Why does my sugar glider keep biting me

Do Sugar Gliders Bite? Understanding & Preventing Biting

Sugar gliders are interesting animals theres no doubt about that. In fact, theres a debate about whether or not sugar gliders should be owned as pets in the first place. These creatures retain most of their wild habits and dont make for good pets for most people. One characteristic of sugar gliders that makes them poor pets is the fact that they have the tendency to bite their owners.

Do Sugar Gliders Bite?

Yes, sugar gliders do bite, and they bite for many reasons. Your sugar glider may bite you because its hungry, annoyed, curious, or just cleaning you. No matter the reason, this is a behavior that should be understood and discouraged when its done maliciously.

Unlike animals like gerbils, sugar gliders rely on biting as their main source of defense whenever they feel trapped or threatened. There are many things that can trigger sugar gliders, ranging from strange scents on your hands to quick movements that they werent expecting.

While defensive bites are certainly prominent in sugar gliders, they also utilize other kinds of bites. Very soft sugar glider bites are actually a display of affection and are commonly combined with numerous licks. Slightly harder bites are more of a warning and are most commonly used by sugar gliders that are more comfortable around their owners. Very hard bites occur when the sugar glider is legitimately scared.

Knowing the many different reasons for a sugar glider bite is important in avoiding and preventing bites in the first place. Bringing the amount of times that youre bitten by sugar gliders down to 0 is actually quite simple to do.

Do Sugar Glider Bites Hurt?

Most sugar glider bites do not hurt. Any bite thats made as an act of affection or is done on accident almost never hurts and ranges from a dull poke to a tiny pinch. However, fear-based bites can hurt depending on the sugar glider and reason behind the bite.

Bites from sugar gliders around 8 weeks old rarely hurt as they simply dont have the strength to put behind a bite. However, a sugar glider around 16 weeks old can pack more of a punch. However, these bites are more shocking than painful as theyre usually quick and unexpected. Older sugar gliders are a lot more capable of inflicting pain and breaking skin with a bite, but they rarely do that.

Sugar glider bites are often equated to being poked with a toothpick. Stronger bites are similar to hamster bites. Neither of those are particularly pleasant, but theyre also nothing serious.

How To Avoid Getting Bitten By Your Sugar Glider

Proper knowledge is the main part of avoiding sugar glider bites. People with proper animal handling and interaction skills rarely get bitten by sugar gliders because they act in ways that arent threatening and dont instill fear in the animal. People that run towards a sugar glider with a finger outreached are basically begging the timid creature to bite them.

Its important to utilize these strategies with your sugar glider as early as possible to avoid biting and to prevent bad habits from forming. It can be difficult to get a bite-prone sugar glider back on track and acting appropriately.

Know That Some Bites Are Normal!

While fear-based biting is what most people are aware of (and what this post focuses on), sugar gliders bite for other reasons, too!

Friendly nibbles are incredibly common and are typically done when a sugar glider is just sitting calmly in the hand of a human that they trust. This is a natural behavior that can hurt a little bit but is mostly harmless.

Sugar gliders can also nibble when theyre hungry! This is a sap sucker animal, often resulting in them biting items (and humans) in search of food due to their tendency to strip away the bark on trees. When this is done, just offer your sugar glider some food most of the time this stops the nibbling once theyre no longer hungry.

Move Slowly & Dont Disturb Your Sugar Glider

First things first: always move with purpose around your sugar glider. These creatures are small and fragile, meaning that theyve evolved to be quite timid and nervous. Even if your sugar glider is safely kept in their cage and youre the only one around, quick movements can cause them to become stressed out and bite in retaliation.

Making sudden movements towards your sugar glider to grab them is a great way to scare them and cause them to bite you in retaliation. Additionally, if you go to grab your sugar glider and they actively avoid your hand, dont try to chase them around. This will stress them out immensely and cause them to bite in hopes of stopping you.

Moving slowly around sugar gliders does wonders for keeping them calm and keeping their teeth from puncturing your skin.

