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Potty training the glider #44415
04/28/05 10:53 AM
04/28/05 10:53 AM

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Veenyx asked me about this since I claim to have potty trained gliders.... so here's another myth I'd like to get rid of... Gliders CAN be potty trained, to an extent. Your not going to get them to go into a litter pan or anything, but you can make them stop peeing in their bag and on you.

Both my gliders are 5 & 6, they were trained, Indie within a month, Jaxom about a year. I first started off with the notion that gliders are at least as smart as rats. That being the case, the whole "gliders can't be potty trained" notion had to be false. My rats were litter trained so why not the gliders?

Personally I think this is one of the first problems.... people tend to think gliders are stupid. I don't. If they can open cages and zippers and carry things around in their tails and come to their names, they are trainable.

Indie would do a sort of "potty dace" before she would pee in her bag. She would look out at me, get real crabby for about 20 minutes and then pee. I just took up something she was doing naturally. When she gave me the "potty dance" look I just took her out and put her on a towel. Presto she peed. Sometimes it took a few minutes, and a little bit of stimulation, but she caught on really fast that I wasn't the stupid human she thought I was. I payed attention to her nonverbal language. Indie is fully trained. She will not pee in the bag and she will even WAIT for you to get a towel under her if she gets out before I can get a towel.

When Jaxom arrived on the sceen we had a problem. He ALWAYS peed in the bag. Indie would start crabby and end up with pee or poo all over her! EW! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> So, we started training Jaxom together. It started off as LOTS of potty breaks. I would get them out about evey 1 1/2 hours and make him come out, if he simply refused to pee, I'd go every 30 minutes. Indie would almost always pee. But only rarly would Jaxom. Sometimes he would actually wait until he got BACK in the bag! So I started making him stay out until he had done his business. He couldn't get back into the pouch until he peed. Nows he got it. He doesn't like it, I think he LIKES peeing on Indies head, but he does it.

Indie pees the instant she touches the paper towel.... Jaxom still takes some coaxing, I think he gets stage fright <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> but he does it. Neither of them pees in the bag any more, unless it's my fault and I don't pay attention to the potty dance plee and wait too long to give them a break.

All I did was take something Indie was natually already doing and add to it. That's how you train any animal.

If you want them to stop peeing in the bag you have to give them somewhere else to pee. Take potty breaks. Just like taking your 2 year old to the bathroom. Are they suddenly antsey, or crabby and looking at you for something? That may be the "I gotta potty" look.

At some point the glider will begin to associate a paper towel with pee time. Make sure you use the same type of towel every time. I carried a wash cloth for a while, now I use paper towels, but it needs to be the same material, otherwise they will just go on your jeans or where ever. But with enough time they will begin to associate the towel with peeing.

These guys live for 10 years. I think that gives anyone ample amount of time to teach them some manners. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yelclap.gif" alt="" /> This is not something that happens over night. My gliders spend 4 days a week with me, 9-10 hour days in the office. We hae LOTS of time together, which has certainly helped.

Last edited by Nihm; 04/28/05 10:58 AM.
Re: Potty training the glider [Re: ] #44416
04/28/05 11:10 AM
04/28/05 11:10 AM

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How do you get them to stay on the towel until they go? I take Maggie out every few hours and put her in a small travel cage, with a paper towel on the bottom, until she pees. She's never peed in her pouch, I guess I just got lucky.I'm hoping I can eventually just use the towel without the cage but, for now, this seems to be working well. She's only about 10 wks OOP. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Re: Potty training the glider [Re: ] #44417
04/28/05 11:27 AM
04/28/05 11:27 AM

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Amanda, that is just amazing. I have to give a huge congratulations to you for doing this!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yelclap.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/multi.gif" alt="" />

Re: Potty training the glider [Re: ] #44418
04/28/05 11:32 AM
04/28/05 11:32 AM

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My gliders have never been ones to pee in their pouches, than God. The only time my gliders pee in thier pouches are when the females are in heat and the males are scenting them, then they pee all over the girls, ick! All of my gliders are some what potty trained, with Brodey, my first glider, being the best. The will not pee on me and Brodey will actually go back to his cage to go to the bathroom. It's easy to teach them to do too. Just, when you have them out and you notice them starting to go potty, pick them up quickly and return them to their cage. Once they are done, get them out, play with and reward them and they quickly learn to pee in their cage because then they get to play <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Re: Potty training the glider [Re: ] #44419
04/28/05 12:18 PM
04/28/05 12:18 PM

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The more I think about it, the more I think it is just my male that goes in the pouch. This is definitely something that Im going to have to look into. Thanks alot for posting this Amanda! Its really got me thinking.

Re: Potty training the glider [Re: ] #44420
04/28/05 01:11 PM
04/28/05 01:11 PM

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Keeping them on the towel is sometimes a trick. Indie is no problem, she comes out, pees and then hops right back into the pouch. Jaxom on the other hand really likes to pee on ME.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shakehead.gif" alt="" /> So I have to keep him on the towel. He'll try to climb up my shirt a few times (FYI I do this while sitting in a chair, not standing) but I just put him back on the towel.... and we play that game until he goes. There are times he just won't.... but he's getting much better.

Mostly I think it's just a time a patience thing.... and lots of work. I have to be really dilligent and do the same thing every time. Repeating the whole process over and over.... like Leyna said, you just have to do it EVERY time, they catch on pretty quick.... well, some of them, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" /> Jaxom is still working on it.... little [censored], but he gets it about 80% of the time. I think he just LIKES being smelly... he is a boy after all, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" /> JK!

Last edited by Nihm; 04/28/05 01:12 PM.
Re: Potty training the glider [Re: ] #44421
04/29/05 10:44 AM
04/29/05 10:44 AM

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Thank you. I am so glad to hear a few success stories. I taught my rabbits to use litter, so I wondered if i could teach my glider. I just started trying recently. One thing I can concur with right off the bat, is the wiggling around like a little kid. When widget does this, I put her in the cage. She pees almost immediately or if she doesn't, I rub near her tail. That helps. Also, she tends to use two spots consistently in her cage. I try to return her to one of these spots when she gets the "wiggles." I also offer "wake up" time. She tends to be grumpy and slow to wake, just like me. So, we have an understanding. I talk to her before going into the cage, I peel back a layer of blanky and talk, rub her head, keep chatting while I play on the computer. Then, she starts to come out on her own. When she heats the cage floor, I'll also stimualate the hind end. (She seems to alway pee/poop on the cage floor, never up high on her trapeze or anything. That surprises me since they naturally live in trees and don't jump to the ground to urinate/defecate.)

So, we are still working on the training, but this gives us hope. Anybody else have any tricks up their sleeves or membranes, as the case may be?


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