Welcome to Glider Parenthood.
Unfortunately,
Pocket Pets does not always give honest information about the care and handling of sugar gliders when they recite their sales pitch to encourage impulse sales of these wonderful pets.
Pocket Pets does not raise their own joeys - they purchase them in bulk from large
mill breeders. Your joeys were probably not handled much by the original
breeders and were definitely taken from their parents too young (they should stay with their parents a MINIMUM of 8 weeks and
Pocket Pets probably received your joeys at about 7 weeks OOP).
Your joeys are not mean - they are just very frightened babies suddenly removed from their parents and tossed in with a bunch of other joeys to be transported for sale at the fair. They are biting out of fear, not aggression.
Regardless of their rough start as very young gliders suddenly away from their parents, with lots of patience on your part they will come around to be loving pets for your family.
Take a step back and give your gliders a little time to just adjust to all the new sights,
sounds and smells in your home. Let them have a day or two to just chill out in the cage. Talk to them quietly when you are near the cage to help them get used to your voice. Cut some fleece in small 3-4 inch square 'blankies' and tuck them in your clothing or sleep with them in your pillow case for a night to get your (and other members of the family's) scent on the fleece then tuck them in the glider's sleeping pouch.
After a few days, begin offering treats or a piece of fruit in your open palm or on the back of your hand to encourage the gliders to come to you. They will grab it and go off to eat it at first, eventually they will sit on your hand to eat the treat.
bonding with them is a matter of building their trust in you and in your hands so take things gradually. Grabbing them with your hands or wearing gloves will only set back the progress of building trust.
Some gliders do not like to be confined in a
bonding pouch so you might try taking them out of the cage in their sleeping pouch and just holding them quietly in the pouch. If the strap of the pouch is removable, you can also hang the
bonding pouch in the cage for them to sleep in and just remove the pouch, zip it closed and reattach the strap.
Carry both gliders together in the same
bonding pouch. Your more frightened glider will learn from the calmer on that you can be trusted. He may be just more frightened by being separated from his companion.
If
Pocket Pets sold you a heat rock - throw it away. Sugar gliders are warm blooded animals fully capable of maintaining their body temperature. The heat rock can cause burns or even electrocution if the gliders chew on the cord. If you are comfortable with the temperature in your home - the gliders will be comfortable as well.
One thing
Pocket Pets uses as part of the sales pitch is that Sugar Gliders are good pets for everyone. They are not the perfect pet for everyone and your young daughters may not be able to fully interact with the gliders because Sugar Gliders are nocturnal animals - and your girls will most likely be in bed before the gliders are awake and active each night.
Please do lots of reading on the forum to learn more about sugar gliders behaviors and needs.
This page will help you with
bonding:
http://www.glidercentral.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/660588/Into_the_Bonding_Pit#Post660588The pellet food that
Pocket Pets probably sold you is not the best
diet for sugar gliders. If you received Glider Gravy - this should be their primary staple food and be fed with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. You can read more about feeding Glider Gravy - which is actually the same product as Critter Love Complete - on this web page:
http://www.critterlovedietcenter.com/complete.htmlThere are other widely used feeding plans you might also want to consider. I have
links on my web page to several to help you locate the information. My own GliderKids Feeding plan is one of several you might consider.
http://www.gliderkids-diet.com/Staple-Recipes.htmlKeep asking questions - we are all here to help you get off to a good start with your new Sugar Gliders.