Sugar Glider Central

Posted: **Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:07 am**

Ok so i've gotten my first sugarglider on thursday. I got her from S&S exotics in Houston, Tx and i'm afraid i've made a mistake getting her from there. She is a really pretty gray sugar glider but is half white tip. She has a few white hairs on her tail. and she is SOOOOOOOOOOOO lil. I'm afraid they sold her to me when she wasn't ready. I mean she is eating and everything. But when I went to pick one out they didn't have any females there and I wanted a lil girl glider *btw i've still not picked out a name if someone wants to help me there* so the lady said give her a second she had some in her house that were ready to go. But she is smaller than the rest they had there. Now they gave me a bunch of bad information which i knew was bad from reading on boards all of the internet before I got her. They threw in a bag of food which was nothing but cat food and rice checks and bird food all mixed up together. I threw that in the trash. They told me to just give her apples and such and I knew that was bad. But thats not my issue. My issue is she hates me. I mean te totally hates me. I'm afraid i'm doing more damage by trying to bond with her. I waited the 3 days to let her get used to her cage but everytime I even walk in the room she starts to crab. I stick my hand in to feed her or offer her a treat and I swear she acts like i'm one of those freaky dudes who sit on the park bench and glares. I tried to get her in the bonding pouch today and finally succeeded but not before she tasted me real good. I was good and didn't jerk away though I know ya not supposed to do that. but then she wouldn't calm down in the bonding pouch. She wasn't crabbing or anything but was like all over the place trying to find away out and I refused to keep her in there. I would be scared to death if someone done that to me. So my question is do I keep trying and hope that one day I won't scare her to death. Or am I doing much more damage than good by having to chase her down to get her in the bonding pouch. She refuses to sleep in it so I can't do that trick. She just sleeps in either the food bowl or the hamock in the corner under a blanket. I think its cuz the bonding pouch smells like me. And I swear I take showers 3 times aday and i'm not a stinky person to begin with so i know I don't smell of funky badness. I want to love her but if that is stressing her then i'll just be content with watching her in her cage. She is to cute when she doesn't think i'm watching. and omg wears that wheel totally out. she runs so fast and hard that she will get tired and then just get slung out of it cuz she has it going so fast. ok so yeah that is my question and much long winded way of doing it. sorry. I know it takes months and sometimes years to bond . And i'm ok with that. But how do you do it when they don't even want ya in the same room?

Posted: **Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:29 pm**

Damien,
Please schedule a day and time this week where I can meet you in the chatroom on this website. It will be much easier for me to assist you there. When are you available?
Lauren

Posted: **Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:56 pm**

When is a good time for you? i'm generally online in the afternoons and at night. but can be on anytime is easiest for you so I can get help with this.

Posted: **Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:56 pm**

S&S is a mill breeder notorious for selling gliders too young and for selling ill gliders.

You need to get your little one to a vet ASAP.

I have a lot of experience with mill bred gliders and with glider health issues in general. I am a rescue home in Texas and am sadly very familiar with S&S as well. I welcome you to give me a call to discuss your situation. You should speak with someone with first hand knowledge pretty soon.

If you desire to wait for Lauren, that is fine. Just do a little research into who you are taking advice from either way. I think you will find that I am trustworthy and very knowledgeable.

You are welcome to call any time.

Val 806-274-9177

Posted: **Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:13 pm**

Something to be, I thank you for your help. If you could give me an idea of what to do on here. I am a mute so while i could hear you well on the phone I couldn't speak with you in turn.

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:20 pm**

Damien,
Val is a well respected and trusted Glider Enthusiast, she is always available to answer any questions that may, or, may not come up. I had no idea that you were mute, that's so sad. I will be able to be online this evening, any time you are available or even tomorrow evening. If you happen to come by this thread tonight, check out the chatroom and I will *most likely* be there.
~Lauren

P.S. Val, I would appreciate if you stopped "bashing" me and MY business on the forums, cause I AM not a MORON and I am picking up those very subtle hints.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:40 am**

Hi,

I have a couple things to add. One is about all of this who should you listen to stuff. I'm fairly new to gliders. We've had our first two for about 3 months now. I did what you probably did, researched on the Internet for over a year before making the commitment. I've also gotten some very good advice here and from a reputable breeder. But if I've learned anything it's that EVERYONE is in the learning stages. Most more knowledgeable than myself of course, not to say the girls here don't know what they're talking about. I'm not saying that at all, but gliders as domestic pets are relatively new, even the "experts" change their ideas about some things as they see new behaviors or health issues.

Don't let any differeing opinions confuse you. Collect all the information you can and then use your own common sense to sort through the information provided.

It's amazing how much your gliders will teach you themselves.

The first thing about glider care I want to say is that you really need two gliders, everyone had told me that anyway so I got a little boy and little girl. The male is now neutered. Seeing the way they interact for this three months I absolutely understand why we should have two. they interact with us wonderfully but together, they're like two halfs of one being. They sleep so tightly coiled together that if not for two tails you'd never know there was more than one animal rolled up in that little ball. When we were putting them back in their cage one day, we had one in and the other was still hiding. The one in the cage alone went balistic until her partner joined her, which didn't take long because as soon as Lenny realized Irene was in the cage he jumped down from where he was hiding and frantically tried to find an open door to the cage. The NEED each other. We can only supply so much companionship, they have to have a glider companion to feel safe and happy. The others here who are more familiar with this particular breeder will help you decide whether to keep this little one or not. When you speak to them they'll help you figure out if she is too young. She does need to see an experienced glider vet ASAP to make sure she's a healthy little girl if you want to keep her.

I was told, and in the case of my two it applies that the males have different personalities than the females. It makes sense because the different genders perform different tasks for the colony in the wild. The males are friendlier, they bond with you more quickly. I was told that the female would sit back and watch, that the male would bond first and then the female would eventually follow him. The female being more fearful and not as outgoing as the male. I repeat, I have little experience, these are my first two gliders but with my two it's proven to be accurate information.

If you do keep your little girl I would encourage you to get a male companion, and have him neutered of course. Quarantine and introduction is a whole other subject that I won't even approach right now.

Your feelings about being hated are exactly how we felt about Irene, our female for the first two months. She seemed to be terrified of us and not want us anywhere near. We didn't force her. We use a bonding pouch as a sleeping pouch so that we could easily remove the pouch with them sleeping in it and not have to traumatize Irene by handling her. Everyday one of us had the pouch on our body for at least 6 hours and eventually they warmed up to us. It takes lots of pateince and perserverence. Whenever you feel hated and wonder if she'll ever accept you, imagine a being as large as we are to them, then imagine them putting their giant face right up to you staring at you. Imagine that giant hand reaching out toward you. Pretty scary, huh? It takes time for them to trust that you aren't going to hurt them. Keep giving them lots of your scent and let them hear your voice a lot. I took to talking to myself whenever I was in the room with them and that seemed to help. Hand feed them a lot. Let them lick yougurt or their diet staple off your finger. Any animal will bond to their source of food eventually.

Good luck...hang in there

Sugar Glider Central

She hates me but LOVES that wheel