I have had my glider for a little over a month now.... And it is a disaster. He HATES me. I have tried SO hard to bond with him but it really just is not working. He crabs constantly. You cannot even walk by the cage without him crabbing. It is becoming VERY disturbing. He has a big cage with a ridiculous amount of toys and I am feeding him a well rounded diet. He seems healthy, just not very nice. He wants nothing to do with me. It is honestly very saddening and depressing for me because I have wanted a glider for such a long time and did so much research before getting one. I was going to get another, but I don't think I can handle it. It is really stressing me out. I get him out every day and try to bond with him but he just hates me. What do I do?

If you have tried everything then your best option would actually to be to get another glider. If your second glider is more trusting of you then your other glider will learn from him that you are doing no harm and you want to be his friend.

Until then, continue wearing him in a bonding pouch pouch for a few hours a day and try doing a few bathroom bonding sessions over a week period. Sleep with a piece of fleece then cut it up and tuck it into his sleeping pouch. When you walk past the cage, talk quietly and sweetly. He will crab at first but continue talking to him until he quiets down. Open up the cage door while continuing talking and drop a few pieces of dried fruit into his pouch.

It's a process no doubt about it, and different gliders move at different paces in terms of bonding. My first glider bonded very quickly to me while my more recent glider is very crabby and less trusting. But by just watching my bonded glider climb on me during bathroom bonding she has learned that I am her "human tree" and I can be trusted.

He will eventually bond, don't worry. Every glider eventually does

What exactly have you tried?

Is he neutered?

how old is he?

sounds like he is a bit pouch/cage protective and could probably benefit from some open environment pouches. If he is crabbing whenever you walk by it's likely because he can't see whats going on.

I think you need to take a serious chill pill.
crabbing from the pouch has NOTHING to do with you. The little guy is
all alone and hears a strange noise, he's SCARED, so he crabs to scare away the
big scary noise maker. he CANT EVEN SEE YOU!!!!
RELAX MAN.

our big mama has been with us 2 months, and every time i talk to the other
gliders she crabs away, on and on and on as long as I talk.
get your glider in a small room, sit with him, feed him some treats he likes, make him get closer to you to get the treats. Each time you have bonding time get him closer to get the treat. get him to walk on your hand to get the treat.
I've had link for six months and I'm slowly bonding with him, my wife bonded with her glider with all her free time in a few weeks. it took me months and link is such a spazode he still squirrels out on me when he is wide awake and gets scared.
you need to give him as much time as he needs to bond. he's just a scared little guy who might be a little more difficult then other gliders.

He is about 3 months old. In his cage he has a hanging nest/pouch thing, as well as a big piece of fleece in the corner that he sometimes sleeps in. But I do agree with you that he crabs when he cannot see me. During the night when he is out I go by the cage and watch him, and he does not crab. He just runs away. It seems like the only time he crabs is when he is in his pouch or he can't see me. How do i fix this? Thanks for your response.

quote:

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Originally posted by Leela

What exactly have you tried?

Is he neutered?

how old is he?

sounds like he is a bit pouch/cage protective and could probably benefit from some open environment pouches. If he is crabbing whenever you walk by it's likely because he can't see whats going on.

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[quote]Originally posted by joeyglider

It seems like the only time he crabs is when he is in his pouch or he can't see me. How do i fix this? Thanks for your response.
[quote]

Nothing to fix.
In the wild in his sleeping hole, he would crab to scare away predators.
noises outside his sleeping pouch are scary predators so he must crab. It's going to take time for HIM to decide when things arent scary enough to crab. Nothing for you to fix.

If you have only had him for a month, work on the bonding, get him to use you as his tree. feed him treats by hand, get him to be able to step on your hand. give him things to explore in your small bonding room, then soon he will start exploring you.

A friend could help him, but that won't be an instant fix. In the meantime continue as suggested.