Dont Be Restrictive In Holding Them

Its important to note that sugar gliders really dont enjoy being held. However, as they become bonded to you and feel more comfortable in your presence, theyll gladly hold onto your body themselves. Therefore, handling your sugar glider should be something that you slowly work up to as you prioritize their comfort.

When a sugar glider is in your hands, you should mostly be prioritizing freedom of motion. Dont hold your sugar glider restrictively, as this will make them feel trapped and will cause them to lash out. You should also not move them around quickly, as this will cause them to fear for their lives.

Note that since you wont be holding your sugar glider tightly, you need to make sure that theyre safe. Always handle your sugar glider either over soft surfaces or barely above the ground. If your sugar glider bites you and you react to it, you dont want them falling several feet to a hard surface and hurting themselves.

Give Them Time To Trust You

Sugar gliders bond to their owners, and will become much more trusting of them as time progresses. As this trust increases, fearful bites will decrease dramatically, and they may be replaced with some of the biting behaviors described above.

When you get a new sugar glider, its recommended that you take things slow. Keep handling to a minimum, and let the sugar glider become comfortable in its surroundings and in your presence. Make brief contact with them during feeding periods and while playing, but dont jump into things too fast.

Over time, youll start to notice your sugar glider becoming more comfortable around you. They may even actively try and climb onto you! If you go to handle your sugar glider and it bites you, simply put it down and wait a bit longer. All sugar gliders are different, so yours may become comfortable quicker or slower than others.

Dear ArnoldBy Arnold

Hello Arnold,

As the father of a proud glider owner ( Lauren ), Ive become more aware of all things even remotely glider and so I was intrigued today bythis news item. I think we all know what kind of animal theyre *really* talking about!

Best to you and yours,

Brian C

Dear Brian!

Wow! Tanks sooooo much for this link! At last, Ive found me great, great, great (etc etc) Uncle Fang! So fer those of you who ever wondered who taught the birds to fly, check this out! Us suggies have been around a looooooong time! So next time someone asks you what came first, the chicken or the egg?, you will know the real answer is the sugar glider! Rock on!

Love Arnold

Some Stuff about Gliders and Biting===========================By Lisa

Dear Lisa,

Is it common for sugar gliders to bite fingers and other parts of your body? Its not a very aggressive bite. Is there any way I can get him to stop or is it just in their nature to do that?

Justin

Justins question is very common indeed. A summary of reasons why sugar gliders bite is below. And a detailed explanation of each is provided subsequently.

1. They are scared.2. They are testing you.3. You smell funny (to them).4. They are tasting you.5. They sometimes use this as a sign of affection (like love bites).6. They are grooming you.7. And the least common reason is they are aggressive.

Please notice that nowhere on this list does it say sugar gliders bite because they hate you. Animals are not like people. They are not capable of the emotion we know as hate or dislike.

So lets take a look at each of these one by one and discuss some possible solutions to the problem. Lets face it, even bites that are intended to be nice are still a bit rough on us humans and can often be startling. Handling bites appropriately will go along way toward curbing this undesirable behavior.

Reason 1: They are scared

So first up is gliders bite because they are scared. This is what most people often encounter when bringing new gliders home for the first time. You should expect sugar gliders to be scared when they are first brought into a new home. Gliders bond by scent and are territorial. And when you change the people they are used to and the home in which they live, they must get acclimated to their new surroundings. The time this takes will depend on the age of the sugar gliders (younger is usually a lot easier), the way they were handled as joeys (or not handled) and their individual personalities (which we have no control over).

Scared gliders need to be handled with tender, loving care. Lets put this in perspective. If you have a little human baby that is scared, do you ignore it, give it time to cry itself out, put it back in its crib because it is crying and scared? Or do you hold the baby gently, talk to it softly and try to coax the baby into feeling comfortable and safe? I hope you chose the last suggestion, as this is exactly what you need to do with scared sugar babies. The only thing that is going to make the bond (trust) happen is handling. Giving them space, putting them back in their cage or otherwise leaving them alone is never going to get you to the place you want to be with them.

