OK so I made a rookie move. It's been 2 weeks since we got him and today I had him in his pouch on me and he came out and crawled up my shirt! Great I thought, but I was worried he'd jump so I got up and went over near his cage. He crawled around for several minutes then jumped back to his cage.

So tonight, I thought I'd repeat that experiment so my wife could see. Sure enough after a few minutes he came out of the pouch and started crawling on me. I was trying to give him a bit more freedom and oops! He jumped to the couch. Ah crap. I spent the last 20 minutes following that little possum around my living room trying to lure him into his pouch. No luck. Finally after a lot of stress he climbed up a small box and I just lifted that box within jumping distance of his cage and nudged him that way and he jumped in.

Whew! My big concerns were a) get him into his cage and b) do not terrify him in the process. Fortunately he seemed to be in a good mood through the whole process. He frequently came over to me to sniff my hand or see what I was doing but he was just careful enough to avoid climbing onto me or into his pouch. Little turd.

My first tense moment was similar. Fiona had been hopping a ride from the tent back to the cage. We had done this a few times, and I thought I would drop by the fridge for a mealie. As soon as I opened the door, and the light came on, she freaked and jumped off me to the floor and towards the fridge. She was scared I was mortified. She just sat there inches from what I felt was mortal danger. I calmly walked over, bent down, offered my arm, she came right to me, climbed up my arm and then went back to the cage peacefully. After that, they traveled via pouch to and from the tent till I learned they are curious, and loved to play the jump game, back and forth. But the human tree is the safe place to be.

I can totally relate to your rookie move! In the beginning, I followed my gliders everywhere during out of cage time. I told myself that I wasn't chasing them, but I'm not sure that they understood that I was just "helicopter parenting".

Now that we're a bit more experienced, I just let them roam and watch from a distance - they almost always come back to me quickly. If they're making a move towards the fireplace (don't go up the chimney!) or anywhere in the kitchen, I move in and offer an arm for them to hop onto, and that resolves the danger.

I'm glad your story had a happy ending, with relatively little stress for both of you.

Unfortunately Squibble isn't *that* fond of me yet. He tolerates me but doesn't jump onto me. He definitely would rather be elsewhere. When my hand or arm is offered he will not willingly climb on.

He will eventually. Some of our best bonding moments in the beginning were at the vet's office. Well at least for Fiona. Dot fell in love with one vet we took her to.

Anyway, Fiona decided we were the lesser of the two evils. She came back to us once she tree hoped all over the vet, 2 assistants, and the wall. Walls she discovered aren't trees...

LOL thanks. There are definitely signs of progress. After work today I took his pouch out and with a bit of crabbing but no lunging or nipping I coaxed him out onto my arm. He still jumped into his cage but I put my hand in and he climbed onto it then jumped off. So he's gradually deciding I'm not a threat and I might be cool. Plus I have the yogurt.

Bribery is always a thing