my suger glider (male) keeps biting me most of the bites hurt a little so i never really scolded him i would just pull my hand away quickly but today he bit me so hard that i bled there was even little blood in his cage from my thumb i will say tho it went down like this: i was holding a vanilla ice cream and he wanted to lick it i know it’s bad for him so i let him lick it twice only then threw it in the garbage i think a little of the ice cream was on my fingers but still usually he would lick it but this time he bit me and it really hurt more than his usual bites as if he was angry :/ how can i avoid things like that in the future? also other than letting him climb me and run around what’s the best way to bond with a sugar glider

My favorite way to bond with my little one is to carry her around with me in a zippered bonding pouch. It's a great chance to be together and I can interact with her in the process. Sometimes I'll wrap her in a small blanket and hold her (kind of like a baby) and sing to her. Washcloths are a perfect size for this but you just have to make sure their nails don't get snagged.

As far as biting, I can totally relate. And yes, I've shared ice cream cones with her before (not so wise, but it sure was fun). I've had my glider for over a year now and she still bites from time to time, although it's more of a nibble now. While offering her some yogurt on my finger one day, she licked several times and then bit my finger really hard. Confused, I looked at some posts on this forum and learned that in the wild gliders will lick sap from trees and then bite the bark and more sap will come out. This makes total sense and it's possible your glider was biting, thinking this would produce more ice cream. Also, I've read that when a glider bites, it's best not to remove your hand because it signals fear (hard not to pull away when you're getting bitten though). My glider knows what "no bite" means. Like a small child, some times she listens...sometimes she doesn't. But consistency does help. Good luck!

I'll let them nibble but if they start getting too rough I take my finger out of their reach. Don't jerk back or anything, just take it away. I will play with mine with my finger like they are little kittens and they will grab the finger and playbite it. Scary at first because I know from experience those teeth can cause a lot of pain, but I stop if they get too excited and start biting hard enough to hurt and they seem to get it and are usually pretty gentle. Gliders are pretty smart.

If he's after a finger just move it. Turn your hands palm down and make fists so he can't get to them if you have to. Until he learns to be gentle with your fingers you shouldn't feed him anything by having him lick it off your fingers.

Put him in your shirt, or in a pouch you wear around your neck (usually called a bonding pouch).