My first pair, two girls that were about a year old. They were not socialized with humans that much in their first home after the first couple of months. My Lulu was a nightmare. She crabbed, she bit, and bit hard. I was so afraid of her, I did little to bond with her for the first couple or so months. I started to regret getting them. As I learned more (and I thought I researched good, even had an acquaintance that had a couple. I stayed away from forums at first because of those videos) once I started on forums I learned she was scared. That changed things for my perspective and I began working with her. It took a while, but things got better, a lot better.

It's easy to feel like giving up, but please don't. Use hand fed treats during "pouch time" which is done during the day. And then add play time in evening, night, or early morning, whichever fits your schedule. You will see a difference, every little step in progress will be so worth it.

Hello! You've gotten some good advice here already
Also keep in mind that all gliders have different personalities. My Thor is a crabber and reacted to being adopted the same as your little guy, as did my Fionn, too. They're just the nervous type! It takes more patience and work with those little guys, but is also more rewarding when you see progress.
I would add to the good advice you've gotten so far these couple of things:
I've learned some gliders like to stay in the cage (like sentries, to protect the pouch). Just remember that when you do playtime, and let the little guy come out if and when he is ready. I used to tuck the pouch inside my shirt, so Fionn would work up the nerve to come out and would be directly on me for that, and then when Fionn had enough playtime (after about five minutes lol) he would scurry back into the pouch, under my shirt. I liked that because I became the safe spot I wouldn't force him out and eventually play time got longer and he would also spend more time climbing on me.
For both Thor and Fionn, they would (and Thor still does three years later) hide in the corner or behind the wheel. So for hand held treats, like yogurt drops, I would move very slowly, open the cage door, and hold the treat a few inches from the scared little guy. Then, hold still. Prepare to be there for a while at first! Then , you'll see, slowly, the glider will creep forward to get that yogurt drop. Hold perfectly still! Oh, and if your guy is like Fionn, he may snatch that drop fast like lightning and run away. But that's good! This will build trust and he'll eventually come to you quicker and with more confidence. Beware though! My Fionn has bad aim and still occasionally nips my finger when he snatches the treat lol!
So, just be patient. Remember he's scared. You're teaching him to trust you so go slow and try to read his signals. An open environment pouch may help, like Leela suggested, and a friend may help as well, like TJones said. Like BYKChainsaw said do bonding in a small room (or I like the tent), but don't force him out, and hold his treats close enough to him that he can work up the nerve to come to you and get them. Continue to talk sweetly to him, and remember, some gliders are crabbers. Thor just crabbed at me yesterday when I took the pouch out to say hello for a minute in the morning, but he was happy when he saw me and I gave him a treat. In time, your little guy will trust you and love you for your patience.

Ok im on my first sip of coffee here so if i come off as snarky i dont mean to.

Yes he's scared, and yes there are things you can do to help that. Open environment pouches were designed to help scared crabby gliders see what is going on.

Pouch protectiveness can also inhibit "bonding" until it's addressed, so yes there is something to fix here. When I have a pouch protective glider I don't use traditional bonding bags. I use a big single layer pouch with an open top that is rolled down so the glider can see what is going on at all times.




Gradually, over time I start unrolling the pouch to make it deeper ( as the glider gets adjusted to each height) Until I can unroll it all the way with no fussing or crabbing. During this time I open and close zippers so the glider can get used to the sound and see what im doing to the bonding bag. So the next time I offer the bonding bag instead of the pouch there is nothing to be afraid of. It takes time sometimes months to progress enough to even use the bonding bag. It all depends on the glider....

There are many things that you can probably do differently that will help the glider, but I can't give you advice on that unless you tell me exactly what you do and how you do it.....

99% things that needs fixed are on the human end not the gliders, the glider is reacting to YOUR actions. To get a different reaction you need to change your actions

Leela, I just want to give u some claps.. that, was absolutely great advice! I have an older glider, that I simply cant convince to not crab, and, Im going to try your suggestions, and see how that works.