So how do you handle them and not get bitten? I have some suggestions, but the first and most important thing to remember is dont pull back. Its a reflex response you must overcome if you are going to break the behavior. You see, when gliders are scared, they often get into a defensive posture (on their back or hind legs) that we affectionately refer to as theMr. Miyagiposition (from Karate Kid fame). They will crab and strike at you. Some will actually bite and others will simply make the gesture. They are trying their hardest to intimidate you, and for most people the intimidation tactics work. It is our reflex response to pull back. However, when you do so, you have just reinforced the biting / striking behavior pattern. The sugar glider is saying Get away from me, you big ole lug Im scared of you. So if you get away, then the behavior just will continue until you can break the pattern.

Now I have found that if you hold your hand in front of the scared glider in a flat taut position, they cannot bite taut flesh. This can be very effective (and very scary for newbies). So here is a simple tip you can employ to protect your hand and still get that desired direct contact. Cut up some fleece fabric (if you dont have any fleece fabric, an old sweatshirt or baby blanket will do). The important thing here is that you use a fabric that will not unravel, so towels, socks, and other fabrics that fray or unravel should be avoided. Cut the fabric a little smaller than a face cloth. Put this bonding blanket in the sleep pouch with your gliders. Now when you go to hold them, use the bonding blanket over your hand. This leaves one hand free to use to pet the sugar glider and comfort it to make it feel safe.

I typically dont recommend gloves because this will cover your natural scent and that is one way a glider comes to know you. Leather gloves have a distinct scent of their own and while leather gloves would certainly protect you, they will not only hide your scent, but put a new scent around the gliders that does nothing to facilitate their getting to know you.

Another technique you can use is to keep an extra sleeping pouch around. Turn it inside out and use it over your hand to gently capture your glider (if it is running around the cage) and then flip it right side out). Keep the top of the pouch closed with your hand and pet the glider from the outside. Continue to do this until you are comfortable with putting your hand in the pouch with the glider to hold it, pet it, let it sleep in your hand inside the pouch. Put in your time and you will be rewarded!

Reasons 2, 4, 5 and 6: Testing, Tasting, Love Bites and Grooming

Sugar gliders will also bite to either test you or test boundaries. There is phenomenon in the glider community many refer to as teenage nippiness. This happens when you have made great bonding progress with your gliders, they are handling well, there is no biting, and then things seem to go in reverse gear. All of a sudden, the bites start again. We hear about this fairly often with gliders that are going through the age of puberty. This may be a time when lifetime pecking orders are established and personality development is maturing, along with the animals physical traits. Teenage nippiness is not usually done with a Mr. Miyagi posture and there is often no crabbing. Youll just be holding your glider and all of a sudden, the glider will just chomp down. This can be annoying and I find most gliders just grow out of the behavior.

It is also hard to draw distinct behavior lines between teenage nippiness, tasting, grooming and love bites. The definition of all four of these biting patterns are so close in my mind, that I handle them all identically. I will try one of two things. The first thing I will try is giving a treat. Yeah right, Lisa, you mean reward them for a bad behavior? Well this may sound bizarre, but gliders dont see it as a bad behavior. Tasting you is a form of identification; grooming and love bites are natural activities between animals in a colony they are a show of affection. So while teenage nippiness may be better classified as a form of rebellion, the other three types are more affectionate and show up in a similar manner.

I find that the treat will often distract the glider from biting. Arnold did this for years and I almost felt that I taught him to chomp on me when he wanted a treat. Hes pretty much fully outgrown the behavior by now, but we had several years of obnoxious little guy behavior that was never malicious. Im not a big fan of licky treats for this reason. As some gliders will bite, rather than lick, I opt to use treats like the driedpapaya,mango or pineapple. Even hand feeding some of the regular meal like small pieces of fruits, veggies, mealiesorcricketscan be effectively used for distraction.

