The basic foundation of building a relationship with your glider is first learning what they are telling you, they say things with their ears, their eyes,their body movements, their many facial expressions. And truly listening to what they are telling you.

many times there are "precursors" to their crabbing, lunging and biting. During those precursors, we really see in depth their true emotions.
"basically, their behaviors are the key to their behaviors"

This is great for those that already have gliders as well as those that have gliders with issues. once we start to see their precursors, and start to react at that point, what "I" have found, is when the true communication opens up between you and your glider. all of a sudden they stop, look at you, as if to say.. whoa.. he/she is listening to me..

I have a directory of a glider that shows me many different emotional expressions.. the problem is.. they were taken with my old cell phone and the pictures are very grainy and blurry.

so what I would like this thread to be about is the many facial expressions that can be captured with your glider. (preferably the same glider)

since many people usually capture in pics.. the sweet, oh my gawd look how cute they are pics.. some of the expressions, I would like to see captured.. are..

terrified, scared, apprehension, confusion, unsure, curious, content and the final one.. You are my world.

with the pics, tell us what you think they are feeling and why you think that

This thread will help you as well as the many people who may look at these pics to help identify their emotions.

great topic!

slightly irritated cause I just woke her up-notice ear positions (low/back)


happy with meal worm, again ear position (more erect/forward)


I dont have many pics on my computer

i am so excited about this thread and so excited to try and get pics out of my boy, he is the magical camera evader everytime there is a perfect photo op he just knows to move at the last second lol. the 2 pics so far are just so perfect, i cant wait to see all the additions that come in!!

I think I can get the "what you talkin bout Willis" pic from my babies lol. I just need to get quicker on the uptake

Great topic, Bourbon! I know that I will learn a great deal from it and I'm sure it will help MANY others as well!!

Great topic, Bourbon! I know that I will learn a great deal from it and I'm sure it will help MANY others as well!!

Ears up and alert



Sleepy but observant

okay here are some of Lilly, a rescue I took in awhile back, some may remember her, she had an aversion to fleece, scared to death of a standard pouch
remember old phone camera, blurry and grainy



absolutely terrified in the pouch crabbing non-stop



scared but semi-receptive, notice her eyes, her ears are down, and notice her front foot, it is planted into the pouch



Confusion.. wants to run, but I stopped forward movement, notice her hand up, her eyes are a look of wonder..wondering what I am going to do next



Apprehensive curiosity- notice her ears are tense but curious they are held tighter together, her head is held low in a cowering curiosity sort of way.Her hands are spread real wide



apprehensive curiosity, although this time, she is much calmer, eyes are softer, bright and curious, ears at half mast,



apprehensive but starting to trust a bit more. ears at 3/4 mast but not as tense not held real tight, eyes are wanting.. wanting whatever I have in my hand, body is far more relaxed, tail is loose



trusting, no longer apprehensive, eyes are soft and bright, ears are alert, full mast, relaxed, body is relaxed



totally trusting

Go you bourbon, that is a great picture series! I have been wrking on getting some pictures of kodah for this but so far all are a blur, I will ge them eventually though lol. And when I get he new girl I'm gona do it in a series like this from the start of bonding all the way through to total trust!

Here is a picture of my sweet little Mai when her sister Ofi first comes out of the cage at play time. She is very apprehensive that Ofi is not in the cage anymore. Her ears are lowered as well as her gaze, but the picture says it better:

I have a couple I can add. Thanks only to Bourbon constantly saying to watch their behaviour and expression do I now know what the earlier ones really meant.


Unsure
Bella is wanting to play with her new toy, but not sure about me being behind her yet. Ears tense and half down, one hand holding the toy but one gripping the bridge, crouched head and body posture



Curious
The first time seeing their jungle gym. Eyes are bright and wide, ears are tense, bodies are raised toward the gym, tails are relaxed, hands are relaxed, all focus on new object



Nervous
Bella's first experience with a flash camera. Ears are tense and down - one even cocked to the side to hear another noise. Eyes are wide, hands grip toy tightly, body is tense and unmoving, head pulled down toward body, tail is straight out.



