Hello,

A little back story here. Our daughter was given one female glider in a very small cage by a teacher whom couldn't have it where she was moving. Our daughter had the female glider for a little over a year. Then she told me that her hamster died because she went 2 weeks without feeding it (she does not live with us as this would not have happened here).

So I ended up taking her sugar glider and making it me own. I had the female for about a year. I got a male sugar glider companion for her. The male is insanely aggressive though. He will bite and not let go. This in turn makes him get handled less as it hurts like hell, my blood gets everywhere and I am really worried I will hurt him trying to get him to let go. His attitude has also had an impact on the female which was bonded and super friendly. So I have separated them and put them in a different cages as I dont want his bad attitude affecting the female more than it has but I really hate separating them too as it isnt a great solution for either glider. I put him in a bonding pouch for at least 3 hours a day, the first hour he spends just crabbing out in there.

My question is, when gliders are this aggressive, does it tend to pass? Is there anything I can do to improve the situation that does not involve my hand being anywhere near him? Am I better off rehoming him to somebody more equipped and experienced to handle him? I am at a total loss of what to do. Blowing makes him bite harder and does not make him back off. If he is blown on he lunges at you. Normally I would suspect abuse from former owner but I got him as a baby and I know the people I got him from well, they are not abusive.

I appreciate any advice I can get here.

Welcome to GliderCENTRAL!!!!!

You really have your hands full. I suggest that you read this post: Building a relationship with your glider..

That is a good place to start.

Hello and welcome to GC!

Is he neutered?

One of my gliders was like that but I just had to bond with her to get her used to me, she even drew blood multiple times, at first when I dealt with her I would wear a glove, long sleeve sweater, and sweat pants so they couldn't bite me anywhere on my skin and would continue to bond with them, I also had to hiss at her to let her know it was hurting me and at first she wouldn't do anything but then she soon realized it hurt me so she stopped, and with her blowing didn't really affect her.

So one of my sugar gliders is aggressive and has a bad biting habit. Bit of back story, she and her cage/colony mate were rescues from a 11 year old girl who did not know or have the time to properly take care of or bond with them. This caused Summer to develop biting habits and aggressive behaviors, especially with her food (I don't think they were fed regularly). I consulted several sources over time (I have had her for 3 years now). The absolute MOST helpful things was using thick gardening gloves to move/hold/ pet her with. When she would bite the glove, I would make eye contact and tell her "NO!" in a firm tone. Eventually, she learned that biting me did not get her the reaction she expected (me jerking away) and she stopped biting me. However, this does not extend to other people, she will still bite them and does not trust them like she trusts me.

Unfortunately, this is not the end of the issue. I was already considering rehoming to a more aggressive colony or other solo aggressive glider because she has a tendency to bully her cage mate, Fall. Before a recent event, this was never a physical problem as she was just the dominant one and he is naturally submissive. About two weeks ago, my brother had been feeding them for me as I was out of town. On the night I came back, he noticed Fall did not come out of the pouch when he went to fed them. This is highly unlike him as he will always want cuddles. So my brother came and got me. I immediately agreed something was wrong because nothing makes him wake up faster than the sound of his momma's voice. I had to reach in the pouch and pull him out. I was horrified! Apparently, Summer had been keeping the food away from Fall for that entire time I was gone and he was clearly injured from fighting. He was badly emaciated, dehydrated and his tail had clearly broken off and even become infected. I took him to my vet immediately. He is thankfully okay now, though on the road to recovery. Recently had surgery for his tail, though it's a nub now as the infection had spread and they could not save it. He is on meds for the pain and infection, as well as a vet prescribed food to help him gain his weight back. I say all of this to put that fact that I need to rehome Summer into context. My vet recommended I do so after this incident as Fall can't go back into the cage with her. Thankfully, I have another colony of two glider that are just as sweet and non-aggressive as he is that he can join. This means Summer would have to be rehomed though as suggies don't tend to do well alone. Due to the fact that she is aggressive, she needs to join or form a colony with another aggressive glider, as they will both learn the other will not take any abuse. This is the advice of my vet and several others, as well as several breeders that I know that have had gliders for 20+ years.

So I am not fully sure about how integrating the male with the better tempered female will work, as with my experience, that did not end well at all and my other glider was hurt badly. As it appears being a glider momma kind of fell into your lap, you may not love my advice based on my experiences and the advice I have received from others with this type of situation. My advice to you would be that the aggressive male needs an aggressive cage mate to keep each other in line. Wear the thick gardening gloves when handling him and teach him that biting will not work to deter you, he will slowly learn to trust you. Aggressive gliders do best with other aggressive gliders, though some do fine by themselves due to their nature. When it comes to the female, since she does not have the aggressive traits, she needs a non-aggressive colony or cage mate. As I am sure you know by now, keeping gliders in pairs is very important to the emotional well-being and no one would recommend a glider remain solo. IDK where you got the male glider from but I got my suggies from ThePetGlider. They are an excellent and well-known breeder. If you are still needing a friend for your female, they can recommend gliders that they think the temperment would get along with her the best. Please note, I have gotten four gliders (two different pairs) from them over the years and they are all well-tempered and loveable babies. I would offer you Summer as she is now looking for a more aggressive colony mate, but I understand that you may not want that considering how you came to have gliders to begin with.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out. Hope this helped in some way.