Are sugar gliders hard to bond with

How to Bond with your Sugar Glider (Fast) | 5 Easy Steps

As a first-time sugar glider owner, bonding with your little critter is quite an endearing experience. It may also be a challenging one. Like many exotic creatures, gliders have a wild side to them, which makes any attempts of connecting to humans pretty testing. So how do you bond with your sugar glider?

Here are the 5 steps of bonding with your sugar glider:

• STEP 1. Give them time to adapt to their new environment
• STEP 2. Get them used to your presence
• STEP 3. Reward them with treats
• STEP 4. Spend some time with them in a confined space
• STEP 5. use a pouch to carry them around you around the house.

As you read along, see how you can implement these tactics with your own sugar glider.

What does bonding with a sugar glider mean?

Sugar gliders have an ability to bond with their owner in effect, to move from this wild state to a more tame disposition. Although, of course, they are still behaving like wild animals.

As marsupials, they nurture a need for bonding from birth. The bond starts when they nest inside their mothers pouch and stay there for many weeks.

When adult life starts and a new owner takes over the mothers role, the need for bonding still exists. This primary bond will transfer to their main caretaker. The bonding process takes time and effort and depends on each animal. Yet it is a rewarding feat to have the glider come to you freely and enjoy your company without having to hide away from you.

Why is bonding important?

Bonding is as important to the sugar glider as it is to you. It will help your critter thrive in its new environment. It will also make it easier for you to take care of your glider for tasks as simple as feeding your pet or carrying it to the vet. With no bonding in place, any such activities tend to be awkward.

What factors will make a Sugar Glider bond faster?

What makes a Sugar glider bond fast or not depends on several factors. To begin with, gliders have different personalities, and not all of them bond with the same intensity.

Also, time is a critical factor. Some will get used to their owner in just a few days, while it might take several months for another glider. This is something you have absolutely no way of knowing when you pick up your joey at the pet store or breeder.

Personality aside, it has been reported by many times by sugar glider owners that keeping several gliders together will help them bond more easily with humans. It helps them feel more secure and confident than if left alone.

A lonely sugar glider becomes easily sad and depressed. That anxiety generally transpires in a lack of interest in bonding with its human owner.

Do all sugar gliders bond?

While not all sugar gliders bond to the same degrees, all gliders bond to a certain extent. You will definitely notice a difference in behavior between the first encounter and a few months later.

The 5 stages of bonding with your sugar glider

Sugar glider bonding varies from one pet to the other, but its very rare when sugar gliders dont bond at all with their new owners. Maybe the most important aspect is to be patient. In an ideal world, the pet would bond to you instantly, but a more realistic timeline would be a good few days to several weeks of quality time spent with your sugar glider.

1. The adaptation phase

When being introduced to their new environment, your sugar glider will naturally be scared and anxious. During this phase, refrain from touching your glider and make him feel comfortable by giving him plenty of space.

This way they can get used to their surroundings their cage, the smells, and the noises around the house. This will lower their anxiety levels. During this phase, your glider might get scared when you come close to its habitat and will signify it by emitting a loud sound called crabbing.

2. Getting your sugar glider used to your presence

You will soon notice that they are not crabbing anymore when they see you. You can then move on to the second step and get them used to your presence and smell.

For instance, give them a piece of clothes youve been wearing overnight or place it on top of the cage, where their sleeping pouch is. You may also place a cloth or fleece square that youve put your scent on into their sleeping box.

Speaking in a soft tone when close to the cage will show them that you dont mean any harm. Dont try to pet them as yet. They will probably start crabbing as soon as you approach the cage too close for the first few days.

3. Rewarding your sugar glider with treats

You may get your glider used to your presence and associate it with something pleasant by putting some yogurt or honey on your hand or holding a treat and placing it inside the cage.

At this stage, it is quite unlikely that they will come and lick your hand or steal the treat. Still, they will understand that this giant hand means nothing but good things. Always be very gentle with your gestures and tones and give them a lot of space.

Your sugar gliders might start crabbing and hide every time you try to approach your hand. It is a normal reaction at the beginning so be persistent, calm, and gentle. With time the crabbing will decrease or stop altogether. Reward that sociable behavior with a treat.

In case they bite, do not punish bad behavior. They will not understand why they are being punished for being scared and this will delay the bonding process. Instead, a gentle hiss or soft blow of air will be sufficient. Within a few days, it should become easier to feed your glider with a treat without expecting any antisocial behavior.

4. Spending time with your sugar glider in a confined space

Your sugar glider will soon understand that you are here to take care of him so the bonding process will start to take place easily. The time has come to get your glider out of the cage and make them feel comfortable around you.

When taking them out of the cage for the first time, dont try to grab, or squeeze them. They will feel threatened and it could delay the bonding process. Instead, put your hand in front of their legs so they can walk on it if they want to. Its OK if they still need some time before they get out of their cage. As the real bonding process begins, patience, calmness, and persistence are key.

