I'm the new Mommy to Cowboy a 12 week old Sugar Glider. I'm still learning so any info anybody can give me on what I can do to make his experience with us more enjoyable for him would be beyond apprecitaed.

Hi ShanNick! Welcome to GC!

Newbies: Covering the basics will help you a lot!

So will Taming and bonding

And How not to handle a sugar glider

Last but not least Facts about sugar gliders

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Thanks so much!! I've done sooooo much reading these past 3 days after bringing him home. I'm doing better but he sure crabs at me alot..well not as much as he was!! Maybe we're bonding!!

Congrats!!! You can trust any of hte information you read here,,its a great site to learn from!

Just remember to go at his pace, you won't be disappointed!

How do I get over being scared? The noises he makes startles me and I jump everytime!? I've been working on homework, his cage is right beside me, I've been talking to him through the cage since I've been sitting here. I carry him in the bonding pouch throughout the entire day so we can bond and I take him everywhere with me. He is taking food from my hand but just a sec ago I gave him a piece of dried fruit he hissed at me and I jumped and dropped the food. I got tickled at myself I'm sure he was thinking, "I get you everytime!" lol

Soon you will think all those little noises are cute. You will get used to it, even the crabbing. I think the crabbing is funny.

I'm getting use to him but he still makes me a little nervous. But i'm enjoying him every second.

Think of it this way. If you're as big as you are and scared of him, think of how scared he is of you, as tiny as he is! LOL! You're doing all the right stuff! I'm so proud of you! And I'm positive he's smiling to himself every time he gets you to jump! LOL!!!

thanks!! I hope I'm doing something right. I sure love that little booger scared or not. However, I am getting over the scaredness!! LITTLE BY LITTLE!! He goes everywhere I go!! One more thing, is it me or does every sugar glider pee and poopoo on you the way mine does? LIke lots!! LOL

Rember too, the gliders can feel your nerves, so try to remain calm around him, just wait until you have to trim his nails.LOL

The more time you put into him, the better companion he'll be. It's soooo worth all the fuss once they learn to trust you btw, one good piece of advice not many people mention... Most joes go through a phase "tenage" or whatever around 7 mo oop. I didn't know this, and thought my suggie just hated me for about a month. It's suprising if you don't know about it. So don't be alarmed if you're all bonded and stuff, and one day you wake up to a stranger, ha ha. It also helps to Get the boys neutered, mine settled down a lot after this, and at almost a year old, I couldn't ask for a more perfect calm companion.

I'm really not nervous around him except the first minute or two he's crawling on me, then I'm ok, once I realize he's ok! :-)

Luckily he was neutured when we got him. So thats one thing I don't have to worry about. So whats this "tenage"? Do they all go through that? Cowboy, is 13 weeks old, so I have a little time before I hit that phase of having a Sugar Glider!

I think she ment to type "teenage"
They definatly have a stage they go through about that age. Mine are just getting over the bite everything phase. They were never real big biters and then one day it was like switch was flipped. They bit fingers, toes, ears. They would just gnaw and gnaw on the seams of my pants and sweaters (this part is still going on ....)They are 7 months now so I am hoping they move through this quickly....

So how long does the "teenage" phase last? I'm glad I know now what to expect so I don't freak out when it does happen. He is now coming to my hand to get treats. At first he'll come up slowly, sniffing then he comes right up and takes the treat, without crabbing or hissing. We got him out when we first got him but he crabbed alot, so I would carry him in the bonding pouch unzipped, he only stuck his head out from time to time. Tonight we got him out to play, since we has been coming to us for treats and walking on our hands in the cage without crabbing hardly any but as he was out he was very nervous and everywhere. So what do I do now? He seemed to nervous to leave out any longer. I came back over and sit by his cage and he jumped on it, as I talked to him to calm him down, then I put him in the cage and was petting on him to let him know I wasn't gonna hurt him. Then once he seemed calm down I stuck his sleep pouch back in and he ate a little then went back to bed. Am I doing the right thing by not letting him be too scared? Just holding him a little at a time each day til he gets use to it? I just don't want him to be scared or get hurt. Shew I feel like I'm a first time Mother with an infant! :-)

I think what she meant by 'teenage' is, being a typical male, from the point of maturing to about a year, they're extremely interested in their nether regions, I.E. down there. It's called flossing and most young male gliders like to do it, a lot, from puberty (about 4 months) to their first birthday. That's been my experience anyway. It's perfectly normal. Just keep a close eye on him and keep a tube of regular KY jelly handy. If he leaves it unattended and out for more than a minute, apply KY to help it retract.

