Bonding with Your Sugar Glider

HOW TO BOND WITH YOUR SUGAR GLIDER

Bonding with your sugar glider is one of the most rewarding things to do in your relationship with your new furry friend.  Sugar gliders are naturally social animals and so have a natural tendency to want to bond or have a relationship with other.  While you are not a sugar glider, the emotional attachment and companionship they experience with you will help them have a more enriched life.  They, as well as yourself, will be happier for it.  Happier and possibly smarter as well!  I read about a study done on rats where they compared brain structure on 2 groups after a set amount of time. One group had no stimulation at all and the other had human interaction, games, etc. The group with the interaction had more developed brains!  My hubby constantly asks why MY pets seem to be the smartest animals in the house, and noticeably smarter than other pets he has had in the past. He asks me how I pick out such smart animals. Perhaps it is because I interact with them so much through play, and I invent games with them and make them work and think for their food a bit. I also attempt some training with every animal I have ever shared my life with. Teaching/training I think helps to not only develop the brain, but also reaffirms the relationship. Teamwork, that sort of thing.  So perhaps I don’t pick the smarter ones, I just help them reach their full potential.

When bonding with your sugar glider you also need to remember that every sugar glider has a different personality.  Each sugar glider will bond differently.  Some may bond but still behave independently, while other may be very “clingy”.  Each sugar glider will bond at different time frames as well.  Some sugar gliders may bond instantly, or in a week, a month, or take as long as a year.  My Arwen is content to just sit and snuggle on my chest, while my hubby’s Frodo is all over his body, the room, the car.  He says he wishes Frodo is as bonded as Arwen.  Well the truth is, he IS as bonded, he just has a different PERSONALITY and so behaves differently than she does.

It is important when bonding to remember to look at things through the eyes of your sugar glider.  Do not expect things too quickly from them, always go at their own pace.  They need to LEARN to trust you as they will not do so automatically.  You need to EARN their trust!  It is important that they trust you and are comfortable with you touching each part of their body.  You never know when for their own good you may need to touch or hold their tail, foot, ear or other part of their body, so it is vital you develop this trusting and comfortable relationship with them.  Here is one story that illustrates why a trusting relationship is so important:  
“I had Arwen in a bonding pouch, she is sleeping away, but then I feel her wiggling around alot and I open it up to look at what she is doing, well she reaches up to me (like she always does) and she is soaking wet! At first I thought she peed although she has never peed in her pouch before, when I realize there are little bits of apple on her face and chest (she had eaten a very tiny piece of apple earlier) and I realize she must have vomited. Then I notice she is moving her mouth and tongue funny, and I see   a piece of human hair sticking out of her mouth. She is a darling animal, she is so trusting, I start to pull gently on the hair and she just holds onto me and sits very still while I pull it out. There was actually a small bit of apple that was tangled up in the hair, and she gagged alittle when it came out. When I pulled the whole thing out it was about 5 inches long!  I know not to tug them out in case they are tangled around some internal body part but as I felt no resistance I continued to pull it gently, I was thankful this one came easily out.”
If she had not been so trusting, this may not have gone as well as it did.

One way to help with bonding with your sugar glider and in building that all important trust is to have a routine and stick with it.  A consistent pattern of behavior on YOUR part will help them to trust you as they will know what to expect.  The unexpected is a fearful thing to wild animals.  When you do the same thing each time, at the same time, they will learn to trust you, to depend on you as it were.  But remember, this also has a drawback or two!  For example, my girls are used to me getting up at a certain time to play with them early each morning before work.  This means that even on my days off I still have to get up early to play otherwise Arwen starts barking loud enough to wake up the entire household!

