I have two girls, Luna and Venus. I have only had them for 8 months but I understand what their personalities are like for the most part. Luna is very shy and crabby when I say hello to them or reach into the pouch to pet, etc. She crabs but has never bit on purpose! I know...pretty darn lucky. She rarely jumps to me in the tent though...or lets me pick her up in the cage outside of the pouch. Venus is the total opposite. She has never crabbed (I might have scared her once or twice to make her crab but other than that, no.). Venus is very social and likes to nip me ALL THE TIME. She knows it annoys me and I've been trying super hard not to pull away when she bites hard. She does let me get away with more things though. Hehe. She will always jump to me (when paying attention) and constantly jumps on my arm to go out and explore. And yes, I haven't fully bonded with them yet. They switch their feelings for me all the time. One day Luna will come out for tent time and another time she won't care. Venus will run away from me Tuesday and climb in my shirt Wednesday.

I am out of school for the summer so I can spend much more time with them now. I have always tried to do tent time every other day but it doesn't work a lot. For example, I haven't done tent time in 3-4 days! My summer hasn't honestly been very free... I also try so hard to do scarf time but it ends up being once a week usually! I feel so stressed and I just want to be a good mama.

Overall, they are very healthy. I feed them and wash their kitchens every night, clean their cage every week, and try to fit in at least 25 minutes a day being with them. (Don't worry I would never waste free time that needed to be with my gliders by something else. I understand I made a very serious commitment that cannot be ignored).

I don't honestly know what the next step needs to be in order to fully gain their trust. I guess I really just want to be able to have them on my shoulders and be able to know they won't run away.



Please submit bonding tricks that could help someone who already knows basic tricks (treats, tent/scarf time, etc.) but doesn't know how to get their gliders to trust them fully. Do I just need more patience? Spend more time with them? Do I need to take more risks? Help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
(P.S...sorry if this is badly written, I wasn't sure what to include)

my two favorite tricks
daytime trick
1. take sleeping pouch to couch, while watching tv stick hand into sleeping pouch and let them sleep with my hand and scent.
nighttime trick.
2. for an unbonded glider - put treat out for glider but put arm in the way, glider has to climb on arm to get treat, over time make glider get farther and farther onto arm until I finally get glider all the way onto my arm then pull away from cage and make them sit on my arm to eat their treat.

They switch their feelings for me all the time. One day Luna will come out for tent time and another time she won't care. Venus will run away from me Tuesday and climb in my shirt Wednesday.

I've noticed after first waking up, most want dinner and some will RUN away from me, then 30 to 60 minutes later Link will be following me as I walk in front of cage waiting for the cage to open so he can jump on my arm and take a ride to the refrigerator for a live mealworm.

if the glider is going to bite me I don't mess with him unless I use a fleece piece for protection. I also like the scoop method, less scary for them !!IMO!! coming down in a downward pickup motion I think simulates attacking predators and seems to freak out gliders that are not ready to be picked up. so I put one hand on each side and scoop, the chance to jump away makes them seem less panicked, then they find themselves on me with no danger. Of course most of the time they will just come and climb on my arm or hand all by themselves, you just have to give them the chance.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH BYK_Chainsaw! These tricks will definitely come in handy.I have noticed over the past few days since I posted the question that my shy girl Luna is taking a huge new interest in me. Venus is well...having a shenanigan fiesta.
Totally off topic but - How many gliders do you have?

You shouldn't stress too much about being busy, they have each other so are not pining or anything. Animals can sense your emotions and become stressed as well. You sound like you're doing good with them. They are more relaxed if you are, so it's even possible their changing attitudes is them picking up your stress. I'm not blaming you for anything, it's just a guess at why their behavior is different some days.

If you can safely take them in a bonding pouch with you during the day, that's a good way to spend time and further bond with them. Or just holding them during the day like BYK said. If you lay back in a recliner and nap with them on your chest that helps too. You are both close to each other and can listen to each other and get more used to each other's scents. You can hear them pop and squeak in their sleep and watch how they twitch sometimes in their dreams or stretch out like a tiny cat. It's very cute. If they aren't bonded make sure they are in a zipped pouch so they can't get lost or go inside the recliner where they could get hurt.

Relax and spend time with them relaxing.

As for the biting, don't jerk away but if she's going for your hand or fingers just calmly move them out of her reach, you can turn them palms down and make a fist so she can't get them if you need to.

quote:

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Originally posted by Ballistic_Glider

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH BYK_Chainsaw! These tricks will definitely come in handy.I have noticed over the past few days since I posted the question that my shy girl Luna is taking a huge new interest in me. Venus is well...having a shenanigan fiesta.
Totally off topic but - How many gliders do you have?

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We got up to 10 then I said NO MORE, but a lonely single and 4 low cost white gliders later we hit 15. We gave one to a work friend that only had one, so they could have a pair, then gave 2 to a church friend (they are doing fantastic with this family) and we had one pass away. so we sit at a 6 colony and a 5 colony after the single connor was put with the 4 white gliders.

Also, we have about 6 that are very friendly/bonded, 3 that are making progress slowly at being trusting of us, and 2 that just don't want to bond, they will take treats and we can pet them, but they would prefer being left alone from us and hang with their colony. So some gliders are just going to take that extra time and patience to bond.

quote:

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Originally posted by Scoria

You shouldn't stress too much about being busy, they have each other so are not pining or anything. Animals can sense your emotions and become stressed as well. You sound like you're doing good with them. They are more relaxed if you are, so it's even possible their changing attitudes is them picking up your stress. I'm not blaming you for anything, it's just a guess at why their behavior is different some days.

If you can safely take them in a bonding pouch with you during the day, that's a good way to spend time and further bond with them. Or just holding them during the day like BYK said. If you lay back in a recliner and nap with them on your chest that helps too. You are both close to each other and can listen to each other and get more used to each other's scents. You can hear them pop and squeak in their sleep and watch how they twitch sometimes in their dreams or stretch out like a tiny cat. It's very cute. If they aren't bonded make sure they are in a zipped pouch so they can't get lost or go inside the recliner where they could get hurt.

Relax and spend time with them relaxing.

As for the biting, don't jerk away but if she's going for your hand or fingers just calmly move them out of her reach, you can turn them palms down and make a fist so she can't get them if you need to.

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Sorry I didn't respond earlier. Thanks for helping! I've been slowly pulling away my finger and my glider is starting to stop. (Not sure why I read it but didn't respond the first time....)

quote:

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Originally posted by BYK_Chainsaw

quote:

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Originally posted by Ballistic_Glider

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH BYK_Chainsaw! These tricks will definitely come in handy.I have noticed over the past few days since I posted the question that my shy girl Luna is taking a huge new interest in me. Venus is well...having a shenanigan fiesta.
Totally off topic but - How many gliders do you have?

---

We got up to 10 then I said NO MORE, but a lonely single and 4 low cost white gliders later we hit 15. We gave one to a work friend that only had one, so they could have a pair, then gave 2 to a church friend (they are doing fantastic with this family) and we had one pass away. so we sit at a 6 colony and a 5 colony after the single connor was put with the 4 white gliders.

Also, we have about 6 that are very friendly/bonded, 3 that are making progress slowly at being trusting of us, and 2 that just don't want to bond, they will take treats and we can pet them, but they would prefer being left alone from us and hang with their colony. So some gliders are just going to take that extra time and patience to bond.

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WOW. I'm a bit jealous... There was one in Central Indiana (2 hrs away from me) that I wanted because it was lonely and needed a new home but my answer was "NO!" Haha I could have had a great trio :)