It sounds like you are doing just fine with him. Having him come to you and crawling on you for a little while is a good thing at this early stage. It is his way of learning to trust you, and by keeping calm, he will continue to trust you more and more (but at his pace). Just keep in mind that when you get him out of the cage, that is a totally new world to him and he will be nervious for a while until he has totally bonded to you and knows that you wont let anything happen to him. KEEP UP THE GREAT JOB.

Ah, those teenage years...or months. Yep, rememeber when your pre-teen human kid would come and sit on your lap and give you kisses and you were their best friend? Then all of a sudden they hit the teens and you suddenly don't know a thing, they don't want to go with you anywhere, the former sweetness is gone and you've got yourself a crazy adolescent.

Well, gliders go through that phase too. I've gotten through these teen times with 4 of my 7 gliders and it is like they all of a sudden bite for no reason, won't eat what they normally loved, and turn into little tasmanian devils.

Usually by the time they are a year old it has worn off and they are back to their formerly sweet selves. The older mine get, the more mellow they get too. You just have to get through the teen times.

Thanks!! I'm sure trying. I love my little guy!!

for the longest time,whenever we were in tent time, the kids would all be playing for a while, & continue to come run over to us,to sit on our shoulders,or into our shirts,be in there for a bit,go back out to play on something,& come back to us again.they don't do that quite so much anymore.now when we have tent time,they are playing in the tent full bore,& just casually come to walk on us,& off again to explore,jump,& play. by him getting so scared when you had him out of the cage is normal,& someday this will end,whereas he will want to be w/you,because you have proven yourself to him that you love him.
josefine

Will he still go through the "teenage" phase even if he's been neutured?

Rufus did, I think it doesn't last as long though, he only was a teenager for about 2 months and then poof, back to normal.

Is the biting hard enough to bring blood or just enough to let you know he means business?

Usually when gliders bite it will hurt A LOT but they won't break the skin. Some gliders do draw blood, and still others hardly nip.

Well Cowboy bit my husband tonight and brought blood, but I'm thinking he smelled the fruit my husband had just ate and thought his finger was a piece of it!! lol He's never really bit, I know its possible to start but he wasn't scared and was fine up til he crawled down to his hand and started sniffing then bit him.

Gliders go by smell. Doesn't matter if it looks and sounds like a human, if it smells like food, it's gonna get bit like it's food. Poor hubby! I bet he washes his hands from now on!

LOL, yes you guys are right, I meant teenage. He should still go through these phases even if he's neutered, everyone's gotta grow up. When their personality starts to come through, you'll see if he's a biter or not. Most gliders don't actually want to bite humans. It's usually a fear, or curiosity thing and it won't generally break skin. Glider teeth are like tweezers, and usually not vicious, but they can bite very hard when provoked. You should make a "tsst" sound (mimicking the one he makes when he is annoyed/hurt) so that they realize, hubbies hand is part of hubby, and not a tree or piece of fruit. This is something different than "love nibbles" which is very light nibbling, and it's a sign of affection/grooming. It was very hard for me to trust my little guy when he came at me with those nibbling teeth the first time...I assumed he was going to bite, I braced myself to make a "TSSSST" sound, and then he started grooming the little hairs on my skin. Sometimes he even pulls out a random hair! It hurts just a bit, but this is all in love :-)

My hubby is alright...he said it didn't hurt but I know that isn't true. He's tough, and YES next time he'll wash his hands after eating something before holding Cowboy!!

Hurt, and blood!!! I've been bitten several times for no good reason, not recently since they've all gotten over the 1 yr old stage.

The one time I deserved it, I got between a fight with two Alpha females, one in the cage and one outside the cage. Ceri grabbed onto my first finger joint and her little teeth must have gone right between the bones because I couldn't get her to let go. She was clamped on tight. I'm screaming like a banshee and my husband is laughing his head off.

NOT FUNNY!

Its all part of the process. Now my gliders are grown up and just as sweet as can be. I get nipped every now and then, but not bad.