So, my two boys (Asti and Pinot) are 14 weeks old. We have been making good progress bonding. They eat out of my hand. They let me (sometimes) pet them when they are out of their pouch. We have done "tent time" a few times and they love to climb all over my wife and I. Seems like they try to groom us. However had not yet tried to hold/grab one.....until yesterday....it did not go well....

I'll tell the whole story as its slightly humorous and may be a good lesson for other newbies! My wife and I felt bad that food and treats would drop past the bottom cage grate into the catch pan below. The poor lil guys would sometimes try to reach down and grab the goodies. When they did, they would kick up the bedding below and make a mess around the cage. So we got a brilliant idea of getting a pad or something to put on top of the grate. That seemed like it would also be a more comfortable bottom for them to run around on and we could just vacuum up the mess in the cage each morning. Easy enough!! We went out and ended up buying washable puppy pads. They were a bit big for the cage, so I folded one side down but it thankfully laid flat. Or at least that's what I thought....

Next day, immediately could see it was a mistake. While the food/treats certainly didn't fall through the grate we failed to think about the fact that now they would be tossed out of the cage by scurrying gliders running around like children high on sugar. So woke up to a mess around the cage. So I decided to compromise and place the pad under the grate in the pan beneath as a compromise. As I started pulling the pad out.....crabbing started out of nowhere. And of course, it was coming from inside the pad. The little buggers lifted the area where I folded the pad and decided to use it as a pouch to sleep in. So I successfully got the pad back into the cage and unfolded it for the boys to come out. I placed their pouch near them. Asti just ran up to the hanging coconut hut and Pinot SEEMED to go into the pouch. As I pulled the pouch out of the cage to re-attach it to the upper door, and closed the bottom door first (Big Mistake) little Pinot decided he was having too much fun and decided to try and come out of the pouch in my hands.

I panicked and tried to hold him as he tried to squirm out of the pouch/hands begging for my wife to open the cage back up so I could put the pouch and him back in. Being his first time in my hands...he wasn't thrilled and proceeded to bite away. I asked over and over, begging for my wife to open the cage (might have used much more colorful language) but she was frozen in panic and just sat there. She -finally- got it open and I gently placed him down and closed the cage. Pinot triumphantly ran up to the coconut hut with his brother and I had over 20 bites on both my hands.

On a good note, he ate a couple of yogurt drops out of my hand later so I think him and I are good. But he was definitely more skiddish that night than he has been. So that sucks.

What did I learn?
1. Make sure you know where your little ones are before opening the cage, and NEVER assume!
2. If you are taking their pouch out of the cage, with them in it, make absolutely sure it is securely closed before removing it from the crate
3. They will use anything they can fit into as a pouch.... Last week they pulled the bottom of a tee-shirt that I have on top of cage down and turned it into a hammock to sleep in
4. Those little buggers hurt

Wish his first hand holding experience wasn't so crappy

I'm sure that every single one of us as a new glider owner has their own humorous story of their first glider escape. This is not going to be your last either! I will try and give you some advice about the liner though. I only put newspaper in my liner pan, nothing else and I change it every other day. I tried the disposable potty pads and also the fancy bedding but a lot of gliders will eat anything and can become blocked from just a small amount so now I don't risk it. My boys weren't big enough to reach the bottom at even 6 mths old but they grew into that ability before a year and I can frequently hear them scratching the paper or see them reaching down for some dropped treat. I have to be sure the paper is flat or they grab hold and try to pull it through the bottom. Also you have to have a good hand vac or a dog! I made a cover for their cage that blocks 3 sides and contains a lot of the mess. My dog eats the rest of whatever falls on the floor. Use this site to search for any questions. I don't think there is one that didn't have an answer.