Hi everyone,

i have now a sugar glider for 3 days. i got it as a gift and i have been really trying my best to learn how to take care of it and how to make sure the glider is at its healthiest and happiest condition. I got him a cage with a hanging pouch and some other toys to climb on but i have some worries. Overall the glider looks really healthy and doesn't show really much sign of problems. I got him pellets food and he doesn't seem to eat it at all, even when i pour a little bit of honey on top of it as suggested on the pellet food packet. The only thing the glider eats at the moment is apple and im very scared of its health as i saw that their diet is very important. i really do not want to be a bad owner for this animal as i read online that having a sugar glider is an really amazing pet to have. I also have a few questions about gaining its trust and bonding with her (the glider) first of all the glider is a few months old and im able to handle her very easily but she always seems to go on my back and jump back on the couch. also she tens to try to bite my finger alot of the times, as i read on a website i take the bite and make a sound "psst" to let her know not to do it, the bites really dont hurt most times. she doesnt "bark" alot which i believe is a good sign. since i had her she barked about 3 or 4 times and thats when my brother try to force her out of her pouch. Also she poops a lot and pretty much everywhere, is there any way to sort of teach her not to poo on me or on the couch? Sorry for the long text and the bad english, im still learning To conclude with all my questions here; My glider only eats apple, what to do?
Is there a way to potty train her?
advice on gaining her trust and bonding with her?
How to stop her from biting and potentially picking up on this behavior? (i really dont want her to pick up the habit of biting)

Hi kmaa97

Don't bother hissing at the glider it doesn't work instead try blowing at her slowly as that usually stops them without hurting our scaring them. The hissing noise is supposed to b a sign of aggression.

I am glad you are concerned and are trying.

As for food you will need to feed it wombaroo. You can buy it as a powder online. You will also need mealworms which you can buy in a dry form. They need the protein so mealworms or boiled eggs or boiled chicken should work. You can try pea snaps, green beans, cucumber to change up the food. Too many pellets can be bad for a glider.

Try ski gloves our thick winter gloves if your worried about getting bit as I find it helps when handling new gliders. Also try not to restrain them as that can cause biting. They are a fidgety creature and prefer crawling all over you rather than petting in your hands.

Sorry but you can't stop the pooping and as far as I know you can't toilet train them I have 20 gliders and not managed. But if your glider has just woke don't take her out immediately as they usually poop when they have freshly woken up.

I forgot to add. Make sure your hands don't smell of food or anything sweet when you handle him as that could be causing him to bite too. I made that mistake the first time.

I had handed my glider a few sweets and ended up getting the smell on my fingers, as you've guessed I got chomped quite a bit.

The same thing happened with my cousin and the hamster she had just finished eating and tried to pick up our gentle hamster. He smelt the food of her fingers and took a bite.

Also if you have coconut oil on your hair he may try to lick it or chew on it. I've not been bit on the head yet but it does look funny when my gliders play with my hair.

Congratulations! I'm a soon to be new mama myself and I highly recommend the book "Sugar Gliders (Complete Pet Owner’s Manual)" by Caroline Wightman, for new sugar glider parents! Hope it helps!

To conclude with all my questions here; My glider only eats apple, what to do?
we switch our gliders over to Ohpw and fruits/veggies. they eat the Ohpw from the start usually, but can take WEEKS or even MONTHS to start eating the fruits/veggies. our 4 took about 1 month minimum, our single rescue must have taken 3 MONTHS to start eating veggies, now he is eating most of it and I saw him eat the corn first the other day so he is really learning what is most tasty
Is there a way to potty train her?
YES and NO, some of ours will pee on us to mark us, they will go usually shortly after coming out of pouch, my wife will take out gizmo and sit him in cage, pet him and wait for him to go pee and poo(maybe poo) the put him in her bra and he is good for a long time almost never going on her. as soon as gus gets his treats he will poo on me, sophie will lift her tail, our trash can is right there so I just move over and try to let the poo roll into trash can. Sophie will immediately pee on any NEW person, mark her territory.
advice on gaining her trust and bonding with her? many tips posted in forums already, take it slow, give your glider TIME!!, dont get over handies if it scares you glider.
How to stop her from biting and potentially picking up on this behavior? (i really dont want her to pick up the habit of biting) Once your glider gets bonded with you it should NOT bite, unless your to aggressive and scaring it. Our human bonded/friendly gliders do not bite(may nibble or nip), I would say 7 of 11 do NOT bite. then 2 will only bite during the pick up/scoop up process, they get scared and NIP (slightly hard, mild pain, NO blood) I put them on my shoulder take to kitchen for a treat(live mealworms) and they do NOT bite, sit and eat a mealworm, I can pet them. little cupcake has some deformity and get scared easy, she will try to bite but has not enough power to hurt. Pinkie we don't handle much, he was very aggressive at first, so we let him be, now he is much friendlier and he is starting to get on our skin for a treat, we can pet him fine and he doesn't bite, but we don't push him.