Playful
Body in alert position, but not tense, ears perked up, eyes bright, tail half raised



Comforting
(That's a piece of worm, not a sore on her back)
Bella was nervous in the tent and came up to where Mia was. Mia's eyes are closed and attention is on Bella. Bella is still tense some and looking over to where she had gotten startled; also one ear toward direction she was startled.



Excited
Mia found a new toy! Body is crouched over the new discovery, tail is up, eyes are bright and wide, head is slightly raised, ears about halfway down.
This posture is common for Mia when she gets excited about new toys or when she jumps to my shoulder ready to ride around the house.



Happy
Ears raised but relaxed, bright eyes, relaxed body
(I swear I can almost see her smile!)


I know I have a more at the house, but they're more like the ecstatic and awww pics that are posted a lot.

Awesome Abby and Tricia, this is what I was looking for,

There is no right or wrong answers each of our gliders express things differently, it is up to us, to learn what it is they are saying to us.

These are YOUR honest interpretation of your gliders facial expressions, the goal of this thread is to get people to really look at their glider honestly, get to know those expressions, so that when their glider looks at them, they KNOW what they are thinking or feeling.. they are actually LISTENING to their gliders body language.. hopefully, they will react accordingly.

Great JOB !!!

I love this thread! I will be watching Georgie and Poppy a little closer tonight....

I can see her smiling too, Tricia. It's almost like a goofy little I love you grin.

Tricia and abbey, good job those pics and description are awesome! Thank for the additions

I wanted to say. Bourbon you come up with the best threads that help people sooo much with learning about their gliders. THANKS!!!!!

This is a really great thread! :o I've learned a lot, so thankyou!

What are some of the things you have noticed with their facial expressions, body language and activity levels, as you progress through the trust building process ?

I've learned that the attitude of an awake and active glider is much diferet than that of a calm and cuddly glider. When they aren't full awake and in hyper mode they are much more tame and sweet, when they are in play mode they are mostly crazy and its very hard to get them to listen to you. I am working on building a relationship stron enough with my glider that he will listen to me anytime day or night but it is a slow and difficult process.

I'm not sure if I said this before, but these pictures are so helpful!

I just found this thread and it is really fantastic. Very, very helpful.

Ok - Took me a little while to answer this one....but only because I wanted to really stop and pay attention to where we are now

Mia - She started as the 'jumpier' of the two and was quick to crab at something...anything. She didn't want to leave her cage. She didn't want to stay on me. She was pretty jerky with her actions - nipping came so fast I couldn't even tell she was going to do it. Now, though...what a difference! She is perfectly content to sit in my shirt in the evenings with just her little head out and watch whatever we're doing. She is still very active (I joke we should have named her Spaz sometimes :P) but she now shows me what she is about to do. ie - nipping - if she doesn't want me to do something, she'll actually watch my eyes and slowly move toward my finger with an open mouth. I don't know the last time she actually nipped. She also is more open with her facial expressions. Even my four year old son has noticed this change - he laughs and says "mom - she really looks happy"!


Bella - She started as the calmer, easier baby, but after a couple weeks started becoming nippy and skitish. I completely blame myself for moving too fast for her comfort. She also started becoming less active as she was trusting me less. Since I've slowed down and am now taking things at her pace, her activity level around me is started to increase again. She is still more difficult to read, but is starting to communicate more through body language.

It's become quite clear to me that as they trust me more, that they are more active with me. They show more emotions. They are truly trying to to communicate more with me. Loving this journey - even though it does wear on patience at times!

Editing to add...

I've also noticed that they are becoming more sensitive to the 'tsk' sound I make if I don't want them to do something. Mia was grooming too rough a couple nights ago. I 'tsked' she calmed down for a few seconds, but then started getting rough again. I 'tsked' again...she stopped, hunkered down, and hid her face in my shirt for about a minute. It truly reminded me of my son when he was a couple years old...I'd say 'no' and it'd almost hurt his feelings for a minute. (don't worry - I never let him get too hurt or upset!)

You guys don't realize how good this thread is for us newbies. Just looking at the pictures I can definitely start to tell the things that are going on with Rooster and Sookie. Thanks guys. Hopefully more pictures to come.

Oh man this thread is a huge huge keeper! Thanks, I was trying to go through each pic and see if I could guess the meaning before reading the caption. I guess I'm learning how to read the little fuzzbutts pretty good. This is great. Thanks again!