You will want to spend some time with your glider in a small, secure space. It could be a tent, a large closet, or a small bathroom. You may sit on the floorand wait for them to come to you as they wish. When they do, continue with the treat formula. Even when outside the cage, they will now want to come to you in hope of a reward.

This stage of bonding should be gradual. Start with a few minutes every day, and increase the time your glider spends with you outside the cage by a few minutes each time.

If possible, keep a routine of bonding and feeding around the same time. For instance, 7-9 pm at night, or a few minutes before you go to work in the morning. Gliders are creatures of habit and your gentle persistence will soon be rewarded.

5. Using the sleeping or bonding pouch

To fully bond with your sugar glider you will want to recreate the feeling your glider had when kept in the safety of its mothers pouch. For this, you will need to use a bonding pouch.

Place the sleeping pouch on your lap or chest so they can get used to your voice and presence. Feeling secure in its pouch, your critter might start making popping sounds meaning that they feel happy and secure. As they do, you may start handing them treats.

Bonding pouches are specially designed to carry your glider around the way it was carried by its mother. Wear your bonding pouch around the neck and carry your glider while speaking and moving gently.

The first few minutes might be challenging for your critter, who may want to escape. For this reason, most bonding pouches have a little window so that the glider can see and breathe properly.

As an alternative you can nest your glider in a sports bra or by wearing two T-Shirts tucked in your pants. Place the glider in between the two, this will make them feel secure. This close contact with your body will also get them used to your scent.

Next, see if you can slip your hand inside the pouch without the glider crabbing at you. They might have a defensive reaction at first, but with time and patience, they should get used to it fast. You may also try to hold them in the palm of your hand as they sleep, which will enhance the bonding process.

Can I still bond with an older sugar glider?

Yes, an older sugar glider will still be able to bond with a new owner. However, If he was never handled or is not used to human presence, the bonding will be more challenging. More time and patience will be needed than with a younger glider.

As is the case for joeys, older sugar gliders each have their own personality. Age is not always the main factor as to whether your glider will bond or not. However, the younger the glider, the easier it will be for him to bond with its owner.

Final Words

It might take a little bit of time for your sugar glider to be used to you, and even more time for him to bond with you. These 5 tips should help you to get on with the bonding process and experience a natural relationship with your pocket pet.

While these techniques are effective, remember that time, patience, a gentle attitude, and understanding of your sugar gliders behavior and personality will make for a better connection as the weeks and months go by.

Resources and further reading:

The Most Helpful Video for Handling Baby Sugar Gliders

The Most Helpful Video for Handling Baby Sugar Gliders

A Quick "Shortcut" to Speed Up the Sugar Glider Bonding Process

OK, lets get started on your FIRST Tip-o-the-Day by giving you a VERY important shortcut that you can use starting RIGHT NOW to help DE-STRESS you and speed up the whole bonding process at the same time!

This shortcut is NOT included in the Quick Start Audio CD so here goes!

Over the years, the pros here at PocketPets have helped more than sixty thousand people just like you develop INCREDIBLY close and rewarding relationships with their Sugar Bears and as you will soon see, one of the most STRESSFUL parts of getting to know each other (for both YOU and your new babies) is simply just picking them up out of their cage for the first time each day

The truth is, no matter how much you listened to our audio CD or read the report, it can still be VERY startling to see just how scary one of these little critters can ACT when you try to pick it up during the first few days. In fact, they can act SO intimidating (and the key thing to remember here is that its all just an ACT) that if you dont push yourself past that initial fear it can take a lot longer for you and your new baby(ies) to bond properly.

Luckily, there is a VERY easy way to avoid or at least minimize this stressful situation almost every time and heres how it works.

Hint: Make sure they're already familiar with your scent

First off, if your cage is setup properly, you should already have a towel or piece of clothing draped over your heat rock all the time. As you will soon see, this is KEY, because you will find that your new baby(ies) will actually be UNDER this cloth the majority of the time when you want to pick them up each day and this is EXACTLY where you want them to be.

Just remember, when picking out the best fabric, make sure that its non-toxic and cant unravel in any way that could accidentally hurt your little darling(s). You dont want anything with loose ends that your babies can get their nails caught in. Again , if you want to be extra-careful, we already have pre-made, custom-sewn blankets made out of a glider-safe fleece and special, water-proof fabric that are specifically designed to promote your little buddys health. hold your familys scent. and speed up the bonding process. If you want to check those out, theyre available in our online store.

