in the process of "if you want a treat, you need to have all four paws in my hand." Right now I wait for one of them to feel more relaxed (couple of honey treats in) and then I'm practicing moving my hand around with him on it, and then out of the cage. We're still building, but I'm finding this has helped so much. It's made a difference in days.

I don't pick up my gliders. Maybe I'm a pansy, but I just don't want them to bite me, haha. So I'm trying to teach them to come into my hand. I'm also trying to get them on a schedule so they know 8pm (treat time! Play time!) And every morning they get treats before they go to bed. This is so they associate me with mealworms, haha.

I'm no expert, but I know for me there was awhile when my gliders were starting to get overly crabby with me. When I left them alone for a couple of days (as to having them in pouch), it seemed like they needed the break. From what you're saying with always loving your guys (which is great, I'm right there with you) maybe just give your guy a day or two off? I learned my guys sometimes just need a day to sleep. I've been letting my guys stay in cage more often, and that actually has made them happier to see me. Though I stop in a couple times during the day to feed them treats, and then just leave them alone to sleep. Maybe try giving him some space for a couple of days? If it doesn't help the bounding process, well I don't think it would hurt it too much.