How Do I Bond With My Sugar Glider?

sugar glider bondingOne of the most common things new sugar glider owners have questions about is how to bond with their sugar glider. Since sugar gliders are colony animals, they form bonds with their owners and can become excellent companions.

Many people refer to them as “pocket pets” and this is due to the fact that you can carry them around in a pouch or pocket while they sleep during the day. Usually, you will have to bond with your sugar glider before they feel safe being carried around by you.

Bonding is something that will be different for every sugar glider because each glider has a unique personality. The conditions they were raised in may also have an effect on how they bond with you. If they were handled regularly by the breeder, then they will be more used to human contact and are likely to bond quicker.

On the other hand, if your sugar glider was ever mistreated by a human, then they may have a lack of trust and it may take a lot longer to bond with them. In these cases, earning the trust of your glider will be a gradual process and take a lot of dedication on your part.

Bonding does not always come easy for everybody, so patience is one of the most important parts of the process. The main thing is that you have to show your glider you are a friend and can be trusted. Some gliders may need more time to get used to you and trust you.

One key thing to understand about the bonding process is that gliders bond by scent. In the wild, the dominant male in the colony will mark all the other members with his scent gland. This is how everyone knows the other members of the colony. Sugar gliders are territorial, so if an outsider were to approach who did not smell right, it may be attacked by the colony.

So how does this translate to you and the bonding process? One of the first things you should do when you bring your new sugar gliders home is to make sure they get used to your scent. You can cut out a square piece of fleece and wear it under your clothes next to your skin for a few days to get your scent on it. This is known as a bonding blanket.

Put the bonding blanket in your sugar gliders pouch or nesting box. You can also drape a worn t-shirt over their cage. These methods are designed to help your sugar glider become familiar with your scent. That way when you approach your sugar glider, it will recognize you and be more likely to trust you.

Once your glider knows you by scent, you can start feeding it small treats so it associates you with good things. Try feeding a few treats through the cage bars first. Then you can try to handle the glier and see how it reacts to you.

The best way to handle a glider is to let it approach you and let it climb into your open hand. Do not try to grab it because this may be scary to your glider. Use a cupped hand approach and make sure to have a treat on hand to reward your glider.

You should also start to wear your glider in a pouch around your neck and carry it close to your heart. Carrying your glider during the day is a great way to solidify the bond you are building.

Finally, play time is an important part of bonding. You should make sure to give your glider a couple hours out of its cage every night and interact with it. The bond will grow stronger as you spend more time playing with your glider.

The bonding process is something that builds over time and gets stronger and stronger the more you spend time with your glider. Once your glider has bonded to you, you will find that they are amazing little pets.

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14 thoughts on “How Do I Bond With My Sugar Glider?

  1. Every website I searched, it said to take the bites from my sugar glider because if you pull away, they will use biting for a weapon when they want you to stop doing something you are doing to annoy them. But every time I take the bite, it just keeps biting, so now I have marks all over my hand. Every time I try to put her back in her cage, she keeps crawling back up my arm to keep playing, or to hide behind my bed against the wall, to where I can’t get her without hurting her! The only times she gets on me is when it’s play time for her. I am trying to save up for a three story high cage for her, but the websites I look at say to keep them in a small cage because its a faster way to bond with them. Every thing I try doesn’t seem to work!! I need a professionals advice!! I have a dog in the house too but my sugar glider is in my room so he can’t get her. My sugar glider seems to be itchy and sneezing a lot. I can’t find a vet or any body that can help though!! I NEED HELP FAST!!!! Oh and I have had her for two weeks!!

    • It can take a lot longer than 2 weeks to bond with a glider. Be patient and keep working on it. If she’s biting you too much then work on bonding with her while she’s in a pouch. Wear her during the day as much as possible while she’s asleep and can’t bite. Also spend some time around the cage so she she gets used to your presence but is not able to bite you.

      I would recommend getting her the tallest cage you can possibly have. You do NOT need a small cage to bond with her. The happier she is and the more she trusts you, the faster she will bond to you. In my opinion, the taller the cage, the happier the glider.

    • Are they hard bites or little nips? If they are little nips your glider could be grooming you or showing affection. There are many possible reasons for why a sugar glider bites. Here’s a list:

      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.

  2. I have my sugar glider for a month, I took the advice in website that how to bond with a sugar glider… I spend a lot of time with her.. some times I go inside a tent with her and try to play with her but she likes to play with herself and the only time she comes to me is that want to bite my toe… the websites advice when she comes to you give her some treat but she refuse to take the treat..after a month she still afraid of me… she doesn’t want to stay with me…. when I am not around her cage she comes out and play but as she sees me she hide herself in her pouch. many websites suggest that wear 2 t-shirt and put the sugar glider between them…its about 2 weeks that I am doing like this and whole the day she is with me, but after 2 weeks she still doesnt trust me and when she is in my shirt she afraid to come up and just try not to see me…. .what can I do to get her trust.?..
    I really appreciate if you help me in this case

  3. I’ve had my sugar baby two days now, and everytime I pat her, she’s in the inside pouch, she screams her head off! It scares me and I retreat. Should I be a bit more firmand try and ignore her aggression? Is tomorrow a good time to try and take her out and put her in the pouch around my neck?

  4. My glider is very hyper. Which i am very happy with. But he doesn’t want to bond with me. It has been more than two weeks already. Every time i put my hand in the cage, he’ll just get angry and tries to bite or scratch me, which i am not scared of. He never climbed onto me. And when i placed him on me, he will either poop or pee on me. I am so sad. What should i do?

  5. I recently got two sugar gliders and they like to stay in the wheel and pouch I went to touch one of them then it bit me and this morning I tried to pet one and it started crabbing.

  6. i just got my first sugar glider yesterday who had bonded with its original owner. am i right to believe it will take a little longer to bond again?

  7. Ok I have had my glider for a little over a year and she still isn’t bonded to me. I have been away at school so much I haven’t had the time to spend with her. She’s not a baby so I just want to know how can I get her comfortable with me again now that I have much more time on my hands

  8. I just got a sugar glider about 4 days ago. every time i try to go around the cage or just be near it, it does its barking or defensive noise. I know to be patient with it while trying to bond, but he makes it hard to bond when hes always lunging at me. what do I do?

  9. I’m new to sugar gliders and I try to bond with them but every time I get bitten idk if it cause I smell funny or what but I’m trying to get then used to me one of them is just a angel and the other one barks and crabs at me idk what to do

  10. My two lovelies ladies have been in my home 2 days now. We already took them to get their nails trimmed HUGE DIFFERENCE ?. I am going to goto the petstore to get a carrying pouch to take them everywhere and bond with them amazing. I have never been so in love and like all of my animals these 2 have been rescued, ❤❤

  11. just as a reference i got two sugar gliders sisters in january its been about five months those two are pretty bonded to me the occasional nip is still there but they sleep in my bra and play with me now. the same year three weeks after i got those two i got another she came from a family with eight gliders some were males who were not nuetered she was very hyper when we got her she crabbed a lot and was honestly just plain terrified of us she was neglected at her old home but she has slowly warmed up to us no more hard bites and so much less crabbing and a month after we got her we got a neutered male and those two are inseparable and have calmed down so much i have three girls and the boy they all bonded to each other marvelously having a friend for your glider is really important they are social creatures and a lot of times the owner just needs to realize lol that there sugar glider needs more than just them best of luck to all of you PS a bonding tent is a great idea

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