Now, remember that baby sugar bears bond predominantly by SMELL so if you were to just reach into their cageyank off their nice warm covering and try to grab them all they see is:

• 1) a blinding bright light
• 2) a strange smelland
• 3) five giant telephone-pole-sized fingers coming at them
• Actually, one of the best analogies Ive ever heard to describe how this feels comes from one of the worlds best sugar bear bonding experts named Laurie. She always tells new moms & dads to visualize themselves getting grabbed and picked up by King-Kong, (because this is roughly the same size difference between a sugar bear and a human) and imagine how youd feel. Its kinda funny, but when you take a second to think about it from that perspective, its no wonder that this can scare them.and when they start ACTING tough, its JUST as stressful on you. :-)

SO, HERES WHAT YOU DO!

Whenever you go to pick up your new babies, (assuming theyre under the blanket) gently talk to them using their names and gently stroke the cloth until you have located every baby without pulling the cloth off them. Then, pick them up STILL IN THE BLANKET. Pick the WHOLE thing up, holding the baby(ies) firmly through the cloth, and then just ROLL them, one at a time, directly into the bonding pouch without directly exposing them to the bright light for very long.

Then, once they are in your pouch, do not try to look at them right away. Just hold them very firmly and securely, so they start to get used to you and talk to them while you firmly massage them with your fingers. Then, after a couple minutes of doing this, you will usually feel them calm down and you can slowly take it from there.

If you do this transfer quickly enough, you will find that your baby(ies) will probably still be half asleep and they will essentially wake-up in the pouch. This not only reduces their stress level DRAMATICALLY but it also takes a lot of the scariness out of this whole process for YOU since you wont have to push past any swiping paws and vicious-LOOKING nips :-) If you read all the information on bonding we provide we will teach you an even easier way to do this.

If however the babies are awake and not under the blanket, the first step is to take your bonding pouch turn it INSIDE OUT and put your hand inside it like a mitten. Now, reach inside the cage, and (as quickly and smoothly as possible), scoop up the baby(ies) with your gloved hand.

Now, if they are running around the cage, its probably easiest to try to pin them up against one of the sides of the cage with your gloved hand and then gently pry them away from the bars. Either way, as soon as you have them in your grasp, immediately pull them into the pouch by turning the pouch back to its normal side-out position. This is the same way Doctors usually take off their rubber gloves.

Whatever you do, make sure NOT to release your grip on the baby inside the pouch UNTIL the pouch is zipped completely shut so therefore its probably a good idea to have a family member or friend help you the first few times until you get the hang of it. Similarly, another great tip for right now (and probably ANY time you take the baby out of the cage until its bonded) is to keep a towel or small blanket close by. This way, if the baby should ever accidentally get loose rather than panic and chase the little guy all around your house, you can very easily just toss the towel over top of him and it will almost always freeze right on the spot. Then you can then scoop them up while theyre still in the towel fairly easily without fear of getting scratched or bitten. **************************

Oh, one more tip when handling your new babies its usually not a good idea to try to breathe or blow on them directly during the first few days. To most of us humans, this action seems like it would be calming, but since they dont know your smell yet, it can actually scare a little baby (who is already stressed) even more :-)

Ok, with all that in mind then, the last thing I want to briefly remind you of is to always keep your baby nice and snuggly warm. Most of us cant keep the room where our babys play & sleep at above 75 degrees, so youll probably want to make sure and get a good, quality heat lamp to go along WITH their heat rock at least for the next few weeks while they are growing up. For more specific information on: 1) why this is important, 2) where to get the right lamp & bulb, and 3) why NOT to use a space heater near your babies cage, check out the free report entitled: Keeping Healthy.

Now, if theres just no possible way to get a heat lamp, another thing you can try is to keep the room as warm as you can and then cover the cage each night. This will help the heat coming from the heat rock to stay inside the cage and make it more comfortable for them. Just make sure that whatever material you use holds in heat well is non-toxic and isnt made of anything with loose strings or something they could get tangled up and hurt in because they will be playing with it a lot. For that reason, we actually have custom cage covers designed of a special Glider-Safe material that are already made to specifically to fit your little buddys cage. You can check them out at our online store at www.SugarBears.com . :-) OK, well thats about it for now! These next few days and weeks will be an incredibly rewarding time that will lead to YEARS of enjoyment for both you and your Sugar Bear(s). Just remember, bonding is a process not an event so STICK with it and it WILL pay off :-) Some days it may seem like you are actually going backwards in progress, but then all of a sudden one day everything will just click, and the REAL fun begins! Remember it can take anywhere from a few days to a few months.

Throughout this process, be sure to refer back to the audio CD, special guides, and instructional video clips as much as you need. ALSO, dont forget to take a minute right now and check out ALL the other Tip-o-the-Day Reports and the series of Important Videos for New Moms & Dads posted in the Family Circle section of our website. Lastly, dont forget to also go watch the free educational video series put out by the Association of Sugar Glider Veterinarians at www.ASGV.org. They really are another excellent resource in addition to all the information you will find on our site. As always, dont hesitate to email us with any questions. We LOVE to hear from you!