Ive also had some success with blowing on the back of the head. With this tactic, I try to be discreet. Gliders dont like to be blown on, so I dont want them to see me do it. I dont want them to associate me with something they dont like. Instead, I want them to associate something they dont like with something I dont like.

Reason 3: You smell funny (to them)

Sugar gliders will bite because they dont recognize your scent. When I started working with gliders, I gave up something I used often, which was wearing colognes. I have since given up on all the great-smelling girlie stuff, including scented soaps, scented lotions or anything that can change my smell. Ive mentioned this in a past newsletter, but it is worth mentioning again to drive home this point. I lost some of my recognition value with my most bonded gliders when I quit smoking. Why? Because I smelled different and they had to get used to the new, improved Lisa. Now Im not suggesting that you go through life never smelling good again, but you may want to shower before you handle your gliders, especially if youve indulged in some nice smelling products since your last shower. It could go a long way to more consistent behaviors between you and your gliders.

Now I have not personally tried this, but I have no reason to believe it could not work. If you must have colognes, lotions or soaps in your life, try sticking to one brand in each category. That way, your smell will be consistent and that will help a great deal in your relationship with your fuzz buddies.

Reason 7: Aggression

The most common email we get from the community about biting is regarding the aggression of these animals. Aggressiveness is not a trait we typically see in sugar gliders. This is not to say that gliders cannot be aggressive, its just not that common.

Remember above, we were discussing the Mr. Miyagi position. This behavior is completely defensive. It is a warning to stay back and if you calmly push those boundaries, you will break through to a great relationship. Here is my definition of an aggressive glider:

If you open the cage door, and the glider wakes up immediately, flies out of the bonding pouch or nest box right at you, chomps down and doesnt let go, then you can safely say you have an aggressive glider. If this is not what happens, please do not see your animal as aggressive. Aggression and fear are on two opposite ends of the biting spectrum. But even true aggressiveness can be overcome.

I rarely see babies show signs of true aggressiveness. I have seen it more often with adult gliders that have come from abused or neglected situations, and you can hardly blame the critter for developing bad behavior patterns from being exposed to people who have mistreated them. To rebuild trust in these situations can be very challenging and this is something you should not undertake if you are not willing to commit many, many months or even years to the process. This is a rescue effort and with that comes the likelihood that your are now primarily a caretaker. The ultimate pet situation may never develop under these circumstances.

Baby gliders that show these tendencies are more than salvageable as great future friends. They may take more time and more patience, but if they havent had any good reasons to learn to distrust people, you have a very workable situation on your hands. The techniques are no different from what has been discussed with scared gliders, but the commitment is bigger and the time frame may take longer. But persevere, because you will ultimately be rewarded.

When you have the opportunity to handle as many gliders as we do, and you know they are all treated equally throughout their time with us, you really get a chance to see just how broad the range of personality traits can be. But so far, Ive not met a baby that Ive been unable to make friends with.

One situation I have not yet mentioned on the topic of biting is the increase in protective behavior when sugar gliders are breeding. This may show itself as a more aggressive position with human caretakers when gliders have young. Normally easy-to-handle gliders can get more protective when they have young about to emerge from the pouch, or babies that have newly emerged. They may not want you around during these times. Since I personally feel the commitment to keep stress levels low with breeding animals, I acquiesce to their behaviors in these situations. This is one reason why breeding animals may not give you the best pet experience.

But it doesnt always happen this way. Most of my breeding gliders are quite fine with my hands in the cage, petting them, petting and holding the babies and otherwise being a part of their colony. But some of them let me know with very distinct behaviors they would rather me leave them alone at certain times. So if you see this happening, and you really cant handle the mood swings, consider having your male neutered and discontinue the breeding. If you want your gliders to simply be your pals, breeding is not always supportive of that goal. You do have options.

Til next time, in good health for you and your gliders, we sign off in appreciation of all of you who share great glider adventures with us!