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Sugar Glider 101
Bonding
Bonding with your Sugar Glider is the easiest part of owning a Sugar
Glider, but it takes time and patience.When you first get your Sugar Glider you
should be able to handle and play with it, but to make it your best friend you
need to spend quality time with it so that it becomes familiar with you.
The best thing is to get babies that are captive bred, as they will bond quicker
since they are already used to human contact. Just be patient and do not
force anything. The time frame for bonding ca be anywhere from immediately
to months. One way to help speed the bonding process and get them used to
you is to take a piece of cloth (with no lose threads) and pin it to your night
clothes for a few nights and then place it in the Sugar Gliders nesting box.
This will get your scent on the cloth and in turn get your Sugar Glider used to
your scent.
If you get a Sugar Glider that is not completed tamed or settled down, you may
wish to wear gloves when handling them for a while although I suggest against
this as they learn the scent of the gloves and then become afraid of the gloves.
These animals can bite if they get mad enough. If they do bite, do not try
to shake them off as they will bite harder and will probably get hurt as you
jerk them around. Just make your presence known and try to handle them as
much as possible so they can get used to you. If they would happen to
bite, try to brave it out and keep handling them. If you give up and
return them to their cage, they will understand that each time they bite; you
will let them go, therefore, they will continue to bite. It may hurt for a
while but the Sugar Glider will eventually give up after they realize biting
will not cause you to leave them alone. I have taken one that does not
like being near humans to letting me handle it. I did this by using the
washcloth trick and then when I picked her up, I used a clean washcloth, made a
pouch out of it and held her in this while I pet her. I strongly suggest
that you do not let children handle them until you are sure that the children
will be okay with them. Children love animals and may not be sure of the
best way to show it, possible causing harm to the Sugar Glider and themselves.
I have seen many a child hold a Sugar Glider and squeeze them too hard.
This is not good for either party as it may cause the Sugar Glider to bite.
One thing that helped me bond with my Sugar Glider was to carry him around in a
shirt pocket all day and have small treats to give them when you try to work
with them (called “Pocket Training”). During the day you can pet and bond
with your Sugar Glider even if they are asleep. Your pet will get used to
your scent and touch at the same time. If you do this, please be careful
not to do anything to injure your Sugar Glider, as it is easy to lean against
something, squashing and hurting them.
Sugar Gliders tend to bond closet to their main caretaker and handler.
They can and will accept other people after bonding with one person, but they do
tend to stay close to their main caretaker. Mine have allowed me to hand
them over to someone else and as soon as I start to walk away, they will jump
and glide right back to me. I have even noticed that mine will react
differently depending upon what type of mood I am in. They seem to be able
to sense how I am feeling at the time. When I have been upset, mine tend
to stay in my shirt more so than normal while coming out and trying to get me to
play. When I am sad, they come up and tend to want to love on me and let
me pet them more. If I am anxious about another person, they do not want
to go to the other person. I am not sure if this is true of all Sugar
Gliders, but mine seem to know what king of mood I am in and how to cheer
me up.
When your Sugar Glider bonds with you, you will find that you have a new
best friend. Each one acts differently, but mine will follow my son and I
around the house just to get us to play with him. You will be able to
freely handle them and let others handle them with ease, as they will trust your
judgment.
Each Sugar Glider has a different personality and will act differently.
One of the first signs that the Sugar Glider is bonding with you is that they
tend to bark less often at night. This can mean that they are starting to
get used to you. They will also come to you if you let them down on the
floor. They may not come right away as they will explore their new
surroundings, but they will come. Males may even start to mark you as
theirs by rubbing their head against you. This is their way of saying that
you are now their personal friend.
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