I’ve had my female glider since about 4/18. I’ve tried to get her to bond. I have a bonding pouch that I use daily. Or try to. I cannot even pick her up anymore (was able to the first couple weeks I had her). She started biting and when I say biting I mean straight up crunching down on my finger, or whatever she bites. It’s very painful, she’s bitten down to my bone even. I don’t know what to do. The only time I can pet her is when she’s in her cage and I give her a treat. Even then she will crab and try to bite me. Any advice would be great. I’m worried she will never bond. Maybe my house is too busy? We have 4 kids and lots of other animals (maybe not really all that many but ya know).
Advice. Please!!!!

It seems maybe she isn't happy with all the touching, so I would first stop
that. if you need to pick her up, use a large piece of fleece as protection
for you hand so she can't bite you. Seems like biting is becoming an acceptable
habit for her. Don't let her bite you anymore.

second, go to a website that lists different bonding tricks and start at the
beginning.

Your hand has become a source of danger and stress to her, in need of
protecting herself against it. So.. I would start by just getting her to
eat a few treats from my fingers/hand and having her not bite me. After a few weeks, (I would stop the bonding pouch for now, its not helping) I would move to
the next step, keep one hand LOW and SLOW, then put the treat out so she has to step
on your hand with one or two front feet to get to the treat. MEALWORMS are great, dried ones kaytee in bird food section of store, live mealworms can cause a newer glider to get over excited and bite your finger while trying to get to the worm.
so... over time try to get the glider to get on your hand/arm to get the treat.
then finally sometime in an unknown amount of time, you will get your glider to sit on your hand/ arm to eat the treat. Your arm/hand is a safe place, a place that doesn't need to be bitten.

One of our gliders, scarface, still runs away, but if I have to pick her up she will give me a baby nip, but not a big bite. its like she isn't happy and wants to
let me know, but also seems to understand she doesn't need to get me a hard bite cause my hand isn't that big of a danger. same as in sleeping pouch, she will give me little nips then move around to try to hide behind the other gliders.

First, your glider has a lot going on in the house. Get her in a nice quiet room just the two of you. Get rid of the bonding pouch. A T-shirt with a pocket is what you want. Put her in the pocket, yes I understand she bites, use a safety pin to close the pocket so she can't get out. Pet the pocket and talk soothingly to her. Do this several times a day until you no longer have to pin the pocket shut. Regular Cheerios is a nice treat for them. Whenever she don't bite, give her a Cheerio. My bubbie goes every where with me and he don't bite anyone. He just turned a year old. He's my second glider. Anything else you need help with, please contact me at Emily.eh80@gmail.com

Please don't use safety pins especially with an unbonded glider you can't handle as it is. Odds are she's not going to go into a pocket easily or want to stay there long enough for you to safely pin it with out stabbing her.

If you would like to try the pocket method get a tshirt with a glider safe pocket with a zipper. There are a few vendors that sell them or if you sew you can make your own. Again it still might be hard to get her in the pocket however glider shirts usually have wider pockets to work with.

Gliders are much like children.... they thrive on routine and structure. Make it a habit to do bonding time every day around the same time treats at the same time, food plate at the same time etc... She will learn the routine and start to understand whats going to happen next.

Get a glider safe tent or set up a closed small space like a closet or bathroom for tent time. Again make it part of your daily or weekly routine. It's a intimate, enclosed safe place for her to explore you on her own terms.

most gliders don't like to be picked up and or held, biting is the only way they can tell you that.... you don't NEED to pick them up unless they need medical attention. It's probably one of the biggest issues we humans have, we want to pick them up because they are small and cute but fact is that's our want not theirs. They have 4 legs and like to use them, picking them up makes them feel insecure they like to have their feet on something solid and stable.

This is important, Picking them up and holding them is NOT a sign they are bonded, I have a few that ARE bonded that I can't pick up without fleece. It's only a sign that that particular glider doesn't mind being picked up or held.

You have only had her for about 6 months. She will come around, honestly it's early days as far as "bonding" goes Everything mentioned are just bonding aids, bonding takes time, patience, changing your own habits to accomadate the gliders needs. Ex if she bites when giving treats, use tweezers to give her treats, or use treat boxes that she has to open herself instead of you handing them to her. when she shows bad or negative behavior you have to change what YOU are doing to see a different reaction from her.

Guess I just need to be more patient. Others I know with gliders have told me it doesn’t take this long. She doesn’t always try to bite when I give her treats. But I can also usually tell when I per her too much and she’s just done. Still the only way I can pet her is if she’s in her pouch inside her cage. I’ll definitely look into the tent thing.
Thank you all.

Hi,
Every glider is different, and some just take longer. There's a lot of great advice on here and I want to just restate that it does take time and patience with some very scared gliders. Taking a step back and letting your glider do what she is comfortable with a little tiny bit at a time goes a long way to building trust.

I just often like to share with folks on here who feel frustrated with how long it's taking to bond that I have 5 gliders, and two of the five took a very long time to be trustful of me. One of them I would say took about two years. He is just a very nervous little guy, and he still doesn't really even climb on me ever, but ironically I can cut his nails and basically manhandle him in his pouch with no problems. I love him to pieces!

It's very rewarding to give your fur baby the time she needs to get comfortable, and then to watch how she slowly begins to trust. And when she begins to climb on you, and take treats eventually, and let you pet her, each milestone is a treasure.

Btw I used the genji tent. It's great!

quote:

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Originally posted by Leela

Please don't use safety pins especially with an unbonded glider you can't handle as it is. Odds are she's not going to go into a pocket easily or want to stay there long enough for you to safely pin it with out stabbing her.

If you would like to try the pocket method get a tshirt with a glider safe pocket with a zipper. There are a few vendors that sell them or if you sew you can make your own. Again it still might be hard to get her in the pocket however glider shirts usually have wider pockets to work with.

Gliders are much like children.... they thrive on routine and structure. Make it a habit to do bonding time every day around the same time treats at the same time, food plate at the same time etc... She will learn the routine and start to understand whats going to happen next.

Get a glider safe tent or set up a closed small space like a closet or bathroom for tent time. Again make it part of your daily or weekly routine. It's a intimate, enclosed safe place for her to explore you on her own terms.

most gliders don't like to be picked up and or held, biting is the only way they can tell you that.... you don't NEED to pick them up unless they need medical attention. It's probably one of the biggest issues we humans have, we want to pick them up because they are small and cute but fact is that's our want not theirs. They have 4 legs and like to use them, picking them up makes them feel insecure they like to have their feet on something solid and stable.

This is important, Picking them up and holding them is NOT a sign they are bonded, I have a few that ARE bonded that I can't pick up without fleece. It's only a sign that that particular glider doesn't mind being picked up or held.

You have only had her for about 6 months. She will come around, honestly it's early days as far as "bonding" goes Everything mentioned are just bonding aids, bonding takes time, patience, changing your own habits to accomadate the gliders needs. Ex if she bites when giving treats, use tweezers to give her treats, or use treat boxes that she has to open herself instead of you handing them to her. when she shows bad or negative behavior you have to change what YOU are doing to see a different reaction from her.

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I second this! Yeah, tent time helped me as well in bonding with my first glider, Miku (a female).

Btw OP, do you only have one glider? Miku was pretty stressed and defensive as well when she was alone. After I adopted another female glider, Miku became much less stressed and defensive, which made it much easier to bond with her :)