I've had Soba for nearly a week now, and I feel like I can't get the bonding process started with her. I never had such trouble with Ringo or Miso, and the funny thing is I'm being even MORE patient with Soba than I ever was with Ringo and Miso.

Soba will not stop crabbing, which doesn't really bother me. I get that, she's afraid. I left her alone completely for 3 days, and then started putting in fleece blankets that I was sleeping with. She's in my room so she can observe me as I go about my daily business and learn that I'm not a threat.

I do expect it, but she crabs any time I'm moving about my room during the day while she's sleeping. If she's been awake for a few hours she could care less, but when she's sleepy or just waking up it's nonstop. I do expect this from her, but I also expected it to diminish a little as the week progressed. It's not.

Today I was in the kitchen cooking, and when I sat down to eat it in the dining room, during my silence I could hear her crabbing in my room. But there were no sounds in my room and nobody in my room. Why was she continuing!?

I feel like she has a bad case of "drama queen mode." I'm doing everything right with bonding-- by "the book" exactly! I do know all gliders bond at different rates, but the incessant crabbing is on the edge of beginning to actually annoy me now. Easy solution for this would of course be to move her out of my room, but the only other place she could go is in the living room... but that's where Ringo is, and we still have another 3 weeks of quarantine.

She has her wellness vet visit this Wednesday. If she gets a clean bill of health, can I still put her out in the living room too? It's a rather large room... can I put her on the complete opposite side? Or maybe in the adjoining dining room? She's obviously distressed by my walking around my room as normal. I don't want to scare her any more than is necessary to the bonding process, you know? I don't want to ruin the relationship before it's begun.

Suggestions? Or, better yet, encouragement? lol

As I'm typing this message she's already crabbed from her cage a few times from the sounds of the keyboard. -_-



-Oh, also, she refuses honey as a licky treat. I don't get that. It's HONEY! She likes it when I let yogies melt on my fingers--she licks my fingers clean. She'll crab again as soon as the yogie is gone and she realizes my fingers are attached to my hand (and me). When I try applesauce as a licky treat, any time I move to 'reload' she goes off again and it takes another few minutes to investigate again. It's like she has an automatic reset button. Grr!

sounds like you know what you are doing, you just have a more "difficult" gliders.

Don't forget that crabbing does not indicate that she's a mean glider (I know you didn't say that, just pointing it out). She is just extremely vocal! Maybe she likes the sound of her own voice.

It is possible that she is pouch and/or cage protective. Try a different type of pouch so she can see what's going on around her. Maybe when she hears a noise and can see that it's not something that is going to eat her, she'll stay a little more quiet.

Maybe she needs more sound during the day. Do you have a radio or tv on all the time?

I see you saying "I accept that", which is good. You may just need to accept that this is her personality.

I have thought of that-- that she might be in the process of becoming pouch protective. I know there are open pouches available-- can someone tell me who sells them? That may indeed help.

I do have a TV and a radio in my room that I could definitely leave on. I had thought about it before as well, but starting Sunday I'm shifting to an overnight work schedule so I'll be sleeping part of the day with Soba. I'd love to be able to reach the point where I can put her sleeping pouch near me in bed while sleeping (but not too close so I don't roll over and squish her). Ringo loves napping with me, but I haven't done it since I brought Soba home because of the quarantine.
But yeah, I can definitely turn on a radio or tv for the few hours before I leave for work. I'll have to ask my roommates if having it on quietly throughout the night would bother them...

Thanks for the suggestions! I really appreciate it Shelly!


Oh, and, lol.... I totally agree that she probably loves hearing the sound of her voice. The breeder described the 8-12 week age as the "terrible two's," where she's just discovered she has a voice and just realized she has teeth. Luckily she hasn't figured out what those teeth can do to people yet.

Ive been having the same problem with ninx. She always crabs. Would a suggie comb be an open environment pouch?

If you search it on ebay you will find some reasonable pouch protective pouches!

Buying on ebay scares me. Make sure you research them before you buy.

You can get the Monkey Cliner from DCMuffin, they work great! You can look in the Classifieds for other options as well.

Yes I have 2 Monkeycliners and I love them!! They have made a HUGE difference with Chuck and Joe. Now I can actually reach in and pet them only after about 2 weeks in it!

Is a suggie comb considered a open pouch?

first, do NOT expect one glider to act like another. They are all individuals.

second, one week is no where near enough time to feel frustrated with her already. RELAX. If you are frustrated she will pick up on that emotion and it may make her leery of you.

be patient. Like any RELATIONSHIP it takes time to build trust, and each relationship has dynamics that are special to that relationship alone.

Crabby babies you say? sounds like you're getting some good advice with the open type pouches. A week is only a drop in the bucket as far as time goes with your little one. I've got one little male glider that will occassionaly crab to this day and I've had him over a year now. It's been stated above that they are all completely different and that is a fact.

Yeah, I really do think the open pouch will really help. She's only crabby when she's in it. When she's out of it running around for a bit she'll let me put my hand in the cage with no crabbing to re-arrange things or feed her, but I can't put my hands near her without crabbing. I completely expect that.

Of course I know she's not the same as Ringo and Miso. No glider, animal, or person is the same as another. It would be silly for me to think that. I even said that in my first post. I'm having new experiences that I didn't go through with the others, and I think the fact that I am being even more patient with her than Ringo or Miso says a lot. I just didn't have Ringo or Miso in my room while bonding with them, so the close proximity is new and starting to wear on me a little. Believe me, I'm obviously trying or I wouldn't be coming on here asking for suggestions and 2nd opinions. I'm not the kind of person to give up on anything, so there's no chance I'm giving up on Soba.

In any case, I think she really is beginning to become pouch protective, so if I can nip this in the butt before it becomes full-fledged, it will be better.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I really appreciate it! I'll look at my open pouch options later tonight and make my purchase.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!