So how does one start the bonding process with a sugar glider?
My first tip is this:  Since sugar gliders have very powerful noses, and use scent to help distinguish one from another, the first thing in my opinion is to make yourself easily identifiable to them by smell.  I highly recommend switching to body products (soap, shampoo, lotions, deodorants, etc) that have no scent to them.  If you must have scented, then pick something that is light and stay with the same scent.  Do not be constantly switching “smells” as this can confuse them.  While I am sure they can still smell you under your “perfume” I still think it may confuse them.  I used a different hand lotion and Gizmo (who is not as strongly bonded to me) crabbed at me and wouldn’t let me touch her, while Arwen wouldn’t COME to me, but didn’t run either, but sat there looking at me so intently I thought my face would fall off!  I went and washed my hands and she came right to me clicking in greeting!  She knew it was me, but the strange smell confused her.
 
When you first bring a sugar glider home, give them a couple days to settle in and get used to their cage and new surrounding before you try to make friends with them.  After a few days, you can start the “bonding process”.  Make yourself a welcome sight by just sitting next to the cage to start out  Just sit and read or speak softly to them.  Do not necessarily put your face up to the cage!  Your big eyes staring at them may be scary at first.  You can look, but don’t stare, predators stare!  So just sit and speak softly.  Put some treats through the bars of the cage.  Don’t wait for them to come take them from our fingers, just put one there, after awhile they will get the idea.  You appear and so does a treat.  When they start to come over to you, hold the treat so they have to take it from your fingers through the bars.  When they are no longer afraid of you, you can start the next step.

During the day visit them in their cage pouch (click here for cage pouches).  All I want you to do at this point is peek in at them and hold them a treat.  If they “crab” at you its ok.  Just drop in the treat and leave them be.  Do this until they no longer crab, and look up at you expecting the treat.  Now you are ready to take the WHOLE POUCH out and hold them on your lap.  Judge their behavior and if they seem willing to go into a bonding pouch (click here for bonding pouches), you can carry them around the house while they sleep.  The more you carry them, the more comfortable they will be with you.  Keep them snug and warm, and LET THEM SLEEP!  If you constantly bother them they will not like traveling with you.  Once in a while you can peek at them and give them a treat, but the real reason for carrying them is so they learn you are a good place to hide and sleep in.  YOU are “home tree”.    If they wont go into a bonding pouch, you can carry the cage pouch if you think they will stay in it.  I actually make a strap to attach to the cage pouch to make it easier to carry around the house without needing to switch pouches.  (To see it click here.)

When you are ready, tent time is a wonderful way to bond with your sugar glider!  A small tent is a safe and contained area where your sugar glider can play, exercise, and explore, but you can relax because they are in a safe area.  Be sure to bring a book to read or your laptop with you, once you go in you want to stay in until its time put your furry friend away.  Bring tissues (for poopy and peepee), treats, and a pouch or too.  To start I wouldn’t bring toys (that’s for later) let the sugar glider want to visit you for fun.  At first don’t even try to pet them or touch them.  LET THEM COME TO YOU!  Never chase them in the tent (or their cage).  If it seems like they are adjusting well, then you can reach out and pet them, be sure to reward them with a treat!  In fact every time they visit you give them a tiny bit of a treat.  I say TINY bit as you don’t want them getting too fat!
Transport them into and out of the tent in a zippered pouch until they are bonded.  You can drop a treat in the pouch and when they go in for it, zip them up and transport.  You need lots of patience and free time here.  You don’t want to rush them.

A tip for picking up a sugar glider, try to let them climb onto you.  If you reach over the top of a sugar glider and then move your hand down to them it looks vaguely like a bird of prey coming to get them.  This can be very scary!  If they wont climb on you I try to scoop them up from the side, gently, and one foot at a time, try to get them to let go of the cage and grab onto me.  Never try to pick them up by the tail or scruff of the neck.

If your sugar glider bites you, do not yell and jerk back.  Make the “pssst” sound at them till they let go.  (read my “Training” article)

Until your sugar glider is well bonded, keep visitors from them.  Too many strange faces always oohing at them can be unsettling.  

The most important thing to remember:

"Love is long suffering and kind...Does not look for its own interests...Does not keep account of injury...It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…Love never fails."  1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (in part)

added 5-21-10